Speech Radio You Have Listened To Lately

[smittims]

re Marjorie Westbury, her 'amazing voice' is heard singing Yniold in an old 1951 BBC tape of Pelleas et Melisande. It's survived on Testament CDs, and has a dream cast and the Philharmonia orchestra conducted by D-E Inghilbrecht, regarded by many as the definitive interpreter of this work. The part is notoriously difficult to cast. Yniold is supposed to be a little boy (the words given to him suggest age c.7 or 8), but as childrenof that age can rarely sing Debussy on an opera stage it's often sung by a woman, who of course 'looks wrong'. No problems with a radio broadcast.

[vinteuil]

Our Spanish master would say "Es la hora" when the bell marking the end of the lesson sounded - always rounding off what he had been saying!

(Or perhaps that should be <<Es la hora>>).

... or ¡Es la hora!
.

[Serial_Apologist]

... or ¡Es la hora!
.

Yes, Mr Oakshott being rather deaf always said it with some vehemence!

[Nick Armstrong]

a woman, who of course 'looks wrong'. No problems with a radio broadcast.

… the same thing that allowed her to play the svelte, sophisticated Mrs Temple so successfully (see Aunt Daisy’s post this morning re. the actual Marjorie Westbury!)

I had no idea about her singing Debussy though!

[AuntDaisy]

re Marjorie Westbury, her 'amazing voice' is heard singing Yniold in an old 1951 BBC tape of Pelleas et Melisande. It's survived on Testament CDs, and has a dream cast and the Philharmonia orchestra conducted by D-E Inghilbrecht, regarded by many as the definitive interpreter of this work. The part is notoriously difficult to cast. Yniold is supposed to be a little boy (the words given to him suggest age c.7 or 8), but as childrenof that age can rarely sing Debussy on an opera stage it's often sung by a woman, who of course 'looks wrong'. No problems with a radio broadcast.

Many thanks smittims - news to me as well. Is it this CD set?

I knew she'd played "Emily Butter" in Henry Reed / Hilda Tablet's opera "Emily Butter"; and singer Elsa Strauss in "The Private Life of Hilda Tablet" etc.

[smittims]

Yes, that's it, Aunt Daisy. Rare to get the finest interpreters of the various roles in one recording.

[johncorrigan]

The only book I've read by Salman Rushdie is 'Midnight's Children', but I caught an excerpt from his most recent book, 'Knife', on 'Book of the Week' on Radio 4a couple of weeks ago and decided I would listen to the rest. Read by Art Malik, I found the excerpts very interesting indeed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001yhhm

[Serial_Apologist]

The only book I've read by Salman Rushdie is 'Midnight's Children', but I caught an excerpt from his most recent book, 'Knife', on 'Book of the Week' on Radio 4a couple of weeks ago and decided I would listen to the rest. Read by Art Malik, I found the excerpts very interesting indeed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001yhhm

I watched the TV documentary about Rushdie the other night. "Luckily" I missed the very start when, I presume, he described in detail being stabbed near the eye, though we got a bit of that experience when he mentioned the surgery he then had, without general anaesthetic! He came across as thorougly likeable as well as amazingly brave.

[Forget It (U2079353)]

Re: Knife by Salman Rushdie, if I may ..

Sacrosanct


A cause for
a martyr
A martyr for
a cause
Two sacred cows
head to head
One alive
one not dead
meet
Free to speak
free to react
One attacks
one attacked
What's sacrosanct
lying dead
beneath the facts.

2022 Yours truly

[Serial_Apologist]

Re: Knife by Salman Rushdie, if I may ..

Sacrosanct


A cause for
a martyr
A martyr for
a cause
Two sacred cows
head to head
One alive
one not dead
meet
Free to speak
free to react
One attacks
one attacked
What's sacrosanct
lying dead
beneath the facts.

2022 Yours truly

[johncorrigan]

As part of Radio 4 extra's celebration of Tony Hancock's centenary, the play 'Hancock's Ashes' was on over the weekend. It was based on a true story when Willie Rushton, played by Ewan Bailey, brought Hancock's ashes back from Australia. I really enjoyed this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b04mgxtg?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

[Nick Armstrong]

Tonight's Tragedy of Macbeth, from 1971, is well worth hearing - Joss Ackland, Googie Withers & Robert Hardy at their prime.
Andrea Smith's introduction references the joys of stereo & pegging (which was new to me).

Pretty compelling stuff despite some dated aspects (and the occasional “exceedingly good cakes” overtones due to the subsequent advertising career of ‘Macbeth’… )

In particular, Googie Withers makes a terrifying Lady Macbeth - completely believable that ‘brave Macbeth’ would be completely under her thumb!

[smittims]

While we're mentioning Shakespeare, this is not exactly speech 'radio' but a fascinating speech recording I found in a charity shop and I wonder if any of you have heard it: a 3-LP 1957 HMV recording of the Old Vic production of Hamlet , with John Gielgud, Coral Browne and Yvonne Mitchell (of Woman in a Dressing Gown fame) as Ophelia. I haven;t yet worked out if it's absolutely complete, as the play is nearly always cut somewhere because of its great length, but I'm hearing a lot of dialogue I don't remember from other productions.

HMV issued a number of Shakespeare plays on full-price LPs in the 1950s: I've found reviews of Othello and Romeo and Juliet. This was before the famous Argo series, which I see has been reissued on CD by Decca Classics). I often wonder how much sale they had, and how often they were listened to. Schools and college libraries, perhaps. I see this one later turned up on a Paul Hamlyn 'Listen for Pleasure' Cassette.

[Forget It (U2079353)]

Has something has fundamental changed in the way Radio 3 is broadcast?

Is everything on Radio 3 now pre-recorded without any live announcements at all?
(Like Radio4Extra)

I was really surprised to be able to listen to Drama on 3 Calmer this Sunday several hours before it was due to be broadcast (20:00).
What surprised me more was that the audio contained announcer's talking before and after the play.
In the past this was a clear sign that the programme was a repeat.
But Sunday's was an original not a repeat.
So it seems the announcers were pre-recorded as well as the play.

The audio remains as I heard it here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001yyzl

Ignore this please - AuntDaisy put me right (below) . thanks!

[AuntDaisy]

Has something has fundamental changed in the way Radio 3 is broadcast?

Is everything on Radio 3 now pre-recorded without any live announcements at all?
(Like Radio4Extra)

I was really surprised to be able to listen to Drama on 3 Calmer this Sunday several hours before it was due to be broadcast (20:00).
What surprised me more was that the audio contained announcer's talking before and after the play.
In the past this was a clear sign that the programme was a repeat.
But Sunday's was an original not a repeat.
So it seems the announcers were pre-recorded as well as the play.

The audio remains as I heard it here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001yyzl

"Calmer" was on a week ago...

Last night's Drama on 3 was "Maupassant’s Confessions of a Hedonist", a repeat from 2022.