I just, absolutely by accident, came upon this, it’s a  ‘Desert Island Discs’ from several years ago; the guest is Zadie Smith.

Coincidentally I just happen to be in the middle of my second reading of ‘White Teeth’ right now, so this was an extra treat.

I’m sure that over the years I’ve bored some of you with my obsessive rants about Zadie, she fits the category of ‘the one person, alive or dead’, who I’d choose as a single dinner guest; I think she’s fabulous. Not just for her writing but for her intellect and wide ranging interests and her ability to describe them. I came across this when searching for an essay she’d written for the New Yorker about Joni Mitchell.

The item that prompted me to post this was her choice of her favorite piece of music, not at all related to the list of pop music that she chose for the program but her all-time favorite piece, the Prelude to Tristan and Isolde  by Wagner.

Over the years I’ve occasionally ranted about Wagner and I’ve posted a couple of pieces here, including this one. I remember once stating that this was the piece I wanted to be played as they lit the match or lowered the box, whichever. I can’t imagine a better way to go, I think it’s possibly the most beautiful piece of music ever written, but what do I know?

So here’s the fragment from Desert Island discs followed by the full piece from youtube.