Louis MacNeice Christopher Columbus

SANWAL

(4.3 stars; 3 reviews)

Christopher Columbus Thu 24th Dec 1992, 19:30 on BBC Radio 3 Louis MacNeice's epic verse play with music by William Walton. Soloists; BBC Singers BBC Symphony Orchestra conductor Simon Joly   Columbus: Alan Howard Beatriz: Hannah Gordon Queen Isabella: Elizabeth Bell Voice of Doubt: Brian Sanders Voice of Faith: Jill Balcon Bartolome: Mark Straker Francisco: Eric Allan Carlos: David Bannerman Brother Pedro: Richard Pearce Prior Juan Perez: Robert Eddison Brother Antonio: Brett Usher Herald: Michael Kilgarriff Talavera: Michael Aldridge Duke of Medina-Sidonia: Timothy Bateson Duke of Medina-Celi: Fraser Kerr   Mendoza: John Moffatt Marquesa de Moya: Elizabeth Mansfield Maria: Rebecca Jones Town Crier: Nigel Carrington Luis: Ronald Herdman Gutierrez: Gary Todd The first performance of the radio play was given by the BBC on 12 October 1942, with Columbus played by Laurence Olivier. Louis MacNeice's acclaimed radio epic Christopher Columbus was produced to mark the 450th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America. With a superb score by William Walton, and first broadcast by the BBC Home Service on 12 October 1942, with Columbus played by Laurence Olivier. It was said by historian Asa Briggs to have ‘created a sensation in artistic circles on both sides of the Atlantic’. In his introduction to the radio play script, MacNeice comments that “‘Creative’ works written for broadcasting … are heard once and no one has the chance to go back to them”. Louis MacNeice was a major poet who was employed by the BBC, mostly in the innovative Radio Features department, from 1941 to his death in 1963, although in his final years he worked only part-time. His programmes are invariably layered, learned combinations of documentary elements with imaginative drama.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.