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Rory Kinnear

Michael Berkeley's guest is actor Rory Kinnear. His choices include music from Bach, Haydn, Beethoven and Erroll Garner, as well as Burl Ives singing Big Rock Candy Mountain.

Michael Berkeley's guest is the actor Rory Kinnear.

Rory Kinnear is in danger of becoming a national treasure. Audiences across the world know him thanks to two Bond movies, where he plays M15 officer Bill Tanner. He was the journalist in the TV thriller Southcliffe, he was Denis Thatcher in the Margaret Thatcher TV biopic, he's the straight man to Count Arthur Strong... And he's established a reputation as one of our finest Shakespearean actors - his performance as Hamlet at the National Theatre was screened across the UK as part of the National's 50th anniversary celebrations. This summer he played an unforgettably chilling Iago to Adrian Lester's Othello, again at the National. And he's just turned playwright - his first play, The Herd, directed by Howard Davies, has opened in London.

He's a difficult actor to pin down. But in conversation with Michael Berkeley he reveals the man behind the theatrical mask. He talks movingly about his father, the actor Roy Kinnear, who was killed during a film stunt, and how he kept sane after the accident by playing the piano. Rory still plays in rehearsal rooms across the world, grabbing his chance at the piano while the other actors eat lunch. He reveals too that music is the key to his relationship with his sister, who was born with profound disabilities; Rory composes music for her, and plays songs as a way of communicating with her. He works increasingly with musicians, at the Proms last year, and in recordings. And, be warned, every morning he walks across London listening to music on his huge headphones - and singing along at the top of his voice.

Music choices include Mark Padmore singing Bach, Haydn's Trumpet Concerto, a Beethoven violin sonata, Erroll Garner, and Big Rock Candy Mountain.

First broadcast 13/10/2013.

1 hour

Last on

Sun 1 Feb 2015 12:00

Music Played

  • Joseph Haydn

    Trumpet Concerto in E flat, Hob Vlle/1 (Andante)

    Performer: Alison Balsom. Orchestra: Bremen Chamber Philharmonic.
    • EMI.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Trumpet Concerto in E flat, Hob Vlle/1 (Andante)

    Performer: Alison Balsom. Orchestra: Bremen Chamber Philharmonic.
    • EMI.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Violin Sonata No 10 in G, Op 96 (Adagio Espressivo)

    Performer: Glenn Gould. Performer: Yehudi Menuhin.
    • The Glenn Gould Edition.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 6.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Violin Sonata No 10 in G, Op 96 (Adagio Espressivo)

    Performer: Glenn Gould. Performer: Yehudi Menuhin.
    • The Glenn Gould Edition.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 6.
  • Cole Porter

    It's All Right With Me

    Performer: Erroll Garner.
    • Concert by the Sea.
    • BMG.
    • 5.
  • Cole Porter

    It's All Right With Me

    Performer: Erroll Garner.
    • Concert by the Sea.
    • BMG.
    • 5.
  • Béla Bartók

    Piano Concerto No 3, Sz 119 BB127 (Adagio Religioso)

    Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Orchestra: ´óÏó´«Ã½ Philharmonic. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.
    • Chandos.
  • Béla Bartók

    Piano Concerto No 3, Sz 119 BB127 (Adagio Religioso)

    Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Orchestra: ´óÏó´«Ã½ Philharmonic. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.
    • Chandos.
  • Alfred Schnittke

    Choir Concerto (4th mvt)

    Conductor: Stephen Layton. Choir: Holst Singers.
    • Hyperion.
  • Alfred Schnittke

    Choir Concerto (4th mvt)

    Conductor: Stephen Layton. Choir: Holst Singers.
    • Hyperion.
  • Trad.

    Big Rock Candy Mountain

    Singer: Burl Ives.
    • Collection: The Best of Burl Ives.
    • MCA Classics.
    • 10.
  • Trad.

    Big Rock Candy Mountain

    Singer: Burl Ives.
    • Collection: The Best of Burl Ives.
    • MCA Classics.
    • 10.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Was willst du dich (Cantata BMV 8; Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?)

    Singer: Mark Padmore. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Bach Cantatas: Vol 8.
    • Soli Deo Gloria.
    • 14.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Was willst du dich (Cantata BMV 8; Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?)

    Singer: Mark Padmore. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Bach Cantatas: Vol 8.
    • Soli Deo Gloria.
    • 14.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 13 Oct 2013 12:00
  • Sun 1 Feb 2015 12:00

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