The Essay: In Their Voices

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The Essay: In Their Voices: Marian Anderson

In Their Voices

Marian Anderson

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, In Their Voices, Marian Anderson

Peter Brathwaite shares his love of the voice of Marian Anderson and why it is so special.

Opera singer Peter Brathwaite invites us in to the extraordinary voice of contralto Marian Anderson, in a personal exploration of what makes it - and her - so special to him.

Opera singer Peter Brathwaite shares his passion for five very different singers whose voices, artistry and lives inspire and move him, and whose stories he needs to tell. 

‘A voice like yours is heard only once in a hundred years’: so said conductor Arturo Toscanini to Marian Anderson, the African American contralto whose concert on Easter Sunday concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 became a defining moment in America's civil rights movement.
 
Peter invites us to dive with him into Anderson’s extraordinary voice, exploring its sonic qualities as well as its cultural and historical importance, and why for him, a black opera singer in 2021, Marian Anderson’s voice still resonates so deeply.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Opera singer Peter Brathwaite shares his passion for five very different singers.

Opera singer Peter Brathwaite shares his passion for five very different singers, whose voices, artistry and lives inspire and move him, and whose stories he needs to tell.

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