BBC Radio 3 - Private Passions: William Kentridge

In conversation with Michael Berkeley, William Kentridge talks about the importance of music in his work, and brings a playlist that reflects a lifetime of listening. We hear a famous 1937 recording of a Monteverdi madrigal; Janet Baker singing one of the songs from “Les Nuits d’ete” by Berlioz; a duet from The Magic Flute; a rare recording of the American guitarist Elizabeth Cotten; and a collaboration between the Kronos Quartet and a trio of musicians from Mali.

He looks back to his childhood in South Africa, and what it was like to grow up under the cruel system of apartheid; and he reveals how important early failures were in enabling him to see the way forward.

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