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Front Row: The Lark Ascending at 100, Wonder Woman 1984 reviewed, reading outside your comfort zone

15/12/2020

The Lark Ascending at 100, Wonder Woman 1984 reviewed, reading outside your comfort zone

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, The Lark Ascending at 100, Wonder Woman 1984 reviewed, reading outside your comfort zone

Violinist Jennifer Pike tells us what makes The Lark Ascending the nation's favourite.

On the hundredth anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, violinist Jennifer Pike tells us what makes it a firm favourite in the British musical consciousness.

Wonder Woman was the film that turned the reputation of DC Comics’ foray into big budget movies around in 2017. Director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot return for the sequel which sees Wonder Woman and her love interest, played by Chris Pine, transplanted from the trenches of World War I to the technicolour world of the 80s. Can they repeat the success of the first instalment? Critic Leila Latif reviews.

On the hundredth anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, violinist Jennifer Pike, who has been playing the piece professionally for over half her life, joins Liv to pull it apart, reveal its mysteries to us, and see what makes it a firm favourite in the British musical consciousness.

We know that literature plays a huge role in how we develop our understanding of other people, places and cultures. But a recent survey revealed that of the 11 books the average person reads each year, 33% are either from the same genre or written by the same author and that just 13% of British adults had knowingly read a book from an author of colour over the course of the past year. Liv is joined to explore how we can read differently by two people who’ve been seeking inspiration from unusual sources this year: Stig Abell, who has just published Things I Learned on the 6:28, a diary of his reading over a year, and Amrou Al-Kadhi whose work is featured in an innovative book club which encourages its members to read across borders.

Presenter: Liv Little
Producer: Tim Prosser
Studio Manager: John Boland

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