Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Deception

Can you trust your ears? Can you trust your eyes? How often do you tell lies? Watch out for fraudsters here, for cheats, charlatans and spies. Nothing is what it seems.

Can you trust your ears? Can you trust your eyes? How often do you tell lies? Watch out for fraudsters here, for cheats, charlatans and spies. Nothing is what it seems. William Wordsworth sees an island that he knows isn鈥檛 there. Musical mirages are conjured by Shulamit Ran and Kaija Saariaho. Saariaho鈥檚 mirage contains a Mexican shaman bursting free from the deception of 鈥榬eality鈥� to a greater truth beyond.

There are lovers too. Many lovers. Vernon Scannell鈥檚 furtive adulterers. Tony and Maria from West Side Story sharing a delusion that there鈥檚 a place for them (there鈥檚 not). Meanwhile in the shadowy world of espionage, John Hollander鈥檚 undercover operative has a crisis of confidence, Joseph Conrad鈥檚 secret agent not only misleads his associates but betrays his wife in a terrible way and, as the Rhinemaidens sing in a performance of Wagner鈥檚 Gotterdammerung at the Bayreuth festival in 1942, none of the Nazi officials watching suspects that one of them 鈥� contralto Margery Booth 鈥� is a British spy.

What of the tricksters? The west African spider god Anansi fools stronger, fiercer animals into parting with gold and even their lives, while the 鈥榮andy-whiskered gentleman鈥� lulls Jemima Puddle-Duck into a false sense of security. Sometimes we can鈥檛 help being deceived and there are examples here 鈥� in the opening poem by Walter Savage Landor and the closing sonnet by Shakespeare 鈥� where deception in love is positively welcomed.

But make no mistake: deceiving other people is rarely a good thing, so heed the words in Yevgeny Yevtushenko鈥檚 Lies and extract the appropriate moral lesson from Pete Seeger singing Oh How He Lied.

The readers are Sheila Atim and Guy Masterson

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

READINGS:
Walter Savage Landor You Smiled, You Spoke and I Believed
Yevgeny Yevtushenko Lies
Vernon Scannell Taken in Adultery
Beatrix Potter The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
Walt Whitman Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances
William Wordsworth Lays and Legends of the English Lake Country
Virgil, translated by C. Day Lewis Aeneid
John Hollander Reflections on Espionage
Joseph Conrad The Secret Agent
Robert Browning Mr Sludge, The Medium
Kwame A. Insaidoo How Anansi Survived the Great Famine
William Shakespeare Sonnet 138

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 21 Nov 2021 17:30
91热爆 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

In Flux

Next

Windrush: Some Kind of 91热爆coming

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Shulamit Ran

    Mirage (1990) for five players

    Performer: Mary Stolper (flute), Cliff Colnot (conductor).
    • ERATO 0630127872.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:01

    Shulamit Ran

    Mirage

    Performer: Mary Stolper. Conductor: Cliff Colnot.

  • Walter Savage Landor

    You Smiled, You Spoke and I Believed, read by Guy Masterson

  • 00:02

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Six French Songs Op. 65: Deception

    Performer: Ljuba Kazarnovskaya (soprano), Ljuba Orfenova (piano).
    • NAXOS 8570438.
    • Tr3.
  • 00:02

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Deception, Op.65 no.2

    Performer: Ljuba Orfenova. Singer: 袥褞斜芯胁褜 袣邪蟹邪褉薪芯胁褋泻邪褟.

  • Yevgeny Yevtushenko

    Lies, read by Sheila Atim

  • 00:05

    Salma Al Assal

    El Ghaddara Deema - Life, The All Time Deceiver

    Performer: Salma Al Assal.
    • ARC Music EUCD 1945.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:06

    Salma Al Assal

    El Ghaddara Deema (Life, the all-time Deceiver)

  • Vernon Scannell

    Taken in Adultery, read by Guy Masterson

  • 00:11

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Era la notte, Cassio dormia

    Performer: Sergei Leiferkus (baritone - Iago), Orchestre de l聮Op茅ra Bastille, Myung-Whun Chung (conductor).
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4398052.
    • CD1 Tr21.
  • 00:11

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Era la notte... Oh! mostruosa colpe (Otello)

    Singer: Sergei Petrovich Leiferkus. Orchestra: Bastille Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung.
  • 00:14

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Oh! mostruosa colpa!

    Performer: Placido Domingo (tenor 聳 Otello), Sergei Leiferkus (baritone - Iago), Orchestre de l聮Op茅ra Bastille, Myung-Whun Chung (conductor).
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4398052.
    • CD1 Tr22.

  • Beatrix Potter

    The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, read by Sheila Atim

  • 00:18

    Edvard Grieg

    Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 - 2. Adagio

    Performer: Stephen Bishop Kovacevich (piano), 91热爆 Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis (conductor).
    • PHILIPS 4129232.
    • Tr2.
  • 00:18

    Edvard Grieg

    Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 (2nd mvt: Adagio)

    Performer: Stephen Kovacevich. Orchestra: 91热爆 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.

  • Walt Whitman

    Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances, read by Sheila Atim

  • 00:25

    Kaija Saariaho

    Mirage (2007; Text: Maria Sabina)

    Performer: Karita Mattila (soprano), Anssi Karttunen (cello), Orchestre de Paris, Christoph Eschenbach (conductor).
    • ONDINE ODE11302.
    • Tr9.
  • 00:25

    Kaija Saariaho

    Mirage

    Performer: Anssi Karttunen. Singer: Karita Mattila. Orchestra: Orchestre de Paris 鈥� Philharmonie. Conductor: Christoph Eschenbach.

  • William Wordsworth

    Lays and Legends of the English Lake Country, read by Guy Masterson

  • 00:33

    Leonard Bernstein

    Somewhere

    Performer: Jim Bryant, Marni Nixon.
    • Sony Masterworks SK 48211.
    • Tr14.
  • 00:33

    Leonard Bernstein

    Somewhere (West Side Story)

    Performer: Jimmy Bryant. Performer: Marni Nixon.

  • Virgil, translated by C. Day Lewis

    Aeneid, read by Sheila Atim

  • 00:36

    John Barry

    The Ipcress File

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: John Barry.
    • Echo ECHCD 54A.
    • Tr5.
  • 00:36

    John Barry

    The Ipcress File

  • John Hollander

    Reflections on Espionage, read by Guy Masterson

  • 00:41

    Richard Wagner

    Frau Sonne sendet lichte Strahlen

    Performer: Hilde Scheppan (soprano), Irmgard Langhammer (mezzo-soprano), Margery Booth (contralto), Chorus and Orchestra of Bayreuther Festspiele 1942, Karl Elmendorff (conductor).
    • PREISER 90164.
    • CD4 Tr1.
  • 00:41

    Richard Wagner

    Frau Sonne sendet lichte Strahlen (Gotterdammerung)

    Singer: Hilde Scheppan. Singer: Irmgard Langhammer. Orchestra: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Karl Elmendorff.

  • Joseph Conrad

    The Secret Agent, read by Sheila Atim

  • 00:45

    Gustav Holst

    Uranus, the Magician

    Performer: 91热爆 Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis (conductor).
    • TELDEC 4509945412.
    • Tr6.
  • 00:46

    Gustav Holst

    Uranus, the Magician (The Planets)

    Orchestra: 91热爆 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.

  • Robert Browning

    Mr Sludge, The Medium, read by Guy Masterson

  • 00:53

    Gaetano Donizetti

    Ardir! Ha forse il cielo mandato

    Performer: Luciano Pavarotti (Nemorino 聳 tenor), Enzo Dara (Dr Dulcamara 聳 basso buffo), The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine (conductor).
    • DEUTSHE GRAMMOPHON 4297442.
    • CD1 Tr11.
  • 00:00

    Gaetano Donizetti

    Voglio dire, lo stupendo elisir

    Performer: Luciano Pavarotti (Nemorino 聳 tenor), Enzo Dara (Dr Dulcamara 聳 basso buffo), The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine (conductor).
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4297442.
    • CD1 Tr12.
  • 00:53

    Gaetano Donizetti

    Ardir!... Voglio dire (L'Elisir d'amore)

    Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

  • Kwame A. Insaidoo

    How Anansi Survived the Great Famine, read by Sheila Atim

  • 01:03

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 26, op.81A 聳 Les adieux: Adagio, Allegro

    Performer: Arthur Rubinstein (piano).
    • RCA 09026630562.
    • Tr10.
  • 01:03

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata in E flat major, Op.81a (Les Adieux) (1st mvt: Adagio - Allegro)

    Performer: Arthur Rubinstein.

  • William Shakespeare

    Sonnet 138 - When my love swears that she is made of truth, read by Guy Masterson

  • 01:11

    Pete Seeger

    Oh How He Lied

    Performer: Pete Seeger.
    • SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS SFWCD40155.
    • CD4 Tr7.
  • 01:12

    Pete Seeger

    Oh How He Lied

Broadcasts

  • Sun 7 Oct 2018 17:30
    91热爆 Radio 3
  • Sun 21 Nov 2021 17:30
    91热爆 Radio 3

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.