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Episode details

Radio 3,13 May 2021,14 mins

SeriesIn Their Voices

Robert McFerrin

The Essay

Available for over a year

Opera singer Peter Brathwaite shares his passion for five very different singers whose voices, artistry and lives inspire and move him, and whose stories he needs to tell. If you're asked to think of a groundbreaking singer called McFerrin, it's likely that Bobby springs to mind. But this undisputed vocal genius is in fact following in the footsteps of his father, Robert McFerrin Snr: the first ever African American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. For Peter, Robert McFerrin's beautiful baritone voice, and his experiences singing on the global opera stage, resonate down generations of black men singing in opera. He both acts as a role model and offers insight into the cyclical nature of conversations about race and representation in classical music.

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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    Don't Worry, Be Happy
    Don't Worry, Be Happy
    Bobby McFerrin
  3. 2.
    Pari siamo! (Rigoletto)
    Pari siamo! (Rigoletto)
    Giuseppe Verdi
  4. 3.
    Let Us Break Bread Together
    Let Us Break Bread Together
    Trad.