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This Week's Guest:
Christabel Bielenberg
Repeated
Friday 14 November | | |  |
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| Christabel's Choice |  | |
Christabel Bielenberg first appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1992, and following the announcement of her death at the age of 94 last week, that recording is being broadcast again as a tribute to this remarkable author. Christabel Bielenberg wrote a unique bestselling memoir in 1968, The Past Is Myself, about her life as the British-born wife of a German lawyer in the Third Reich.
Born in London to parents who were both of Anglo-Irish descent, the young Christabel won a scholarship to Oxford,
but decided instead to go to Hamburg to study singing. There, in 1932, she met Peter Bielenberg, who was studying law with a view to joining his father's practice. Both tall, they proved a sensation on the dance floor, and married two years later against the wishes of Christabel’s parents. Christabel took out German citizenship, despite Hitler's rise to power in 1933 and Peter Bielenberg soon developed a close association with Adam von Trott zu Solz, whose efforts to make contact on the eve of the failed bomb plot against Hitler led to his friend's arrest.
Christabel Bielenberg asked to be interviewed by the Gestapo where as a result of her fearless approach she managed to secure Peter’s release from the notorious Ravensbruck concentration camp. He was duly "released", but to a punishment unit,from which he managed to slip away to join his family in the Black Forest, remaining safely in hiding there until fighting ceased.
Christabel Bielenberg spent the latter part of her long life in rural Ireland, where the Bielenbergs settled in 1948, investing all their capital in a dilapidated farm which Peter transformed into a commercial success. She was made a Commander of the German Federal Order of Merit and was awarded a gold medal of merit by the European Parliament. Her husband predeceased her in 2001 and she is survived by their three sons.
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1. 'I hear you calling Me'
Performer John McCormack
Composer Marshall
CD Title Alan Keith presents the Golden Years
Track 2
Label BBC
Rec No: BBCCD 796
2. 'Der Doppelganger'
Performer Lotte Lehmann
Composer Schubert
CD Title Lotte Lehmann singt Winterreise
Track Side 2 track 4
Label ARTISTICO
Rec No: YD 3018
3. 'Deep River'
Performer Paul Robeson
Composer unknown
CD Title A Lonesome Road
Track 16
Label ASV
Rec No: CD AJA 5027
4. 'O for the Wings of a Dove'
Performer Aled Jones with BBC Welsh Chorus
Composer Mendelssohn
CD Title The Best of Aled Jones
Track 11
Label BBC
Rec No: BBCCD 569
5. 'Der Hirt Auf Dem Felsen'
Performer Elisabeth Schumann
Composer Schubert
CD Title Elisabeth Schumann sings Schubert
Track Side 1 track 7
Label HMV
Rec No: HMV E 290360 1
6. 'How Can I keep from Singing'
Performer Enya
Composer Enya
Publisher Unknown
CD Title How can I keep from Singing
Track 1
Label WEA
Rec No: YZ 635CD
7. 'Ave Maria'
Performer Kiri Te Kanawa with Utah Symphony Orch. Conducted by Julius Rudel
Composer Bach
CD Title Songs of Inspiration
Track 6
Label Decca
Rec No: 425 431-2
8. 'Au Fond du Temple Saint'
Performer Luciano Pavarotti and Nicolai Ghiaurov
Composer Bizet
CD Title Your 100 Best Tunes, Volume 3
Track 11
Label Decca
Rec No: 425 849-2
Record: Deep River
Book: War and Peace - Tolstoy
Luxury: A comfortable chair
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