Maria Callas and the power of singing
Maria Callas is the inspiration for a programme including readings from Joyce, Austen, Langston Hughes and MR James with music by Puccini, Debussy and Verdi.
La Divina, as the American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas was dubbed, is now the subject of a biographical film starring Angelina Jolie, which is hotly tipped for film awards. Today's Words and Music is threaded through with performances of Callas as we celebrate singing with excerpts from operas by Verdi, Puccini and Tosca alongside songs performed by Lisa O'Neil, Andreas Scholl and William Warfield. We'll hear Maria Callas herself talking about the sense of duty that came with her attitude to singing, and how she felt about those she described as her 'enemies'; plus passages from the biography of her written by Lyndsy Spence - Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas. Our readers are Clarke Peters and Anastasia Hille.
Producer: Georgia Mann
READINGS:
I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman
Everyone Sang by Siegfried Sassoon
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
Extract from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Extract from Number 13 by M.R James
Extract from The Odyssey by 成人快手r, translated by E.V Rieu
Extract from Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats
Extracts from Casta Diva: The hidden Life of Maria Callas by Lyndsy Spence
The Fair Singer by Andrew Marvell
Extract from The Dubliners by James Joyce
In the House of the Voice of Maria Callas by Steven Orlen
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:03Giacomo Puccini
Vissi d'Arte (Tosca)
Singer: Maria Callas. -
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00:06Tessa Lark
Appalachian Fantasy
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00:08Aaron Copland
Ching-a-ring-chaw (Old American Songs)
Singer: William Warfield. Orchestra: Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Aaron Copland. -
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00:10Johann Sebastian Bach
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV.225
Ensemble: Collegium Vocale Gent. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe. -
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00:15Erroll Garner
Erroll's Blues
Performer: Joanna MacGregor. -
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00:18Joseph Haydn
Piano Trio in A major, H.XV.18 (3rd mvt: Allegro)
Ensemble: Trio Wanderer. -
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00:21Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Der Holle Rache (Die Zauberflote)
Performer: Cosm茅 McMoon. Singer: Florence Foster Jenkins. -
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00:21Kalevi Aho
Theramin Concerto (Acht Jahreszeiten) (8th mvt: Mitternachtsson)
Performer: Carolina Eyck. Orchestra: Lapin kamariorkesteri. Conductor: John Storg氓rds. -
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00:25Lanterns on the Lake
Don't Have Nightmares
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00:28Claude Debussy
Sirenes (Nocturnes)
Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: Pierre Boulez. -
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00:33Nader Hajjar
Byzantine Hymn of the Nativity
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00:38Gioachino Rossini
'Una Voce poco fa' from Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Singer: Maria Callas. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Alceo Galliera. -
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00:44Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Ciacona (Lute Sonata in A major)
Performer: Jakob Lindberg. -
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00:49Jocelyn Pook
How Sweet the Moonlight (The Merchant of Venice)
Singer: Andreas Scholl. Ensemble: Baroque String Quartet. -
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00:54Simon Fraser
Mairi Bhan Og: Mary Young & Fair
Performer: Jordi Savall. Performer: Andrew Lawrence鈥怟ing. -
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00:58Lisa O鈥橬eill
The Lass of Aughrim
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01:01Giuseppe Verdi
Caro Nome (Rigoletto)
Singer: Maria Callas. Orchestra: Orchestra of La Scala, Milan. Conductor: Tullio Serafin. -
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01:08Vincenzo Bellini
Casta Diva (Norma)
Performer: Vanessa Benelli Mosell. -
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01:11Vincenzo Bellini
Casta Diva (Norma)
Singer: Maria Callas. Orchestra: Orchestra of La Scala, Milan. Conductor: Tullio Serafin.
Broadcasts
- Sun 26 Nov 2023 17:30成人快手 Radio 3
- Boxing Day 2024 18:15成人快手 Radio 3
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