Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

A Greek Odyssey

Words and music on the theme of Greece, with readings by Sian Phillips and Timothy West. Music by Mikis Theodorakis, Strauss and Monteverdi, plus Euripides, Homer and Seferis.

Words and Music on the theme of Greece, from classical antiquity to modern day Greece, gripped by austerity.

Sian Phillips and Timothy West read the classical poetry of Euripides and Homer, defiant verses against the 1960s dictatorship by Nobel prize winner George Seferis, and contemporary poetry about Greece and the financial crisis.

Lord Byron champions Greek independence in The Isles of Greece, Gerald Durrell relives his childhood in Corfu in My Family and Other Animals, and Louis de Bernieres depicts life in Kefalonia during World War II in Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Modern day Greek poets have organised poetry demonstrations in Athens, and we hear Stamatis Polenakis' take on austerity in "Poetry Does Not Suffice".

Sian Phillips performs Medea's monologue from Euripides' tragedy and the great American-Greek soprano Maria Callas sings Medea in a famous live recording of Cherubini's opera from La Scala Milan in 1953, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

Another world-renowned Greek soprano, Agnes Baltsa, sings traditional songs and we hear music played on the bouzouki and tambourin, native Greek instruments.

Mikis Theodorakis (born 1925) is one of the Greece's best-loved contemporary composers and his music for the film Zorba the Greek has achieved classic status. Iannis Xenakis is one of the most important post-war avant garde composers, who pioneered the use of mathematical models in music.

Music also includes Schubert's depiction of the Journey to Hades, Richard Strauss' opera Ariadne auf Naxos, Monteverdi's Orfeo, and Stravinsky's Greek ballet Apollo.

Producer: Timothy Prosser.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 2 Dec 2012 18:30
大象传媒 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Revenge

Next

Entente Cordiale

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Nasos Vayenas

    Beautiful Summer Morning (Sian Phillips)

  • 00:00

    N委魏慰蟼 危魏伪位魏蠋蟿伪蟼

    Epirotikos, from Seven Greek Dances

    Performer: Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Nikos Chirstodoulou (conductor)

    • BIS CD 904.

  • Homer

    From The Odyssey 鈥� Invocation to the Muse (Timothy West)

  • 00:03

    Manos Hadjidakis

    A carnation behind your ear

    Performer: Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano), Athens Experimental Orchestra, Stavros Xarhakos (conductor)

    • DG 419 2362.

  • Dinos Siotis

    Tinos (Sian Phillips)

  • 00:06

    Claudio Monteverdi

    Toccata from L'Orfeo

    Performer: The English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

    • Archiv 419 250 2.

  • Manolis Anagnostakis

    Thessaloniki, Days of AD 1969 (Timothy West)

  • 00:09

    Harry Partch

    Study on Ancient Greek Scale

    Performer: Kronos Quartet

    • Nonesuch 7559 79457 2.

  • Stamatis Polenakis

    Poetry Does Not Suffice (Sian Phillips)

  • 00:12

    Franz Schubert

    Fahrt zum Hades (Journey to Hades)

    Performer: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Jorg Demus (piano)

    • DG 463 504 2.

  • Patrick Leigh Fermor

    from Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese (Timothy West)

  • 00:19

    Igor Stravinsky

    Pas de deux, from Apollo (Three Greek Ballets)

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra, Robert Craft (conductor)

    • Naxos 8 557502.

  • Jenny Mastoraki

    Then the Trojan horse said (Sian Phillips)

  • 00:23

    Yiorgos Yevyelis

    Traditional Dance from Thrace (Kerchief Dance)

    Performer: Yorgos Yevyelis (tambourin), Christos Constandinou (bouzouki)

    • Arion 64089.

  • Euripides

    from Medea (Sian Phillips)

  • 00:28

    Luigi Cherubini

    from Medea, End of Act1, Live 1953 recording

    Performer: Maria Callas (Medea), Gino Penno (Giasone), Orchestra of La Scala Milan, Leonard Bernstein (conductor)

    • EMI 567909 2.

  • Byron

    from The Isles of Greece (Timothy West)

  • 00:34

    Yannis Constantinidis

    from Eight Dances from Greek Islands

    Performer: Elena Mouzalas (piano)

    • ADDA 581199.

  • Gerald Durrell

    from My Family and Other Animals (Timothy West)

  • 00:38

    Mikis Theodorakis

    Zorba's Dance, from Zorba The Ballet

    Performer: Hungarian State Orchestra and Choir, Mikis Theodorakis (conductor)

    • INT 3103 2.

  • Louis de Bernieres

    from Captain Corelli鈥檚 Mandolin (Sian Phillips)

  • 00:48

    Richard Strauss

    from Ariadne auf Naxos

    Performer: Anna Tomowa-Sintow (soprano), Vienna Philharmonic, James Levine (conductor)

    • DG 419 225 2.

  • C P Cavafy

    Waiting for the Barbarians (Timothy West)

  • 00:56

    Christos Constandinou

    Fantasie in the minor key

    Performer: Christos Constandinou (bouzouki)

    • Arion 64089.

  • Keats

    from Ode on a Grecian Urn (Sian Phillips)

  • 00:59

    Henry Purcell

    In Vain the Am'rous Flute

    Performer: James Bowman, Michael Chance (countertenors), The King鈥檚 Consort, Robert King (conductor)

    • Hyperion CDA 66253.

  • Robert Graves

    Under the Olives (Timothy West)

  • Sappho

    Which is best? (Sian Phillips)

  • 01:06

    Iannis Xenakis

    from Okho

    Performer: Pablo Rieppi, Robert McEwan, David Rozenblatt (percussion)

    • STX mode 56.

  • George Seferis

    Denial (Timothy West)

  • 01:08

    Stavros Xarchakos

    Barcarolle

    Performer: Agnes Baltsa (mezzo), Athens Experimental Orchestra, Stavros Xarhakos (conductor)

    • DG 419 236 2.

Broadcast

  • Sun 2 Dec 2012 18:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.