Main content

Helena Newman

Michael Berkeley's guest is the chairman of Sotheby's, Helena Newman.

Helena Newman has many strings to her bow, She is the Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and the Worldwide Head of Impressionist & Modern Art. She is one of only a handful of female auctioneers and presided over the bidding of the most valuable painting ever sold at auction in Europe – Gustav Klimt’s Lady with a Fan – which went for $108 million in June 2023.

Helena also plays the violin and the piano and her musical background has come in handy when standing on the auction block. She also loves the cross-over between music and art and how one can inspire the other.

Her musical choices include Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart and Bach.

Available now

37 minutes

Last on

Sun 17 Mar 2024 12:00
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Mark Cousins - Sound of Cinema Sunday

Next

John Krebs

See all episodes from Private Passions

Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Wer hat dich so geschlagen (St John Passion)

    Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Bach: St. John Passion.
    • Archiv Produktion.
    • 11.

  • Johann Strauss II

    Roses from the South - waltz

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Fritz Reiner.
    • RCA LIVING STEREO.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Etude in C major "Waterfall" Op.10 No.1

    Performer: Maurizio Pollini.
    • Chopin: Etudes.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 1.

  • Richard Strauss

    Im Abendrot (4 Last Songs)

    Singer: Jessye Norman. Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Kurt Masur.
    • Strauss, R.: Four Last Songs; 6 Orchestral Songs - Norman, Gewandhausorchester L.
    • Philips.
    • 04.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Cavatina (String Quartet in B flat Op.130)

    Ensemble: Busch Quartet.
    • Beethoven: The Late String Quartets.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 9.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Pa-, pa-, pa-, pa- (The Magic Flute)

    Singer: Michael Kraus. Singer: Lotte Leitner. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Georg Solti.
    • Mozart: Die Zauberflöte.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 35.

  • Arnold Schoenberg

    Verklarte Nacht (4th mvt)

    Performer: Janine Jansen. Performer: Boris Brovtsyn. Performer: Amihai Grosz. Performer: Maxim Rysanov. Performer: Torleif Thedéen. Performer: Jens Peter Maintz.
    • Schubert: String Quintet - Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 4.

  • Franz Schubert

    Piano Quintet in A "The Trout" (4th mvt)

    Performer: Samuel Rhodes. Performer: Georg Hörtnagel. Ensemble: Beaux Arts Trio.
    • Schubert: Trout Quintet / Beethoven: Piano Trio No.5 "Ghost".
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 4.

Broadcast

  • Sun 17 Mar 2024 12:00
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

For Private Passions, Jools Holland revealed his piano history to Michael Berkeley.

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield’s Private Passions

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield’s Private Passions

Harry doesn't usually give interviews – but he couldn't say no to Michael Berkeley.

Archive Unlocked: Two Decades of Private Passions

Michael Berkeley introduces memorable interviews from Private Passions' archives.

Podcast

  • Private Passions

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