Nov. 23, 2023

Episode 127: Private Lives, Gertrude Lawrence & The Lives of Lives of Noel Coward, part 3

Episode 127: Private Lives, Gertrude Lawrence & The Lives of Lives of Noel Coward, part 3

With OLIVER SODEN author of MASQUERADE — The Lives of Lives of Noel Coward

This is the third part of my interview with Oliver Soden author of the truly extraordinary new book MASQUERADE — THE LIVES OF NOEL COWARD.

 In this episode we discuss Noel Coward’s life and career during the 1930s including what has become his most produced play Private Lives, his spectacular patriotic anti-war pageant Cavalcade, and his final musical revue, Words And Music (which was titled Set To Music on Broadway.) And most especially his relationship with the great Gertrude Lawrence.

If you missed the first two episodes you may want to catch up with those before embarking on this one.

Oliver Sodon is a writer and broadcaster whose previous books include the critically acclaimed 2019 biography of composer Michael Tippett. Oliver’s writing on art, music and literature has appeared in the Guardian, Spectator, London Review of Books, and the Times Literary supplement, and he is a frequent guest speaker on BBC radio and television broadcasts.

Noel Coward was without a doubt one of the most remarkable figures of the 20th Century and as you will hear Oliver and I had a great time talking about him. And it will be my pleasure to share that conversation with you over the next several episodes.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices