Private Passions

[smittims]

For some reason ,opera seems to attract silly, ill-informed remarks by people who ought to know better (symphonies and sonatas seem mercifully free from this). I felt it a wasted opportunity when Radio Times invited two guests to give their opposing views on opera (for and against) . Actor David Threlfall's remarks made it clear he was referring to Lieder rather than opera , while Katie Derham talked about Handel's Saul, which is not an opera but a oratorio.

[Ein Heldenleben]

What a lovely programme that was. What a wonderful life enhancing person. From the blurb :

“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”

[smittims]

Thanks for that notice. I had never heard of this lady but she sounds interesting, so I'll catch up with the programme. It's a long time since I listened to Private Passions. I think Edward Fox was the last, who turned out to have a profound understanding of music, one of his being Schwarzkopf and Furtwangler in Hugo Wolf . In the film The Shooting Party, he is seen playing part of Schubert's Klavierstuck D946 no.2, rather well, too. .

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=Ein Heldenleben;n1330533]What a lovely programme that was. What a wonderful life enhancing person.

I couldn't agree more! Private Passions is one of the few programmes on Radio 3 that I never miss.

[oddoneout]

What a lovely programme that was. What a wonderful life enhancing person. From the blurb :

Wasn't it just? My head is still buzzing.
The link between John Lewis stores and Daniel Barenboim (worthy of a quiz I think) seems to sum up the amazing way things have happened in her life and, as a result, for other people.
The music choices came in sizable portions and all with substantial connections to Ursula Jones.
Well worth listening to.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Wasn't it just? My head is still buzzing.
The link between John Lewis stores and Daniel Barenboim (worthy of a quiz I think) seems to sum up the amazing way things have happened in her life and, as a result, for other people.
The music choices came in sizable portions and all with substantial connections to Ursula Jones.
Well worth listening to.

I missed a chunk and listening again this evening . One of those programmes which make you wish there were more Ursula’s around in the music world !

[vinteuil]

... giving up her childhood bed for Furtwangler - disappointed that Richard Strauss wasn't the Waltz King 'and looked just like a farmer' - and somehow typical that when she was doing her doctoral research into pre-Colombian archeology, who did she bump into in the British Museum basements but Henry Moore? And at 92, she's only just given up on hang-gliding (have I got that right?) - just amazing, lovely, life-enhancing...

[oddoneout]

... giving up her childhood bed for Furtwangler - disappointed that Richard Strauss wasn't the Waltz King 'and looked just like a farmer' - and somehow typical that when she was doing her doctoral research into pre-Colombian archeology, who did she bump into in the British Museum basements but Henry Moore? And at 92, she's only just given up on hang-gliding (have I got that right?) - just amazing, lovely, life-enhancing...

It was paragliding, which has an unframed sail like an oblong parachute(hence the name presumably), whereas hang gliding has a rigid one.

[french frank]

I've just looked at the playlist. An enthusiastic communication to the controller might be the ideal introduction to a letter of otherwise disapproval. It's not all carping.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It was paragliding, which has an unframed sail like an oblong parachute(hence the name presumably), whereas hang gliding has a rigid one.

Yep it’s advisable to give up hang-gliding at 90 for safety reasons, whereas paragliding can be enjoyed well into the late nineties .
What an incredible woman !