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Front Row: Alice Coote; Turner in Margate; Lana del Rey

27/01/2012

Alice Coote; Turner in Margate; Lana del Rey

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Alice Coote; Turner in Margate; Lana del Rey

Turner in Margate; mezzo-soprano Alice Coote; Joe Orton revisited; Lana Del Rey reviewed.

John Wilson reviews Turner and the Elements, a new exhibition at the Turner Contemporary and talks to mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, famous for taking on the 'trouser roles' in opera.

With John Wilson. 

Novelist and psychogeographer Iain Sinclair reviews Turner and the Elements, a new exhibition at the Turner Contemporary gallery in the artist's old stomping ground of Margate.

Alice Coote is one of the world's most acclaimed mezzo-sopranos, famous for taking on the male parts or "trouser roles" in opera. She talks to John about assuming the gait of a man, the demands of being jet-setting soloist, and how a car crash made her realise the importance of music. 

In 1962 the playwright Joe Orton was sent to prison for six months for defacing books in Islington Public Library. Fifty years later, barrister Greg Foxsmith is staging a re-trial to examine what sentence Orton might have received today. He tells John why.

Singer Lana Del Rey releases her debut album on Monday. Although her song Video Games was one of the most acclaimed tracks of 2011, her decadent image has provoked debates about her authenticity and her recent live performances have drawn criticism. Kitty Empire gives her verdict. 

Producer Ellie Bury.

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