Desert Island Discs

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Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

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Desert Island Discs: Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano

Dame Sarah Connolly, Singer

Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano

Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano, shares the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne.

Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano, shares the eight discs, book and luxury item she would want with her if cast away on a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

The mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly has sung at the most prestigious venues around the world, including the Royal Opera House, London and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as Glyndebourne, Vienna and Bayreuth. In 2009 she was a soloist at the Last Night of the BBC Proms, singing Rule Britannia dressed as Admiral Nelson, and she has also made a name for herself taking on male or so-called “trouser roles” in opera, including Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar). 

As a child, she was an outstanding pianist with a passion for classical music and jazz.  After studying piano and voice at the Royal College of Music, she decided to become a singer. She was a member of the BBC Singers for five years, before taking the leap and seeking work as a soloist. 

She took a break from public performance in 2019 to have treatment for breast cancer, but has now resumed her career. 

She was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours and last year she became an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, recognising her outstanding services to music.

DISC ONE: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin       
DISC TWO: Handel: L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, Part III: As steals the morn. Performed by Mark Padmore (tenor), Lucy Crowe (soprano) and The English Concert, conducted by Andrew Manze
DISC THREE: Rebel Rebel by David Bowie   
DISC FOUR: Blue In Green by Miles Davis 
DISC FIVE: Embroidery in Childhood (Act III, scene 1) Composed and conducted by Benjamin Britten. Performed by Claire Watson (soprano) and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
DISC SIX: Schubert Winterreise : Das Wirtshaus, performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) and Gerald Moore (piano)  
DISC SEVEN: Wagner - Der Ring : Keilberth, Bayreuth live, 1955. Act 3 Die Walküre, Denn einer nur freie die Braut. Performed by Hans Hotter (bass-baritone) and Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
DISC EIGHT: Symphony Number 3 in D minor Mahler 3 : Mov’t 6, Ruhevoll- Empfunden (what love tells me) Performed by Vienna Philharmonic and conducted by Claudio Abaddo 

BOOK CHOICE:  The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter
LUXURY ITEM: A grand piano with a tuning kit   
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Wagner - Der Ring : Keilberth, Bayreuth live, 1955. Act 3 Die Walküre, Denn einer nur freie die Braut. Performed by Hans Hotter (bass-baritone) and Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

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