John Copley
Kirsty Young's castaway is opera director John Copley.
Kirsty Young's castaway is the opera director John Copley.
Throughout his sixty year career he's worked with all the greats at the major opera houses of the world. He introduced Luciano Pavarotti to a London audience, charmed Georg Solti with his piano playing and was even called upon to stand in for Maria Callas. He was just ten years old when he first saw an opera and he loved it straight away; "I caught opera," he says, "like the measles".
Record: Janet Baker singing Handel's Ariodante
Book: Grove's Operatic Dictionary of Music
Luxury: My 49-year-old double bed.
Producer: Leanne Buckle.
Last on
Music Played
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Maria Callas
Vien, Diletto –Come Beloved
- Bellini: I Puritani.
- EMI.
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Rose Adagio
Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor: Riccardo Muti
- Swan Lake & the Sleeping Beauty.
- EMI.
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Ella Fitzgerald
Have You Met Miss Jones?
- Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
- Verve.
Castaway's Favourite
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George Frideric Handel
Dopo Notte – After a Dark Night
Soloist: Janet Baker Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra Conductor: Raymond Leppard
- Handel: Ariodante.
- Philips.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Final Sonata in D Major
Soloist: Martha Argerich, Alexandre Rabinvitch
- Mozart: Piano Duets….
- Teldec.
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Benjamin Britten
The Salley Gardens
Soloist: Thomas Allen Orchestra: Northern Sinfonia Conductor: Steuart Bedford)
- Complete Folk Songs.
- Collins Classics.
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Leontyne Price
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
- The Essential Leontyne Price.
- RCA.
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Federico Mompou
That Night an Identical Wind (from The Struggle in the Dream)
Soloist: Victoria de Los Angeles Orchestra: Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire Conductor: Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
- The Fabulous Victoria de Los Angeles.
- EMI.
Book Choice
Operatic Dictionary of Music - Sir George Grove
Luxury Choice
My 49-year-old double bed.
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Kirsty Young |
| Interviewed Guest | John Copley |
Broadcasts
- Sun 3 Jan 201011:15BBC Radio 4 FM
- Fri 8 Jan 201009:00BBC Radio 4
- Sun 6 Jun 201010:00BBC Radio 4 LW
- Sun 6 Jun 201011:15BBC Radio 4 FM
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