Main content

Susie Boyt

Writer Susie Boyt tells Michael Berkeley about singing songs with her father, painter Lucian Freud, and about her lifelong love for Judy Garland.

The novelist and journalist Susie Boyt tells Michael Berkeley about her lifelong passions for music, theatre and dancing.

Whether she’s writing black comedies about dysfunctional families or about her intense love of Judy Garland, Susie Boyt is unafraid to address the big questions in all our lives. Her seven novels explore how we can best take care of people, how we can survive life’s inevitable traumas and how we might live alongside the loss of people we love.

Susie chooses pieces by Mozart, Beethoven and Britten as well as music from the ballet Giselle that conjures up the fragility and vulnerability of childhood. Susie’s father was the painter Lucian Freud and we hear a song by the music hall star Gus Elen which recalls the many hours she sat for him in his studio sharing their love of song lyrics.

Producer: Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 3

Available now

32 minutes

Last on

Sun 19 Feb 2023 12:00

Music Played

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Sonata in B flat major, Op.106 (Hammerklavier) (3rd mvt: Adagio Sostenuto)

    Performer: Murray Perahia.
  • Adolphe Adam

    Giselle (Act 1: Giselle's Entrance)

    Orchestra: Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Nicolette Fraillon.
  • Gus Elen

    It's a great big shame!

  • Benjamin Britten

    The Turn of the Screw (Act 1, Prologue)

    Singer: Ian Bostridge. Orchestra: Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Daniel Harding.
  • Kurt Weill

    It Never Was You

    Performer: Dave Lee. Singer: Judy Garland.
  • Jule Styne

    Overture: Gypsy

    Conductor: Milton Rosenstock.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Sonata in C major, K.545 (2nd mvt: Andante)

    Performer: Mitsuko Uchida.

Broadcast

  • Sun 19 Feb 2023 12:00

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

For Private Passions, Jools Holland revealed his piano history to Michael Berkeley.

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield’s Private Passions

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield’s Private Passions

Harry doesn't usually give interviews – but he couldn't say no to Michael Berkeley.

Archive Unlocked: Two Decades of Private Passions

Michael Berkeley introduces memorable interviews from Private Passions' archives.

Podcast