Stephen Fry picks his classical music Showstoppers on Scala Radio
Writer, actor, comedian, broadcaster and all-round national treasure, Stephen Fry joined Mark Forrest for a very special show in partnership with The Prince’s Trust
Last updated 23rd Oct 2020
On Sunday 27 September writer, actor, comedian, broadcaster and all-round national treasure, Stephen Fry joined Mark Forrest for a very special show - ‘Stephen Fry’s Showstoppers, where he discussed two things he holds close to his heart, classical music and the important work of The Prince’s Trust.
During the programme, Fry, an Ambassador for the Trust spoke of the work of the forty-four-year-old charity which works with disadvantaged young people to turn their lives around.
Who are The Prince's Trust?
The Prince's Trust deploys a range of different initiatives to bring about impactful change - from running programmes to helping unemployed young people gain the skills and confidence they need to find a job or training opportunity, and even set up their own business.
“It's not there just simply to give out money as a charity. It's planting seeds. It's recognising the passion of young people, and trying to fill the gap between that passion and the lack of opportunity that has been the case since His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales set it up.”
Donate £5, £10, £20 or £30 to The Prince’s Trust and make a life changing difference. Text HOPE, followed by the amount you would like to give, to 70545. So HOPE5 for £5, HOPE10 for £10, HOPE20 for £20 and HOPE30 for £30.
Find out more about how you can support The Prince's Trust here.
Weekday drive-time presenter Mark Forrest regularly invites listeners to decide what closes his radio show with daily polls for showstopping music, which has been picked by many of the guests who have been on Scala Radio.
For this special Showstopper show, Mark asked Stephen to select his choices for five different Showstopper categories: favourite classical pieces; film scores; musicals; underrated pieces and music to start the weekend. Mark invites Stephen to dig a little deeper into his passion for the music, and explains why, in his own words, they are ‘damn good tunes’.
What did Stephen Fry select as his Scala Radio Showstoppers?
1. Favourite Classical Piece
Mark kicked things off by asking Stephen to select his top two tracks which stand out against the rest, the classical pieces that take you back to the first moment you heard them no matter how many times you've heard it, or how long ago that was.
First choice - Mozart - Piano Concerto No.20
“Sometimes you can't explain why a particular piece grabs you and this piece grabbed me quite early on.” Explained Fry. “Once you've heard it a few times it will make you just kind of gasp and go gooey.”
“Beethoven heard this piece, and he turned to his friend and said there is nothing left for us to do. In other words, he felt that what Mozart achieved with this was exactly what he was planning to do with music.”
Second choice - Bach - Chaconne in D Minor
Stephen chose a track that wasn’t played as Bach had first written it. “A lot of people have heard Bach and things like The Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier. But of course, there wasn't a piano when Bach was around in the 18th century. He went for the harpsichord, but they've since developed into piano pieces."
2. Favourite Track from a Musical
Despite not having a singing voice, Stephen began a lifelong fascination with stage musicals at an early age by taking to the stage at school. He later went on to revise the script for Me and My Girl when it returned to the West End in the 1980s.
First choice - Lerner & Loewe’s I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady
“Every musical needs a wish song, in which the hero or heroine has to set out what their ambitions are in life what they want in the world. I found as many people who've worked on musicals have, that there isn't a single problem you can have in musicals, that isn't solved brilliantly by Lerner & Loewe in My Fair Lady.”
Second choice - Frank Loesser – Guys and Dolls
“I was just blown away by it I thought it was truly extraordinary. It's the street world, it's Damon Runyon's world of New York streets, they're not criminals exactly, they're just illegal gamblers. But underneath it all, it has such a beating heart, and the wonderful Adelaide with her fabulous song Lament, it was just wonderful.”
3. Favourite Film Score
First choice - Korngold - Sea Hawk
"I think is one of the best pieces of 20th century music, let alone film score music,” said Fry talking about the score for Sea Hawk, by the Austrian-born composer and conductor Korngold."
Second choice - Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in America
Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpet player, Ennio Morricone who passed away in July of this year, wrote more than 400 scores for film and TV, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and The Hateful Eight. It was his score for Once Upon a Time in America that Stephen chose as his second showstopper piece.
“The music stitches together in the most extraordinary way and like all of any Morricone, once you’ve seen the film with his music in it, you've only got to hear a bar of that music and you're back in the film.”
4. Underrated Piece
The underrated category gives Mark’s guests the opportunity to showcase a piece of music that they regard to have been overlooked.
First choice - Charles-Valentin Alkan - Chanson de la Folle Au Bord de la Mer
“Charles-Valentin Alkan had the most unfortunate death,” Explained Fry. “He was reaching out for a book on the top of his bookshelf and the whole bookshelf collapsed upon him and killed him.”
“I remember thinking there was something otherworldly and enchanting about it. It was a beautiful tune that seemed to come from far away, and it's titled The Song of The Mad Woman by the Side of the Sea.”
Second choice - Rossini - Barber of Seville Overture
Fry explained that he often feels Rossini's music is underrated by people "because it's so joyful and thrilling and familiar. People remember it from the Bugs Bunny cartoon and from things like that. It's so fabulously happy and bouncy and thrilling, that it's very easy to overlook its masterly qualities.”
5. Music to start the weekend
The final category gives the picker the freedom to play whatever they want.
First choice - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Spanish Flea
"I remember buying for 99p a Music for pleasure vinyl LP when I was about 14 or 15. This piece was one of the tracks. I just fell for it. I defy anybody not to love it."
Second choice - Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Morning Coming Down - Johnny Cash
Stephen’s final showstopper choice features two of Stephen’s heroes, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.
“Two great people. One is Kris Kristofferson, whom people may just think is that bearded guy who was Barbra Streisand’s lover in the second remake of A Star is Born. Kristoffersen's passion was country music. He grew a beard, picked up a guitar and virtually walked to the southern states. One of the songs he wrote was for another great hero of mine, Johnny Cash. A man whose voice just takes me to places few other people's can."