Composer of the Week - Lord Berners - Berners the Socialite

Berners spent his life mixing with some of the most conspicuous names in the artistic world. Throughout his career he had fruitful collaborations with such luminaries as Serge Diaghilev, George Balanchine, Gertrude Stein, Sacheverell Sitwell and Constant Lambert. Donald Macleod introduces Berners’ fifth ballet, which was to be his final association with Frederick Ashton and Cecil Beaton, and the suite from his very last work – the score for the 1947 film of Charles Dickens’ novel Nicholas Nickleby. Come on, Algernon Mary Carewe (soprano) BBC Concert Orchestra Rumon Gamba, conductor CHANDOS CHAN 104590 T16 Les Sirènes RTE Sinfonietta David Lloyd-Jones, conductor MARCO POLO 8.223780 T1-10 Nicholas Nickleby Suite BBC Concert Orchestra Rumon Gamba, conductor CHANDOS CHAN10459 T18 The Sailor’s Return (from The Triumph of Neptune) Robert Grooters (baritone) Philadelphia Orchestra Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor SONY CLASSICAL SMK46683