91Èȱ¬

Clive Myrie is in conversation with fellow journalists about the music they’ve heard whilst reporting from the front line. With his own extensive experience of covering wars, and his personal love of opera and jazz, Clive and Christina Lamb share stories to reveal something of the power and significance of music when working in extreme conflict situations.

Christina Lamb is Chief Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Times. She’s covered wars from Iraq to Libya, Angola to Syria and repression from Eritrea to Zimbabwe. Her writing particularly highlights the effects of war on women and children - the girls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria, Yazidi sex slaves in Iraq, and the plight of Afghan women. She’s perhaps best known for her bestselling books I Am Malala, The Girl from Aleppo and Our Bodies, Their Battlefield.

Here she recalls the music that’s accompanied her working life: hearing Louis Armstrong when she’d fled from Russian tanks in Afghanistan; opera in the middle of the Amazon and ballet music in Ukraine.

Tchaikovsky’s Concerto no. 1 in B flat minor Op.23 for piano and orchestra - 1st movement; performed by Evgeny Kissin with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan

Elgar’s Concerto in E minor Op.85 for cello and orchestra – 3rd movement, played by Jacqueline du Pré with the LSO conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

Muddhu gare yashoda (raga) played by Daud Sadozai & Bakary Sangaré

What a Wonderful World sung by Louis Armstrong composed by Weiss/Douglas

Vesti la Giubba from Il Pagliacci by Leoncavallo sung by Enrico Caruso

Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo by Cecilia McDowall. The National Children’s Choir of Great Britain conducted by Dan Ludford-Thomas

Moderato and Allegretto from La Bayadère ballet by Ludwig Minkus. The Sofia National Opera Orchestra, conducted by Boris Spassov

Producer: Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer Production