Desert Island Discs

I just listened to a program on BBC Radio 4 where famous people were interviewed and asked to choose 8 'Desert Island' pieces of music - 8 songs or pieces of music that they couldn't live without. They were also asked to choose a single CD, a single book and a luxury item. I thought it was a fabulous idea and so inspired here are my selections, but finding it difficult to pick individual pieces of music I have chosen 8 CDs.

In no particular order:

1. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis Quintet

This is a somewhat boring choice as Kind of Blue is probably the most famous and popular jazz recording of all time, but it is quite easy to see why. It was the first ever proper jazz CD I had ever bought, and it really swept me away from the opening chords of So What (I can heard it reverberating in my head right now). It was just magical listening to it the first time and it inspired a love of jazz that has continued to this day.

2. Songbird by Eva Cassidy

She has the most lyrical and haunting voice, able to speak directly to you and smooth over any sorrowful ache in your heart. I listen to Eva Cassidy when in the immortal words of Herman Melville, there is a deep dark September in my soul. A CD I most certainly could not live without. If forced to choose particular tracks, I would have to say the opening track 'Fields of Gold', 'Autumn Leaves' and 'Over the Rainbow'. Of the three, most favour the latter two, but my absolute favourite track has to be Fields of Gold. I have listened to it over and over again and there is a kind of wistful longing there that is truly heartbreaking. I think part of the reason for my fondness for it was that the first time I heard it played was as accompaniment to the great figure skater Michelle Kwan who is reknown for her expressiveness and elegance on the ice. The combination of the two were well and truly unforgettable.

3. Chopin Waltzes performed by Dinu Lipatti

Of all the classical composers, I must admit to having the greatess fondness and weakness for Chopin. His work is probably not as complex and intellectual enthralling as that of some other composers, but it seems to be able to communicate directly to me. Beneath the lovely melodic tone of Chopin's compositions, I find that the best pianists can bring out a sense of longing almost of loss, that permeates his work. I have always speculated that this reflected his status as a refugee in Paris and that aching feeling was for his Polish homeland which had been invaded. The choice of his waltzes would suprise many - they are probably the lightest of his work (other than the mazurkas) and hardly as complex as the Ballades, Polonaises or even the Nocturnes, let alone his two later piano sonatas. I have a real soft spot for this CD, and Lipatti is the perfect pianist to play Chopin - he has the lightness of touch and most importantly the feel for the pieces. Some say that it was a match made in heaven - Lipatti was Polish himself and died tragically at a young age of cancer. Indeed, the CD was recorded when he was in a stage of remission. The result is just stunning, beauty personified, conveying a real depth to the music which cannot fail to touch you.

4. Surfacing by Sarah McLachlan

This is another CD I have played repeatedly and is loved by my sister a great deal as well. I remember not being able to bring it with my when I left for Oxford and buying a copy in the middle of the term because I just felt like hearing it. Perhaps, I have developed a sentimental attachment to it, which does lend credence to it being chosen as a desert island disc. McLachlan has a beautiful soprano voice that puts much of today's so-called "superstars" to shame, and her songs are beautiful and touching. If I had to choose specific tracks I would have to pick "Adia" and "Do What You Have To Do" over "Angel" which was made famous by being featured in the movie City of Angels. A CD to treasure for me because of its familiarity if nothing else.

5. Les Miserables the Complete Cast Recording

I have always had a great love of musicals, and this one more than any other has been my favourite. I have seen it thrice on stage and I can sing out huge portions of it from memory. I will bring it with me only so I can stage my own production with myself in every role! Les Miserables is so popular because it speaks of universal feelings - love, loss, patriotism, guilt - it is all there. It was a terrible dilemma choosing between this and so many other great musicals - Chicago, Cabaret, Phantom, many of Sondheim's work and so on, but it was any easy choice in the end because Les Miserables is the most universal of all musicals. If you are stuck alone on a desert island, what better can you do to have a feel for humanity than listen through a recording of Les Miserables?

6. Collection 1 and 2 by Stacey Kent

I have always had a great love of jazz vocalists, so my collection of Desert Island Discs would have been incomplete without one. Finding a specific CD was a nightmare, however. I thought about a compilation, which would have the benefit of a number of class vocalists but I rejected it on the grounds that I normally shun compilations - I find that it panders to popular taste and rejects some of the more excellent and challenging music. Besides, I find it nonesensical that you can try to summarize an artist like Ella Fitzgerald, say, in a single disc. In the end I settled on Stacey Kent, one of the premiere jazz vocalists, again out of familiarity and comfort. I love her voice, which is so brilliantly radiant, perfect for the nice bouncy tunes, but she occasionally shows a mature deeper touch that illuminates the darker jazz standards. It was a difficult choice over the classic vocalists like Ella, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and even Diana Krall (whom I had grown up listening to) but Stacey Kent won out.

7. Bach Goldberg Variations by Murray Perrahia

The Goldberg variations are so wonderfully relaxing, its very essence speaks of calm and control. When I need to relax I have always played the Goldberg, or as an alternative Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 Second Movement. But the Goldberg variations seem to me a deeper piece which is why I have chosen it. As to the artist, my pick of Perrahia would seem rather strange. The two Glenn Gould versions are by far the most famous and universally acclaimed, though which of the two you prefer is very much a personal choice. I have never really had a passion for Gould finding him rather too idiosyncratic, especially for a piece like the Goldbergs where technical control and solid steadiness may actually be great virtues. In this respect, Perrahia is perfect.

8. Nevermind by Nirvana

In my teenage years, like most rebellious spirits, I developed a taste for rock music, which I still enjoy. Among the bands I loved were Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Nirvana. People who know me would have expected me to pick a best of Bon Jovi CD, particularly when they have seen me prance around like an utter madman to It's My Life or Living on a Prayer in a club, and indeed heard of how It's My Life was played on my 21st Birthday. Be that as it may, Nirvana has alway been the perfect antidote for pent up anger and stress. If it ever got to a point where I felt like punching a wall, then Nevermind would be what I would turn to. It really is the perfect release valve and is quite aptly titled - in listening to it you really get the feeling that it is fine, that everyone else can go and **** themselves to hell with it. I can imagine that a nice tropical idyll would be lovely for say, the first couple of months. After that things may get a little frustrating. When it reached that stage, then it would come the time for this CD to be whipped out.

Single CD: Tough choice but I will go for Eva Cassidy

Single Book: I have to discount the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare right off (as that would be cheating), and indeed any anthology or collected works of any sort (if not it would have been a anthology of verse). This being a completely impossible question, I would have to say one of the first books that came to my head without an immediate adverse reaction which would be the Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien. I would be tempted to take Tolstoy's War and Peace, if only because it is huge, I have never read it, and I have always been meaning to. If I were really practical I would have chosen a book on tropical flora and fauna as I am quite useless at any kind of plant life and it would be essential to my survival.

Luxury Item: I am tempted to be cheeky here and attempt to cheat. I would request a computer that is powered by a spring (which is wound up) and has been developed for use in Africa. Oh, and on that computer you wouldn't mind putting the complete encyclopedia britanicca, the greater Oxford English dictionary, the complete works of Charles Dickens.........