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John Julius Norwich

Sue Lawley's castaway is historian and television personality John Julius Norwich.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the broadcaster and popular historian, John Julius Norwich. Closely associated with Venice, he talks about his love for the city and his battle to protect it from the rising waters of the Mediterranean. It's a passion he learnt from his parents - the diplomat and politician Duff Cooper and the beautiful socialite Lady Diana. As a boy he grew up surrounded by his mother's friends - artists and writers like Jean Cocteau and Noel Coward. Evelyn Waugh, too, frequently visited. But he was someone who his mother adored and his father barely tolerated.

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

Favourite track: Bassoon Concerto in B by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Book: The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Luxury: Laptop Computer

Available now

40 minutes

Last on

Fri 7 Nov 1997 09:05
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Anthony Minghella

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Music Played

  • Franz Liszt

    Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1

    Soloist: Georges Cziffra

    • Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies.
    • EMI Classics.

  • NoΓ«l Coward

    A Bar On The Piccola Marina

    • The Noel Coward Album.
    • Sony Masterworks.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    Petite messe solennelle

    Orchestra: Ensemble Vocal De Lausanne Conductor: Michel Corboz

    • Petite Messe Solonnelle.
    • Erato.

  • Liebestod (from Tristan und Isolde)

    Soloist: Kirsten Flagstad

  • Ruth Etting

    Mean To Me

    • The Original Recordings Of Ruth Etting.
    • Columbia.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Die ihr aus dunklen grΓΌften

    Ensemble: London Baroque Soloist: Emma Kirkby

    • Handel: German Arias.
    • EMI.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Bassoon Concerto in B flat major

      Soloist: Klaus Thunemann

      • Mozart Wind Concertos.
      • Philips.

  • Richard Strauss

    Beim Schlafengehen (from Four Last Songs)

    Soloist: Lisa Della Casa

    • Lisa Della Casa Sings Richard Srauss.
    • Decca.

  • Book Choice

    • The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon

  • Luxury Choice

    • Laptop Computer

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest John Julius Norwich

Broadcasts

  • Sun 2 Nov 1997 12:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 7 Nov 1997 09:05
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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