Sophie's Choice
A powerful new opera by Nicholas Maw , commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the Royal Opera House. Based on William Styron 's compelling and poignant novel, the story emerges from three people in post-Second World War Brooklyn - Stingo, a young southerner struggling to write his first novel, Nathan, a tortured but brilliant American Jew, and his lover Sophie, a beautiful Polish woman whose wrist bears the grim tattoo of a Nazi concentration camp. Presented by Andrew McGregor.
Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra, conductor Simon Rattle Acts land 2
8.25 Twenty Minutes: The Making of Sophie's Choice Christopher Cook talks to the composer, conductor, director, and members of the cast of Sophie's Choice about the background to this major new commission and the psychological effects of dealing with such intense subject matter.
8.45 Acts 3 and 4 David Gillard on Sophie's Choice: page 127 The changing face of classical music: page 27