Andrew Leigh

I was delighted to appear today on Artsound Canberra (92.7 FM), to spend half an hour talking with presenter Jim Mooney about the role of classical music in a well-balanced life. Jim invited me to choose a few of my favourite tracks, so here's what I opted for:

1. Shostakovich’s 10^th Symphony (Allegro) - his great musical denunciation of the craziness of Stalin's era


2. Leoncavallo, Pagliacci, ‘Vesti la guibba’ - I chose the 1902 Caruso recording, which is scratchy, but magnificent nonetheless


3. Wagner, Tannhauser, ‘Wie Todesahnung’ - I used to take singing lessons for fun, and this is one I enjoyed singing


4. Carl Vine, 5^th Symphony, Part II (Tarantella) - a slightly crazed movement from the unique Australian composer

Here's a photo afterwards, with ArtSound general manager Chris Deacon (on the left) and Jim Mooney (on the right).