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LAST WORD
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 FridayÌýÌýÌý16:00-16:30
SundayÌý20:30-21:00Ìý(rpt)
Radio 4's weekly obituaries programme |
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This week |
Friday 7th September 2007
(Rpt) SundayÌý9th September
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Luciano Pavarotti
Italian tenorÌýwho hasÌýdied aged 71.Ìý
Luciano Pavarotti was much more than a great singer, he was a genuine international star who took the music he loved out of the opera house and into the parks and amphitheatres of the world. Under his parents’ influence, by the age of nineteen, Pavarotti had given up his sporting ambitions and was preparing to train as a teacher. But then – in 1955 he travelled with his father’s choir – the Corale Rossini – to compete in the Llangollen Eisteddfod.Ìý
During his first six years of musical training, Pavarotti struggled to find bookings. But in 1961 he won a competition in which the prize was to give a performance as Rodolfo in La Boheme. Further bookings throughout Italy and the rest of Europe followed. In 1963 he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden, again in Boheme.
Matthew Bannister talks toÌýa number of people with different perspectives on the Pavarotti story. Bob Attenborough,Ìý former company secretary of the Llangollen Eisteddfod, opera singerÌýJoan Carlyle, Bill Holland, former managing director of Universal Classics which owns Pavarotti’s record label Decca and Anne Midgette, a classical music contributor to the New York Times.
Luciano Pavarotti was born on October 12th 1935. He died September 6th 2007.
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Geoffrey Orbell
Rediscovered the takahe and who has died aged 98.
Geoffrey Buckland Orbell was a respected doctor working in his native New Zealand. But that’s not why he will be remembered around the world. Because Dr Orbell was also the man who rediscovered the takahe. This large, flightless bird – a kind of giant moorhen weighing 3kg and with a massive bright red bill -- was thought to be extinct until Dr. Orbell made his sensational discovery in 1948.
For Last Word, the writer and naturalist Mark Cocker pays tribute.
Geoffrey Orbell was born October 7th 1908. he died August 15th 2007. |
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Michael Jackson
Beer writer who has died aged 65.Ìý
The beer writer Michael Jackson liked to make jokes about his more famous namesake even appearing in a TV series wearing one white glove and often threatening to moonwalk. But in the world of beer festivals, this Michael Jackson was also a big star. It is said that he did for beer what Hugh Johnson did for wine. His 1977 World Guide To Beer is an international bestsellerÌý and his TV series the Beer Hunter was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
Michael Jackson was born in Yorkshire – the son of Jewish refugees from Lithuania. He left school at sixteen and went to work as a trainee reporter on the Huddersfield Examiner.Ìý
Matthew Bannister talks to Garrett Oliver whoÌýis an American brewer and to Mark Dorber whoÌýis a publican and friend.Ìý
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Michael Jackson was born on March 27th 1942. He died August 30th 2007. |
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Abdul-Rahman Aref
Iraqi Politician who has died aged 91.
Abdul-Rahman Aref was the last President of Iraq before Sadaam Hussein and the Ba’ath party took power. In the 1950s and 60s, Iraq went through a series of military coups. They started in 1958 when Abdul-Rahman’s flamboyant brotherÌýAbdul-SalamÌýmarched his troops into Baghdad where they killed King Faisal the second and most of the royal family. After months of anarchy and bloodshed Abdul-Salam Aref became president and installed his elder brother as acting head of the army. When Abdul-Salam died in a helicopter crash in 1966, his brother took over as President.
Matthew Bannister talks to Adnan Pachachi who was Iraq’s Foreign minister under Abdul-Rahman Aref.
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Abdul-Rahman Aref wasÌýborn 1916. He died August 24th 2007. |
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