大象传媒

John Dyson spent 23 years as a judge, moving up through the High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and finally becoming Master of the Rolls. He retired as Master of the Rolls three years ago, but he鈥檚 back working on international arbitrations, busier than ever; in fact, he presided over the recent decision that the Saracens rugby team were being overpaid.

Through it all, the great passion that has sustained him is music. He's an accomplished pianist and took lessons from the legendary teacher Dame Fanny Waterman. Piano music is his first love, and so his music choices include Beethoven鈥檚 exuberant first piano concerto; Schubert鈥檚 F Minor Piano Fantasy for Four Hands, and Bach鈥檚 Goldberg Variations. He loves opera too, especially Verdi鈥檚 Otello, an opera written when the composer was in his seventies. Choosing Leonard Bernstein鈥檚 Chichester Psalms becomes an opportunity to talk about his Jewish heritage, and about his grandmother, who escaped from Bergen Belsen. John Dyson talks too about the rise of anti-Semitism now; he says: 鈥渙ur suitcases are packed.鈥�

A Loftus production for 大象传媒 Radio 3
Produced by Elizabeth Burke