Last Word

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BBC Radio 4 FM

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Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

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Last Word: Jessye Norman, Peter Sissons, Al Alvarez, Marita Lorenz

Jessye Norman, Peter Sissons, Al Alvarez, Marita Lorenz

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Jessye Norman, Peter Sissons, Al Alvarez, Marita Lorenz

Julian Worricker on a singer, a journalist, an author, a spy.

Julian Worricker on the award-winning soprano Jessye Norman, the television journalist Peter Sissons, the author and poetry editor Al Alvarez, the CIA spy Marita Lorenz.

Pictured: Jessye Norman

Julian Worricker on:

The multiple award-winning American soprano, Jessye Norman, whose performances wowed audiences around the world....

Peter Sissons, the acclaimed television journalist, who moved from ITN to the BBC to present Question Time and the main evening news....

The author, Al Alvarez, poetry editor of the Observer newspaper, and renowned poker player....

And Marita Lorenz, who survived Bergen-Belsen as a child, and went on to become a spy involved in a near-assassination of Fidel Castro....

Interviewed guest: Sir Clive Gillinson CBE
Interviewed guest: Norman Lebrecht
Interviewed guest: Iain Dale
Interviewed guest: Alexandra Pringle
Interviewed guest: Michael Carlson

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: International Profile, Radio 4 29/07/1988; Jessye Norman Interview, Radio 3 06/08/2000; CD Review, Radio 3 23/08/2014; ITN News 21/11/84; Question Time, BBC One 09/12/1993; BBC News, BBC One 30/03/2002; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 19/03/2000; The World Of Books, Radio 4 25/05/1978; Timewatch, BBC Two 07/10/1992; Geraldo Rivera interviews Marita Lorenz, 23 Sep 2013; Archive Hour: Something Is Terribly Wrong, Radio 4 22/11/2003.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Last Word

Jessye Norman, Peter Sissons, Al Alvarez, Marita Lorenz

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