Private Passions

Stephen Poliakoff made his mark as a playwright very early; he began writing plays as a schoolboy and got first review in The Times when he was only seventeen. At the age of twenty-four he became writer in residence at the National Theatre and he's also written for the RSC. But it's as a television scriptwriter and director that Poliakoff is now best-known, with series such as "Shooting the Past", "Dancing on the Edge" and recently, "Close to the Enemy". Some of our very greatest actors - Maggie Smith, Lindsey Duncan, Timothy Spall - have queued up to work with him time and again. There have been nineteen television dramas and films to date, broadcast over the last forty years, and though they all have different settings, there's a strong atmosphere in common. Filmed in strange dream-like locations - old train carriages, empty country houses, abandoned ballrooms - they explore how the past haunts the present. And in particular, family secrets. Poliakoff claims that every family has at least three good stories in it; and his certainly has more than its fair share. In Private Passions he tells Michael Berkeley about how his father witnessed the Russian Revolution as a boy, and reflects on the influence of Russian culture on his childhood. He talks too about the importance of trying to observe life with the fresh curiosity of a child, and how his films capture a child's-eye view. Music choices include Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp; Bach's Cantata "O Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht"; Haydn's Symphony No 49 and Michael Tippett's Concerto for Double String Orchestra. Produced by Elizabeth Burke A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

Sebastian Barry's great-grand-father was a traditional Irish musician, who played on the wooden flute and piccolo. His mother was an actress at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin; his aunt Mary O'Hara had a huge career as a singer and harpist with her own series on the BBC. Little surprise then that Sebastian Barry's writing is musical in the widest sense; full of the rich music of everyday speech. It's an impressive body of work: fourteen plays, two volumes of poetry, and nine novels. Two of his novels, "The Secret Scripture" and the latest, "Days Without End", have won the coveted Costa Book of the Year prize. When he thanked the judges earlier this year, Barry declared: "You have made me crazy happy from the top of my head to my toes in a way that is a little bit improper at sixty-one."In Private Passions, Sebastian Barry talks to Michael Berkeley about the "gaps" in Irish history he has explored in his books: areas which are touchy, taboo, and perhaps deliberately forgotten now, such as the fate of those who were Catholic, but loyal to Britain. He reveals too that his latest novel, a love story between two young soldiers, was inspired by his son coming out as gay. Music choices include Bruch's Violin Concerto; Handel's "Judas Maccabaeus"; Alfred Deller singing "Three Ravens"; Bach's Cello Suites; and his aunt Mary O'Hara singing a song written by Sebastian Barry's own mother. Produced by Elizabeth Burke A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

Michael Craig-Martin is one of our most influential artists, celebrated for his huge black and white wall drawings and intensely coloured paintings of everyday objects, as well as his installations, sculpture, and computer-generated works. A pioneering conceptualist, he's always provoking questions about what we understand to be art.Born in Dublin in 1941, Michael Craig-Martin grew up in the United States but returned to Britain in the 1960s where he's lived and worked ever since. He's had numerous solo exhibitions and his work is in national collections worldwide. He is Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths, having taught there for over four decades, and he's been nicknamed 'the godfather of the Young British Artists', who include Damien Hirst, Gary Hume and Sarah Lucas.He received a CBE in 2001 and was knighted in 2016.Michael Craig-Martin talks to Michael Berkeley about the parallels between his art and the music he loves, including Satie, Bach, the Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt, and he reveals his long-standing passion for opera. Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

Dame Vivien Duffield is one of our leading philanthropists, and her passion for the arts - and particularly opera - is reflected in her giving. Her Foundation, the Clore Duffield Foundation, has supported the Royal Opera House, the Tate, the Royal Ballet, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Southbank Centre and The National Children's Museum. It all amounts to more than 200 million pounds over the last fifty years. In 2008 the Prince of Wales presented her with one of the first medals for arts philanthropy.In Private Passions Dame Vivien talks to Michael Berkeley about why it's important to give money to the arts in this country, and about the legacy of her extraordinary family. Her father, the businessman Sir Charles Clore, was brought up poor in East London - but ended up a millionaire property developer and owner of Selfridges. Despite his own success, he was determined that his daughter should never go into the business, a job not at all suitable for a woman. But he did take her to concerts and the opera, and ignited Dame Vivien's passion for the arts. Dame Vivien's choices capture key performances she's been lucky enough to see: Edif Piaf, for instance, on the Paris stage, "tiny, in a little black slip dress, virtually carried on to the stage." She saw Callas too, and Placido Domingo, in a disastrous first night at the Royal Opera House when he kept sliding down the vertiginous slate set. Other music choices include Richard Strauss's Alpine Symphony; Wagner's Parsifal; and Ravel's Kaddisch sung by Jessye Norman. Produced by Elizabeth Burke A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

Nick Davies is an expert in the art of deception - as practised by the cuckoo. He has spent his career studying that deceiving, murderous bird, and living in woods and wild gardens, even up in a mountain hut in the Pyrenees. He's a hugely influential scientist: since the late 1970s he's really helped define the field in behavioural ecology, and he's Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Pembroke College. But really, as he tells Michael Berkeley, he's happier not sitting in a library, but roaming the fens. In Private Passions, Nick Davies reveals what he's learned about bird behaviour, and how birds use song to compete and, sometimes, collaborate to sing duets. He explains how some birds sing in poetry, some in prose; and why the blackbird in your back garden is a better songster than the nightingale. Music choices reflect his passion for the beauty of the natural world: Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, for instance, Vaughan Williams's Lark Ascending, and songs by Herbert Howells and Samuel Barber about the transformative power of nature. We also hear the song of larks, nightingales, blackbirds, pink-footed geese - and the croaking of natterjack toads. Produced by Elizabeth Burke A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

A chance to hear a programme recorded in 2017 with Michael Berkeley talking to the children's author Shirley Hughes, who died in February this year. On her ninetieth birthday, Shirley Hughes, the creator of many of our best-loved and most enduring children's books, talked to Michael Berkeley about her musical passions. In a career spanning nearly 70 years, Shirley wrote as many books and illustrated nearly two hundred. She was the first winner of the Book Trust Lifetime Achievement Award, twice won the Kate Greenaway Medal, and was awarded a CBE for services to literature. Her picture books have an enduring appeal with their sympathetic but unsentimental depiction of the small dramas and joys of family life. Shirley Hughes chose music by Scriabin, Mozart, Beethoven and The Beatles - who reminded her of her roots in Liverpool and share her love of storytelling.Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

Dan Pearson discovered his passion for gardens very young, building landscapes for his toy trolls out of stones. He's now one of our most influential landscape designers, with work ranging from private gardens around the world - including Chatsworth - to the 600-acre Tokachi Forest Garden in northern Japan, and gardens in Manchester and London for the Cancer charity Maggie's. He's written five books, presented several television series, and exhibited at Chelsea six times, winning awards each time - last time, for Best in Show. He's known for his painterly naturalistic planting, or to put it more simply, he likes to create landscapes which look wild, and ancient. He says, "the way I garden is to let things go almost to the brink of being lost".In Private Passions, Dan Pearson talks to Michael Berkeley about his love of wild plants, and the influence of a very neglected garden of a house he lived in as a child. He reveals how his gardens for cancer patients and his encounters with the people he's met there have changed his sense of what a garden means. He talks too about the way in which music inspires his landscape designs; he loves music which creates a sense of wide open space. Choices include Estonian composer Arvo Pärt; 12th-century polyphony; Spanish guitar music; the Bulgarian Trio Bulgarka and Moondog. Produced by Elizabeth Burke A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

Lindsey Davis is best known for her series of historical crime stories about a laid-back amateur sleuth called Marcus Didius Falco. Set against the turmoil of the 1st-century Roman Empire, the books are witty, gritty and hugely entertaining. She's also written stand-alone novels about Ancient Rome, and about the English Civil War.The recipient of many awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, Lindsey writes a book a year, but has still found time to be the Chair of the Society of Authors and Honorary President of the Classical Association. Lindsey talks to Michael Berkeley about her introduction to music as a schoolgirl in Birmingham, her passion for symphonic music and her decision to introduce a new, feisty female protagonist to succeed her beloved Falco.Her music includes works by Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak and - appropriately - Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture.Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

As part of Canada 150, a week of programmes marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the nation, Michael Berkeley talks to Canadian novelist Madeleine Thien.Born in Vancouver, she is the daughter of Malaysian-Chinese immigrants to Canada and her writing explores the history of the Asian diaspora. She is the author a short story collection 'Simple Recipes' and the novels 'Certainty', 'Dogs at the Perimeter' and 'Do Not Say We Have Nothing' -about musicians studying Western classical music at the Shanghai Conservatory in the 1960s and about the legacy of the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2016 and the Governor General's Award 2016. Her books and stories have been translated into 23 languages.Madeleine talks to Michael about the history of Western of classical music in China and its suppression during the Cultural Revolution. Countless instruments were destroyed, including more than 500 pianos at the Shanghai Conservatory. The bravery of its director, He Luting, a Debussy scholar, in resisting the Red Guards was an inspiration to her as she wrote the book and she chooses a piece of his music.She tells Michael how her love of music was reborn as she listened to Bach whilst writing Do Not Say We Have Nothing, and we hear Bach's music played by the Chinese pianist Zhu Xiao Mei. She also chooses music from fellow Canadians Glenn Gould and Leonard Cohen. Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3CANADA 150: a week of programmes from across Canada, marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the nation and exploring the range and diversity of Canadian music and arts.

Michael Berkeley talks to Patsy Rodenburg, the most highly acclaimed voice teacher of her generation, about the music she loves. Patsy Rodenburg has worked with pretty much every actor you can name, including Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and Daniel Day Lewis. They all testify to the huge impact she has had on their careers and performances. Among the many companies she's worked with all over the world are the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and she continues to teach drama students, as she has done for more than 20 years, at the Guildhall School of Music and the Michael Howard Studios in New York.Patsy tells Michael about her passion for helping everyone - actors, singers, children, business leaders and even prisoners - find their own natural, strong voice, a frequently moving and liberating experience. Among her choices is music by Sibelius, Strauss, Bach and Philip Glass.Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus Production for BBc Radio 3.