Show Notes
Charlie’s joined by fellow The Fast Show star, the comedian and actress Arabella Weir. She tells Charlie about classical music snobbery, going to an opera when she was 8 years old, becoming a ‘benchmark’ or a ‘ledge’, hanging out with Meryl Streep and more.
This episode of Charlie Higson and Friends featured a clip of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1, performed by Alexandra Dariescu and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by Schubert’s Piano Sonata No.21, played by Llyr Williams. Both extracts are taken from albums released on Signum Records, and are available to buy at signumrecords.com. A little later we heard a bit of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21, starring Yeol Eum Son and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. That’s available on Onyx records – find out more at onyxclassics.com
The Charlie Higson and Friends podcasts were originally broadcast as a series on Scala Radio in April 2021. Scala Radio is a classical music and entertainment station broadcasting across the UK on DAB digital radio, smart speaker, SKY TV channel 0216, the Scala Radio app and online at scalaradio.co.uk
More from Charlie Higson & Friends
Charlie continues chatting to his fellow The Fast Show star Simon Day, and in this episode they talk about going to the opera, Keith Jarrett, Charlie's Fast Show rules, classical vs jazz, Brian Pern and much more!
Charlie's friend in this episode is his fellow The Fast Show star Simon Day. They chat about Competitive Dad, being a mockney, how they met, working with John Thomson and Caroline Aherne and classical music including the composers Ennio Morricone and The Sherman Brothers.
Charlie's chat with comedian Lucy Porter continues and she tells him why she loves stand-up comedy and her favourite Radio 4 comedy shows. They discuss who would play Maria Callas in a biopic, their shared love of quizzes, women composers and Handel.
Charlie meets the comedian and actor Lucy Porter about comics (the kind you read), getting into classical music and getting into stand-up. Lucy tells Charlie about her first job working for Caroline Aherne at Granada TV and booking guests for the Mrs Merton Show, and they talk about using music to drift off to sleep.
In the second part of Charlie's conversation with the comedian, actor, writer and director Harry Enfield, they discuss classical music, the 'Women Know Your Limits' sketch, Gerard Hoffnung, smug music, parental advice and making 'Harry Enfield's Guide to Opera'.