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Simon Warrack

Michael Berkeley鈥檚 guest is stonemason Simon Warrack. With Vivaldi, Mozart, Elgar and Tippett.

Simon Warrack travels the world restoring the most sacred and beautiful buildings. As a stonemason he鈥檚 worked on the Rose Window of Canterbury Cathedral, the Trevi fountain in Rome, and the Temple of Angkor Watt in Cambodia. Coming from a professionally musical family - his father is the music writer John Warrack, his grandfather was the composer and conductor Guy Warrack 鈥 it鈥檚 no surprise that classical music is very important to him. But after taking a degree in Renaissance History at Warwick, Simon discovered his own personal vocation, and he鈥檚 now pre-eminent as a stone carver and advisor on the restoration of temples and religious statues. He lives in Rome but is currently in Britain with a delegation from Cambodia who are examining the treasures of British museums to see how many of them were looted illegally and should go back.

In conversation with Michael Berkeley, Simon Warrack talks about the joy and difficulty of cutting stone, and about how finding a pair of stone feet in the Cambodian jungle led him on a detective trail to discover how many religious artworks had been looted during the 1970s.
Music choices include Mozart, Verdi, Elgar, Britten, Tippett and Vivaldi.

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

Available now

40 minutes

Last on

Sun 20 Nov 2022 12:00

Music Played

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Laudamus te (Gloria, RV.589)

    Singer: Sophie Karth盲user. Singer: Lucile Richardot. Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: Paul Agnew.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Fugue (The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Benjamin Britten.
  • Michael Tippett

    Go Down Moses (A Child of our Time)

    Singer: John Shirley鈥怮uirk. Orchestra: 大象传媒 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Andante in C major, K.315

    Performer: Philippe Bernold. Orchestra: Paris Chamber Orchestra.
  • Edward Elgar

    Cello Concerto in E minor (1st mvt)

    Performer: Lynn Harrell. Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: Lorin Maazel.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Bella figlia dell'amore (Rigoletto)

    Orchestra: Orchestra of La Scala, Milan. Conductor: Rafael Kubel铆k.
  • Ros Serey Sothea

    Chnam oun Dop-Pram Muy

  • Martyn Beckett

    On the Sunny Side of the Street

Broadcast

  • Sun 20 Nov 2022 12:00

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