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Sofka Zinovieff, writer

Michael Berkeley's guest is the writer Sofka Zinovieff.

Like many writers, Sofka Zinovieff draws on her own history in her books – and her family tree offers plenty of inspiration. Her paternal grandmother was born into Russian high society, fled to England after the 1917 revolution and became a Communist. Sofka wrote her biography.

Her maternal grandmother married the eccentric aristocrat Robert Heber-Percy, and for a time shared a house with his lover, the artist and composer Lord Berners. Sofka has also charted her story.

Her father Peter was a composer and co-founder of Britain's first synthesiser manufacturer, making instruments used by the likes of Pink Floyd and David Bowie.
He banned his many children from attending his funeral – a decision which inspired her most recent book, a novel called Stealing Dad.

Sofka's music includes Bach, Monteverdi, Theodorakis and Mozart.

29 days left to listen

1 hour, 26 minutes

Last on

Today12:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Protegga il giusto cielo (Don Giovanni)

    Singer: Lisa della Casa. Singer: Elisabeth Grümmer. Singer: Léopold Simoneau. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Dmitri Mitropoulos.
    • Mozart: Don Giovanni - The Sony Opera House.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 7.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Organ Sonata in E minor, BWV528 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson.
    • Johann Sebastian Bach.
    • DG.
    • 5.

  • Hans Werner Henze

    Tristan (Short Section)

    Performer: Peter Zinovieff.
    • Electric Calendar - The EMS Tapes.
    • Space Age Recordings.
    • 5.

  • Lord Berners

    The Triumph of Neptune (The Frozen Forest)

    Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North. Conductor: David Lloyd‐Jones.
    • Triumph of Neptune.
    • Marco Polo.
    • 05.

  • Andy Razaf

    My Handy Man Ain't Handy No More

    Composer: Eubie Blake. Singer: Alberta Hunter.
    • Amtrak Blues.
    • Columbia.
    • 5.

  • Mikis Theodorakis

    Tis Agapis Emata

    Singer: George Dalaras. Choir: Mikis Theodorakis Choir. Conductor: Mikis Theodorakis.
    • Axion Esti (Live) Remastered.
    • EMI Greece.
    • 10.

  • Claudio Monteverdi

    L'Orfeo (Prologo)

    Ensemble: Cappella Mediterranea. Singer: Mariana Flores. Conductor: Leonardo García Alarcón.
    • Monteverdi L'Orfeo.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 1.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (Cantata BWV 106)

    Singer: Nancy Argenta. Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Singer: Stephen Varcoe. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Bach, J.S.: Cantatas.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 2.

  • Anna Papadimitriou

    I Remember Once (Mia Fora Thimamai)

Broadcast

  • Today12:00
    BBC Radio 3

Podcast