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Zadie Smith with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Symphony Orchestra

The multi-award-winning author reads extracts from a selection of her own writing and even sings, accompanied in concert at the Barbican centre by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Symphony Orchestra.

Zadie Smith is one of Britain’s most notable living novelists. Her first work, White Teeth, completed while the author was still a student, became an instant hit when it was published in 2000. Soon enough, she came to define what it was to live in Britain – and particularly London – at the turn of the new millennium.

Music has always coursed through Zadie Smith’s works. At university she worked as a jazz singer while her 2016 novel Swing Time, long listed for the Booker Prize, explores her love of music and dance. In the latest of our collaborations with great writers, Zadie joins the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Symphony Orchestra for this entertaining concert. And there's even the opportunity to hear Zadie sing!

This is a shortened version of the full concert, recorded on Earth Day, 22nd April at The Barbican, edited for broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4. The full concert will be broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3 in the coming months.

READINGS:
Chapter 2 from the novel Swing Time
"Joy" from the collection "Feel Free"
"Lazy River" from the collection "Grand Union"
extract from "Canines: The Ripping Teeth" from the novel White Teeth
All by Zadie Smith

MUSIC:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Act 2 "Dance of the Mirlitons"
Gity Razaz: "Mother"
Leonard Bernstein: Overture to "Candide"
Frank Zappa: "Outrage at Valdez"
Rogers and Hart - arr Simon Nathan: "I Could Write a Book"

Recorded at the Barbican on Earth Day, Friday 22nd April 2022

Conductor: Ben Gernon
Producer for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4: Steve Doherty
Producer for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3: Ann McKay
Executive Producer: Paul Hughes

A Giddy Goat/Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Symphony Orchestra co-production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

57 minutes

Last on

Fri 17 Jun 2022 21:00

Broadcasts

  • Sat 30 Apr 2022 15:00
  • Fri 17 Jun 2022 21:00