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Rhiannon Giddens

Michael Berkeley's guest is singer, fiddler and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her opera Omar.

Rhiannon Giddens has won two Grammy awards for her folk music albums, and a Pulitzer Prize for her opera, Omar, proving that she’s a musician who can’t be quickly categorised.

She grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and as a singer, fiddle and banjo player, she’s been fired by a desire to chart and reclaim the stories of people whose contributions to American music have been overlooked or erased. Her musical journey originally had a rather different destination: she trained as a classical soprano at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio.

Now she draws on all these musical traditions as a composer for ballet, opera and film. She also finds time for acting – appearing in the TV series Nashville about the tangled lives of country music stars – she presents podcasts and has even written children’s books.

Her music choices include Bach, Dvorak, Duke Ellington and Stephen Sondheim.

Available now

36 minutes

Last on

Sun 17 Sep 2023 12:00
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Stephen Sondheim

    A Weekend in the Country (A Little Night Music)

    Lyricist: Stephen Sondheim. Ensemble: Original Broadway Cast of A Little Night Music. Conductor: Harold Hastings.
    • A Little Night Music (Original Broadway Cast Recording).
    • Masterworks Broadway.
    • 9.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Suite in E (Prelude)

    Performer: Sharon Isbin.
    • Bach: Complete Lute Suites.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.

  • AR Rahman

    Radha Kaise Na Jale

    Lyricist: Javed Akhtar.
    • Lagaan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd..
    • 3.

  • Duke Ellington

    Black, Brown and Beige: Part IV

    Singer: Mahalia Jackson. Orchestra: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.
    • Black, Brown, & Beige.
    • Columbia/Legacy.
    • 4.

  • Camille Saint‐SaΓ«ns

    Cello Concerto No.1

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma. Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Conductor: Lorin Maazel.
    • Yo-Yo Ma Plays Cello Masterworks.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • LΓ©o Delibes

    Bell Song (LakmΓ©)

    Singer: Joan Sutherland. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductor: Francesco Molinari‐Pradelli.
    • Joan Sutherland - Greatest Hits.
    • Decca.
    • 6.

  • Francesco Turrisi, Andrea Piccioni, Fabio Tricomi & Lucilla Galeazzi

    La Tarantella Dell, Avena

    • Taquin.

Broadcast

  • Sun 17 Sep 2023 12:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Podcast

  • Private Passions

    Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates