Professor George Steiner
Sue Lawley's castaway is academic and critic Professor George Steiner.
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Professor George Steiner. One of the most prominent intellectuals of our time, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how the English academic establishment has taken decades to accept him despite his early popularity as a Cambridge lecturer, and about the problem of reconciling the love of beauty with great acts of evil.
He'll also be describing how his family left Austria for France in the 1920s and how he was one of only two boys to survive in his class in the largely Jewish lycee he attended in Paris.
When asked to select just one record to take to the island, Professor George said that for him, it was all or nothing.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Book: 500 year ahead calendar and appointment book
Luxury: Computer
Last on
Music Played
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Richard Wagner
Lohengrin
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George Frideric Handel
But thanks be to God (sung in German) (from Messiah)
- Lieder Recital.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
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Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 7 in E major
- Bruckner: Symphonies 7 & 9.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
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Hector Berlioz
Le spectre de la rose (from Les nuits d'été)
- Regine Crespin; Works By Berlioz, Ravel.
- Decca.
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Erik Satie
Trois Gymnopédies - No. 1
Performer: Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.- Works By Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin.
- EMI.
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Michael Tippett
King Priam
- King Priam.
- Chandos.
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Samuel Barber
Agnus Dei
- Voices Of Silence.
- RCA Classics.
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Édith Piaf
Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
- Edith Piaf; 25th Anniversary Vol 3.
- Columbia.
Book Choice
500 year ahead calendar and appointment book
Luxury Choice
Computer
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Sue Lawley |
| Interviewed Guest | George Steiner |
Broadcasts
- Sun 18 Feb 199612:15BBC Radio 4
- Fri 23 Feb 199609:05BBC Radio 4
- Fri 19 Jul 199609:05BBC Radio 4
Featured in...
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Archive 1991-1996—Desert Island Discs
Guests are invited to choose the eight records they would take to a desert island
Podcast
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Desert Island Discs
Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.






