Celebrity Choice

Music has been ingrained in me from a very early age. Suddenly it’s such a luxury to be able to listen and perform to live music to such an extent – I was very blessed. I was driven by every part of the music; it’s the only reason why we dance really. I danced when I was quite young to Mahler’s Adagietto and it made me think, ‘Oh my God, I am so excited to be an artist!’ I will never forget it; it really goes deep to your soul when you are moved by a piece of music like that. Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is one of those pieces that I literally cry to because I can hear the stories being told through the music.

I am almost really embarrassed by it, but I won’t be because I profoundly believe in the power of art to open up new windows and new doors to experiences and energies that you did not know existed. And that for me was when I first came across the play Amadeus, in particular Salieri’s speech where he speaks about a particular work of Mozart as if Mozart were touched by God. When I heard that piece, the Serenade in B flat major, I too knew that Mozart was touched by however we want to call the divine – and new doors were open to me. This piece of music introduced me to Western classical music, and I am so thankful for it.

I’ve always adored music and I’ve taken my role in the audience very humbly I think. Some of my choices pieces spring from my childhood – things that you see and fall in love with when you’re quite young never really leave you. Music is quite different to other senses, it’s not like reading or looking at art – ‘music expresses which that cannot be said and which it is impossible to be silent’. This is why I love orchestral music; it’s the instruments which speak to us. I think human beings were born with music, it fills up every possible sad gap in your life – anything that goes wrong can be corrected with music.

Curating my dream concert and sharing it with Radio 3 listeners is a treat, particularly at a time where the shared live concert experience isn’t possible. Classical music wasn’t in my life as a child or a teenager; it was something I actively sought out. Ravel was almost an introduction to classical music for me entirely. His music sounded like things in my head and my heart basically. Jeux d’eau speaks about how I feel before going on stage or before I perform. It’s this sort of bubbling excited feeling but into a cohesive piece. You can hear a fountain! And I think that this is the most incredible thing about classical music – is that it just completely paints a picture with music.

The good thing now about modern technology is that you can go on the BBC Archive or the Sounds app or YouTube and you can sample music and if it’s not for you, you can leave it. Now music is accessible, it’s so easy to broaden your taste and I think as I’ve got older, I’ve made more effort to listen to things I wouldn’t have listened to before. I like music that you can kind of imagine that your life is a film and it’s the soundtrack to your life. I’ve had quite a chequered romantic life, I might seem on television as quite loud and abrasive but I’m a deeply romantic person and Halvorsen’s Passacaglia really appeals to me.