Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

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Summary

The mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly has sung at the most prestigious venues around the world, including the Royal Opera House, London and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as Glyndebourne, Vienna and Bayreuth. In 2009 she was a soloist at the Last Night of the BBC Proms, singing Rule Britannia dressed as Admiral Nelson, and she has also made a name for herself taking on male or so-called “trouser roles” in opera, including Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar). As a child, she was an outstanding pianist with a passion for classical music and jazz. After studying piano and voice at the Royal College of Music, she decided to become a singer. She was a member of the BBC Singers for five years, before taking the leap and seeking work as a soloist. She took a break from public performance in 2019 to have treatment for breast cancer, but has now resumed her career. She was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours and last year she became an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, recognising her outstanding services to music. DISC ONE: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin DISC TWO: Handel: L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, Part III: As steals the morn. Performed by Mark Padmore (tenor), Lucy Crowe (soprano) and The English Concert, conducted by Andrew Manze DISC THREE: Rebel Rebel by David Bowie DISC FOUR: Blue In Green by Miles Davis DISC FIVE: Embroidery in Childhood (Act III, scene 1) Composed and conducted by Benjamin Britten. Performed by Claire Watson (soprano) and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden DISC SIX: Schubert Winterreise : Das Wirtshaus, performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) and Gerald Moore (piano) DISC SEVEN: Wagner - Der Ring : Keilberth, Bayreuth live, 1955. Act 3 Die Walküre, Denn einer nur freie die Braut. Performed by Hans Hotter (bass-baritone) and Bayreuth Festival Orchestra DISC EIGHT: Symphony Number 3 in D minor Mahler 3 : Mov’t 6, Ruhevoll- Empfunden (what love tells me) Performed by Vienna Philharmonic and conducted by Claudio Abaddo BOOK CHOICE: The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter LUXURY ITEM: A grand piano with a tuning kit CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Wagner - Der Ring : Keilberth, Bayreuth live, 1955. Act 3 Die Walküre, Denn einer nur freie die Braut. Performed by Hans Hotter (bass-baritone) and Bayreuth Festival Orchestra Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.9	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.8	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take
0:13.3	with them if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.4	And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:20.9	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:41.4	My cast away this week is the singer Dame Sarah Connelly.
0:44.9	A mezzo soprano, her performances have earned her the title Queen of the UK's opera scene
0:50.3	as well as her Daim Hood.
0:52.2	She's a favourite with audiences around the world, appearing at some of the most prestigious
0:56.8	venues and has been a regular at Glideborne for almost 30 years.
1:01.5	Her musical gift was obvious in childhood.
1:04.3	Growing up in the North East, she was a precocious performer with a flair for improvisation.
1:09.8	By the age of seven, she was playing pop songs requested by her classmates on the piano.
1:14.5	At 10, she was composing music in the style of Mozart and Debussy.
1:18.8	By 11, she had run out of exams to take.
1:22.1	Initially intending to be a pianist or jazz singer, she found her voice as a soloist following
1:26.6	a break with the BBC singers.
1:28.8	Though her gift for improvisation continued to come in handy, she came up with a memorable
1:33.2	costume, what you might call a full Nelson for the last night of the proms.
1:37.3	She appeared as the famous admiral in full military regalia.
1:41.0	It's one of numerous male or so-called trouser roles she's taken on, including Julius Caesar.
	...

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