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John Copley

Kirsty Young's castaway is opera director John Copley.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the opera director John Copley.

Throughout his sixty year career he's worked with all the greats at the major opera houses of the world. He introduced Luciano Pavarotti to a London audience, charmed Georg Solti with his piano playing and was even called upon to stand in for Maria Callas. He was just ten years old when he first saw an opera and he loved it straight away; "I caught opera," he says, "like the measles".

Record: Janet Baker singing Handel's Ariodante
Book: Grove's Operatic Dictionary of Music
Luxury: My 49-year-old double bed.

Producer: Leanne Buckle.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Sun 6 Jun 2010 11:15

Music Played

  • Maria Callas

    Vien, Diletto –Come Beloved

    • Bellini: I Puritani.
    • EMI.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Rose Adagio

    Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor: Riccardo Muti

    • Swan Lake & the Sleeping Beauty.
    • EMI.
  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Have You Met Miss Jones?

    • Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
    • Verve.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • George Frideric Handel

      Dopo Notte – After a Dark Night

      Soloist: Janet Baker Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra Conductor: Raymond Leppard

      • Handel: Ariodante.
      • Philips.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Final Sonata in D Major

    Soloist: Martha Argerich, Alexandre Rabinvitch

    • Mozart: Piano Duets….
    • Teldec.
  • Benjamin Britten

    The Salley Gardens

    Soloist: Thomas Allen Orchestra: Northern Sinfonia Conductor: Steuart Bedford)

    • Complete Folk Songs.
    • Collins Classics.
  • Leontyne Price

    He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

    • The Essential Leontyne Price.
    • RCA.
  • Federico Mompou

    That Night an Identical Wind (from The Struggle in the Dream)

    Soloist: Victoria de Los Angeles Orchestra: Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire Conductor: Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos

    • The Fabulous Victoria de Los Angeles.
    • EMI.
  • Book Choice

    • Operatic Dictionary of Music - Sir George Grove

  • Luxury Choice

    • My 49-year-old double bed.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest John Copley

Broadcasts

  • Sun 3 Jan 2010 11:15
  • Fri 8 Jan 2010 09:00
  • Sun 6 Jun 2010 10:00
  • Sun 6 Jun 2010 11:15

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