Kika Markham
Michael Berkeley's guest is actress Kika Markham. Her selections include Beethoven's Violin Sonata No 5, a song from Guys and Dolls and the love duet from Handel's Rodelinda.
Michael Berkeley's guest is the actor Kika Markham, widow of Corin Redgrave.
'Actors by their nature are curious, fickle, insecure people: flirts. They should not live together.' So says Kika Markham; but she didn't follow her own advice; instead she fell in love with the actor Corin Redgrave - they were together for 33 years until his death in 2010.
Kika's own career began in the 1960s; she made her name in a series of television films, directed by Ken Loach, Dennis Potter, and then, for the cinema, by Francois Truffaut. Now in her early seventies, Kika Markham is still on television, playing the mother of Mr Selfridge in the successful ITV period drama.
In 'Private Passions' she talks to Michael Berkeley about the central role of music in her life. She remembers working with Francois Truffaut, and falling in love with him - against all advice. She chooses music by the French composer who wrote soundtracks for many of Truffaut's films, Georges Delerue.
But it's her marriage to Corin Redgrave that forms the heart of the programme. She talks movingly about living with Corin during the final years of his life, after he suffered a brain injury and lost a great deal of memory. There were huge challenges for them both. And one of the losses, at first, was music - he could not bear to listen. But there came a moment when Kika sat at the piano, and Corin responded to her playing.
Her choices include Beethoven's 'Spring' Violin Sonata, in which she used to accompany her father, the actor David Markham; a song from 'Guys and Dolls'; and the love duet from Handel's 'Rodelinda'.
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3.
To hear previous episodes of Private Passions, please visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/r3pp/all.
Last on
Clip
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Kika Markham on Georges Delerue
Duration: 02:09
Music Played
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Sonata in F major, Op.24 (Spring)
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy. Performer: Itzhak Perlman. -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Sonata in F major, Op.24 (Spring)
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy. Performer: Itzhak Perlman. -
Georges Delerue
Anne et Claude (Two English Girls)
Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: Hugh Wolff. -
Georges Delerue
Anne et Claude (Two English Girls)
Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: Hugh Wolff. -
George Frideric Handel
Io t'abraccio (Rodelinda)
Orchestra: Raglan Baroque Players. Singer: Daniel Taylor. Singer: Sophie Daneman. Conductor: Nicholas Kraemer. -
George Frideric Handel
Io t'abraccio (Rodelinda)
Orchestra: Raglan Baroque Players. Singer: Daniel Taylor. Singer: Sophie Daneman. Conductor: Nicholas Kraemer. -
Frank Loesser
My time of day.... I've never been in love before (Guys and Dolls)
Singer: Julie Covington. Singer: Ian Charleson. -
Frank Loesser
My time of day.... I've never been in love before (Guys and Dolls)
Singer: Julie Covington. Singer: Ian Charleson. -
Robin Philips
Finsbury Park, on that day
Narrator: Jehane Markham. -
Robin Philips
Finsbury Park, on that day
Narrator: Jehane Markham. -
George Gershwin
I Got Rhythm
Performer: Charlie Parker. -
George Gershwin
I Got Rhythm
Performer: Charlie Parker.
Broadcasts
- Sun 26 Oct 2014 12:00´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
- Sun 24 May 2015 12:00´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
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Private Passions
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