As part of Radio 3's Boulez at 100 day celebrating the centenary of composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, Michael Berkeley's guest is someone who knew Boulez well - composer and musicologist Gerard McBurney.
McBurney is most closely associated with the music of Russian composers – particularly Shostakovich – as a result of having lived and studied in Russia in the 1980s. Notable Shostakovich scores he has rescued from oblivion with completions and orchestrations include the music-hall show Hypothetically Murdered and the opera Orango. He talks to Michael about life in Russia in the years immediately before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
His many other musical projects have included working on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s long-running dramatized discovery series Beyond the Score, on many of which he collaborated with Boulez - about whom McBurney has first-hand insightful stories to relate.Producer: Graham RogersTo listen to this programme on most smart speakers, say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Private Passions".
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46:59
Bob Crowley
The set and costume designer Bob Crowley says he creates ‘other worlds’. The stage is where his imagination runs riot, at the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company the Royal Opera House, the West End, Broadway and beyond.
He’s won numerous Olivier and Tony awards for memorable designs such as the brightly lit revolving horses for Carousel, magical black and white tissue paper drawings evoking the foggy London skyline for Mary Poppins and couture dresses and the River Seine for An American in Paris.
He’s also worked on many new plays including The History Boys by Alan Bennett. His most recent credits include Richard the Second at the Bridge Theatre in London, with Jonathan Bailey in the title role.
Bob's music selection includes Tallis, Gershwin, Schubert and Verdi.
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48:36
Dr Sian Williams
Dr Sian Williams was a familiar face and voice on BBC Breakfast, television news, and Radio 4 for many years, and she’s now a presenter on Radio 3 Unwind on BBC Sounds. There she hosts a three hour programme every morning, sharing a restorative selection of music with the aim of supporting your well-being. She also presents Life Changing on Radio 4, interviewing people who have lived through extraordinary events. In 2012, she started to train as a psychologist and was awarded a doctorate in Counselling Psychology four years ago. Since then she has been working in the NHS primarily, with first responders who are experiencing anxiety, stress and trauma. Sian's musical selection includes Mozart, Rachmaninov, Max Richter and Vivaldi.
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46:50
Daniel Levitin
Daniel Levitin is a psychologist and neuroscientist who is fascinated by the way our brains respond to music. He first worked as a musician, playing in bands, and then became a record producer and engineer. He’s worked with some of best-known names in the world, including Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Sting and The Grateful Dead. In his 30s he went back to university to study psychology. He’s now Professor Emeritus at McGill University and has written several best-sellers investigating why music has such a powerful effect on us as a species. His most recent, Music as Medicine, is about the healing power of music, and how it might be used to help treat PTSD, slow the spread of neurodegenerative diseases and even help combat multiple sclerosis. Daniel's music choices include Debussy, Dvorak, Thelonious Monk and Beethoven.
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48:31
Ursula Jones
Ursula Jones is “nothing short of a musical icon” – at least according to the Royal Philharmonic Society, who made her an honorary member last year at the age of 92. She has devoted her life to music, and has long championed the work of young performers – she gave Daniel Barenboim his first break as a conductor in London, when he was just 23. Ursula was born in Lucerne in 1932, where her father was one of the founders of the Lucerne Festival, so famous musicians, including the likes of Richard Strauss, were never far away. She came to London in 1954 and worked as a secretary for the Philharmonia Orchestra, moving on to co-found the English Chamber Orchestra in 1960. She married the eminent trumpet player Philip Jones, and later managed his Brass Ensemble. Music isn’t her only fascination: she completed a doctorate in archaeology at the age of 60, and in 2021 she cycled 100km to raise money for the charity Brass for Africa.
Ursula's choices include music by Britten, Mozart and Handel.
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