' If my verses had wings....' This was the title of the most famous song by Reynaldo Hahn , who composed it at the tender age of 16. He was an archetypal figure in the turn-of-the-century Parisian salons, and was an intimate friend of the Princess Edmond da Polignac (1865-1943). His music was often heard at her concerts, and Le bat de Beatrice d'Este is dedicated to her. Also entering the picture in today's programme is a figure in complete contrast: that belligerent feminist, Ethel Smyth, and the overture to her opera, The Wreckers.
Written and narrated by Piers Burton-Page gramophone records