The Moderate Soprano, Mark Wigglesworth, Stravinsky
Tom Service is joined by Mark Wigglesworth, ENO's new music director. Plus a new book on Stravinsky and Felicity Palmer reviewing David Hare's new play The Moderate Soprano.
Tom Service talks to Mark Wigglesworth, the new Music Director of ENO, about starting his tenure amidst turbulent times for the company, and the mezzo Dame Felicity Palmer and critic Michael Billington review a new play by David Hare, 'The Moderate Soprano', which dramatises John Christie's ambitious plan to construct an Opera House on his Sussex estate in 1934.
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"The Coliseum has never been a home for snobs."
Duration: 18:34
The Moderate Soprano
In 1934, John Christie and his wife, opera singer Audrey Mildmay, founded the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera, along with Carl Ebert, Fritz Busch and Rudolf Bing.
David Hare’s new play, now on at the Hampstead Theatre, tells the story of the festival’s unlikely beginnings, with Roger Allam in the role of John Christie and Nancy Carroll as the titular moderate soprano.
Theatre critic Michael Billington and mezzo-soprano Dame Felicity Palmer review the new play, dramatizing John Christie’s ambitious plan to construct an Opera House on his Sussex estate.
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Mark Wigglesworth
Tom meets the new music director of English National Opera, as he prepares for the opening of a new production of Verdi’s The Force of Destiny. He starts his tenure amidst turbulent times for the company, and he tells Tom about challenges of funding at ENO, and how every opera house should be thinking of a Ring Cycle.
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Critical Lives: Igor Stravinsky
The Critical Lives books series presents the work of leading cultural figures of the modern period. In this new volume, musicologist Jonathan Cross gives an overview of Stravinsky’s life and work in the context of the turbulent twentieth century.
Tom Service talks to Jonathan about the many facets of Stravinsky the man and his music, and reviews the book with the musicologist Morag Grant.Β
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Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Tom Service |
| Interviewed Guest | Mark Wigglesworth |
| Interviewed Guest | Felicity Palmer |
| Interviewed Guest | Michael Billington |
Broadcasts
- Sat 31 Oct 2015 12:15Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
- Mon 2 Nov 2015 22:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
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