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Madame Bovary and independent women

Episodes from Flaubert's Madame Bovary, published in 1856, are set alongside other descriptions of independent women by DH Lawrence, Margaret Atwood, Ibsen and Emily Dickinson.

Actors Emma Fielding and Alex Jennings read from the novel Gustave Flaubert first published in 1856, which depicted the life of a provincial wife trying to escape a life she finds banal and restricting. Public prosecutors attacked it for obscenity when it was serialised in the Revue de Paris but after the author's acquittal it became a best-seller. Its themes of infidelity, guilt, remorse, the struggle to find independence are echoed in other extracts by writers including Lord Byron, Emily Dickinson, Henrik Ibsen, D.H. Lawrence, Maurice Riordan, Margaret Atwood and Edna St Vincent Millay, alongside a variety of musical examples.

Producer: Juan Carlos Jaramillo

Readings:
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, read by Emma Fielding
Madame Bovary (poem), by Maurice Riordan, read by Alex Jennings
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, read by Emma Fielding
Lady Chatterley鈥檚 Lover by D.H. Lawrence, read by Alex Jennings
Love by Emily Dickinson, read by Emma Fielding
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, read by Alex Jennings
A Doll鈥檚 House by Henrik Ibsen, read by Emma Fielding and Alex Jennings
Bored by Margaret Atwood, read by Emma Fielding
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, read by Alex Jennings
for women who are 鈥榙ifficult to love鈥 by Warsan Shire, read by Emma Fielding
Rendezvous by Edna St Vincent Millay, read by Alex Jennings
Up Scoble by Robert Herrick, read by Emma Fielding
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, read by Emma Fielding and Alex Jennings
When We Two Parted by Lord Byron, read by Emma Fielding
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, read by Alex Jennings
Mariana by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, read by Emma Fielding

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Thu 22 Dec 2022 18:15

Music Played

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

  • Introduction

    Read by Georgia Mann

  • 00:01

    Edvard Grieg

    Wedding day at Troldhaugen, arr for orchestra by FJ Breuer (from 'Lyric pieces', Book 8 No6)

    Orchestra: 麻豆官网首页入口 Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jerzy Maksymiuk.
    • Naxos 8550864.
    • 11.
  • Gustave Flaubert

    Madame Bovary, read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:03

    Giacomo Puccini

    O Soave Fanciulla, from La boh猫me

    Singer: Rolando Villaz贸n. Singer: Anna Netrebko. Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Conductor: Nicola Luisotti.
    • DG 4776600.
    • 1.
  • Maurice Riordan

    Madame Bovary, read by Alex Jennings

  • Gustave Flaubert

    Madame Bovary, read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:09

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Symphony No. 3, 聭Pastoral聮, 4th movement, Lento

    Orchestra: Hall茅. Conductor: Sir Mark Elder.
    • HALLE CDHLL7540.
    • 5.
  • D.H. Lawrence

    Lady Chatterley's Lover, read by Alex Jennings

  • 00:15

    Clara Schumann

    Three Romances , Op. 11 No. 1 in B flat minor

    Performer: H茅l猫ne Boschi.
    • Calliope CAL9211.
    • 10.
  • Emily Dickinson

    Love, read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:18

    Charlie Parker

    Yardbird Suite

    Performer: Charlie Parker Septet.
    • Classics Classics 980.
    • 8.
  • Edith Wharton

    House of Mirth, read by Alex Jennings

  • 00:22

    Leos Jan谩膷ek

    I'm always wondering (from Katya Kabanova)

    Singer: Cheryl Barker. Singer: Victoria Simmonds. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. Conductor: Carlo Rizzi.
    • Chandos CHAN 3145.
    • 8.
  • Henrik Ibsen

    A Doll聮s House, read by Emma Fielding and Alex Jennings

  • 00:28

    Hildur Gu冒nad贸ttir

    Heima (Home)

    Performer: Hildur Gu冒nad贸ttir. Performer: Sk煤li Sverrisson.
    • TOUCH TO.96.
    • 6.
  • Margaret Attwood

    Bored, read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:34

    Fanny Mendelssohn

    String Quartet in E Flat, 2nd movement, Allegretto

    Performer: Fanny Mendelssohn Quartet.
    • Troubadisc TRO-CD 01418.
    • 2.
  • Gustave Flaubert

    Madame Bovary, read by Alex Jennings

  • 00:39

    Miles Davis

    Blue in Green

    Performer: Miles Davis Sextet.
    • Columbia C6K65833.
    • 5.
  • Warsan Shire

    for women who are 'difficult to love', read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:45

    George Frideric Handel

    Son nata a lagrimar, from Giulio Cesare in Egitto

    Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Singer: Nathalie Stutzmann. Ensemble: Orfeo 55. Conductor: Nathalie Stutzmann.
    • Erato 08256 462317.
    • 18.
  • Edna St Vincent Millay

    Rendezvous, read by Alex Jennings

  • 00:52

    Osvaldo Golijov

    Tenebrae (version for string quartet)

    Performer: Calidore String Quartet.
    • Signum Classics SIGCD551.
    • 8.
  • Robert Herrick

    Up Scoble, read by Emma Fielding

  • Gustave Flaubert

    Madame Bovary, read by Emma Fielding and Alex Jennings

  • 00:59

    Reynaldo Hahn

    A Chloris

    Performer: Daniel Hope. Performer: Simon Crawford鈥怭hillips.
    • DG 4779301.
    • 18.
  • Lord Byron

    When We Two Parted, read by Emma Fielding

  • 01:03

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Addio del passato, from La Traviata

    Performer: Maria Callas. Orchestra: Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI. Conductor: Gabriele Santini.
    • EMI Classics 聳 3 95931 2.
    • 12.
  • Gustave Flaubert

    Madame Bovary, read by Alex Jennings

  • 01:07

    W.A. Mozart

    Mass in C minor K427 (Great, unfinished), Kyrie

    Performer: Camilla Tilling (soprano), Gabrieli Consort and Players, Paul McCreesh (conductor).
    • DG 4779176.
    • 1.
  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson

    Mariana, read by Emma Fielding

  • 01:11

    Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    24 Preludes, Op28 No4 in E minor

    Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • Harmonia Mundi HMC901982.
    • 4.

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