Kirsty Young's castaway is the opera director John Copley.
Throughout his sixty year career he's worked with all the greats at the major opera houses of the world. He introduced Luciano Pavarotti to a London audience, charmed Georg Solti with his piano playing and was even called upon to stand in for Maria Callas. He was just ten years old when he first saw an opera and he loved it straight away; "I caught opera," he says, "like the measles".
Record: Janet Baker singing Handel's Ariodante
Book: Grove's Operatic Dictionary of Music
Luxury: My 49-year-old double bed.
Producer: Leanne Buckle.
Published on Sunday, 3rd January 2010.
Available Podcasts from Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010
Subscribe to Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010
We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010 webpage.