Front Row

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Front Row: Simon Russell Beale, French Exit, Lisa Taddeo

28/06/2021

Simon Russell Beale, French Exit, Lisa Taddeo

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Simon Russell Beale, French Exit, Lisa Taddeo

Simon Russell Beale on playing JS Bach on stage.

Simon Russell Beale on playing JS Bach on stage and we review Michelle Pfeiffer in French Exit.

Simon Russell Beale was a choral scholar and the actor remains a serious musician who can play a Bach fugue. Now he is taking the role of Johann Sebastian in Nina Raine’s new play Bach and Sons and he talks to Samira Ahmed about his relationship with the composer. Does being able to play Bach help him to play Bach?

French Exit stars Michelle Pfeiffer as a Manhattan heiress who has to downsize to Paris with her son and cat when her money runs out after her husband’s death. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the comedy drama directed by Azazel Jacobs, adapted by Patrick deWitt from his own novel. Hannah McGill reviews.

Lisa Taddeo came to prominence in 2019 for her nonfiction book Three Women, a chronicle of her subjects' sex lives. Over the course of eight years, the writer not only interviewed the titular three women but also immersed herself in their worlds. The result was one of the hits of the year. Now she returns with Animal, a raw and intense debut novel about sexual trauma and female rage. She tells Samira about the process of writing it and her hope that women who have suffered similar experiences will feel less alone after reading it.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Julian May
Studio Engineer: Sue Maillot

BBC Radio 4

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

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Front Row

Simon Russell Beale, French Exit, Lisa Taddeo

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4