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Adele Leigh

Michael Parkinson's castaway is soprano Adele Leigh.

Of Adele Leigh, a critic once said that she put paid to the myth that to be good, a soprano had to look like a Hoffnung cartoon. The youngest principal of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden when she joined in 1948, she became a television star in the 1960s with the show All Kinds of Music and appearances on Eric Robinson’s Music For You. After leaving Covent Garden she married a diplomat and settled in Vienna where she began singing the operetta roles that were to bring her fame at the Volksoper there. In conversation with Michael Parkinson she looks back over her life and her career in music.

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

Favourite track: Let's Do It by Noel Coward
Book: Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Luxury: Loofah

Available now

40 minutes

Last on

Fri 15 Jan 1988 09:05
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Grace Moore

    One Night Of Love

  • Maggie Teyte

    Si Mes Vers Avaient Des Ailes

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • NoΓ«l Coward

      Let's Do It

      • The Noel Coward Album.
      • Sony Masterworks.

  • Eartha Kitt

    Just An Old Fashioned Girl

  • Franz LehΓ΅r

    Lippen Schweigen

    Soloist: Nigel Douglas, Adele Leigh

  • Emmerich KΓ΅lmΓ΅n

    Komm, ZigΓ΅ny (from Countess Maritza)

    Soloist: Placido Domingo Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Would a maid be worth the winning? (from Cosi fan tutte)

    Soloist: Lillian Watson Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra

  • Julia McKenzie

    Broadway Baby

  • Book Choice

    • Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

  • Luxury Choice

    • Loofah

Credits

Presenter Michael Parkinson
Interviewed Guest Adele Leigh

Broadcasts

  • Sun 10 Jan 1988 12:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 15 Jan 1988 09:05
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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