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Kyra Vayne

Sue Lawley's castaway is opera singer Kyra Vayne.

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is someone who has unexpectedly encountered professional acclaim late in her life.

Singer Kyra Vayne could well be described as one of opera's forgotten voices - until this year when, thanks to the release of some previously-unknown recordings which had lived under her bed in Shepherd's Bush for 30 years, her voice reached a large new audience of admirers. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her reaction to the ecstatic reception given to her first CD, how she lived a life of obscurity working in a bank after she abandoned her career and about her life in pre-revolution Russia, where she and her family nearly starved to death before fleeing to England.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Symphony No 9 Final Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: A culinary book
Luxury: Peanuts and treats to tame animals and birds

Available now

40 minutes

Last on

Fri 29 Mar 1996 09:05
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Tatiana's Letter Scene (from Eugene Onegin)

    Soloist: Kyra Vayne, Colin Tilney

    • Lebendige Vergangeheit - Kyra Vayne I I.
    • Historical Recordings.

  • FrΓ©dΓ©ric Chopin

    Prelude in D flat major, Op. 28/15 'Raindrop'

    Soloist: Artur Rubinstein

    • Chopin: Piano Sonata No 2 Preludes.
    • RCA Classics.

  • Modest Mussorgsky

    Trepak (from Songs and Dances of Death)

    Soloist: Feodor Chaliapin

    • Feodor Chaliapin Songbook.
    • Mono.

  • Frances Day

    I L-L-Love You So

    • Calling All Workers - Various.
    • Conifer.

  • Alexander Borodin

    Jaroslavna's Lament (from Prince Igor)

    Soloist: Kyra Vayne

    • Lebendige Vergasngeheit.
    • Historical Recordings.

  • Vincenzo Bellini

    Casta diva (from Norma)

    Soloist: Rosa Ponsella

    • Rosa Ponselle.
    • RCA Classics.

  • Franz Schubert

    Im FrΓΌhling, D882

    Soloist: Kyra Vayne

    • Lebendige Vergangeheit - Kyra Vayne.
    • Historical Recordings.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

      Symphony No. 9 in D minor 'Choral' - 4th movement

      Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler

      • Beethoven Symphony No 9.
      • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Book Choice

    • A culinary book

  • Luxury Choice

    • Peanuts and treats to tame animals and birds

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Kyra Vayne

Broadcasts

  • Sun 24 Mar 1996 12:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 29 Mar 1996 09:05
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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