Main content

Baroness Hale of Richmond, former judge

Baroness Hale of Richmond, former judge, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, is a former judge who served as the first female president of the Supreme Court. In 2019 she announced the court’s judgement that the prorogation of Parliament was ‘unlawful, void and of no effect’. The twinkling spider brooch she wore that day caused a sensation and set social media aflame. She was the first woman and the youngest person to be appointed to the Law Commission and in 2004 became the UK’s first woman law lord.

Lady Hale was born in Yorkshire and read law at the University of Cambridge where she graduated top of her class. She spent almost 20 years in academia and also practised as a barrister. Later at the Law commission she led the work on what became the 1989 Children Act.

Lady Hale retired as a judge in January 2020.

DISC ONE: Messiah - Part 1: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion, composed by Georg Friedrich Händel, performed by Kathleen Ferrier and The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
DISC TWO: Love Me Do by The Beatles
DISC THREE: Move Him Into The Sun. Composed and conducted by Benjamin Britten. Performed by Peter Pears (tenor) and Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) with the Bach Choir and the London Symphony Orchestra
DISC FOUR: Part 1 Nos 4 & 5: Gloria in excelsis Deo – Et in terra pax. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists and conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner
DISC FIVE: The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492 Sull'Aria. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by sopranos Charlotte Margiono and Barbara Bonney, Netherlands Opera Chorus and the Concertgebouw Orchestra
DISC SIX: Hand in Hand by Glória (Ireland’s Gay and Lesbian Choir)
DISC SEVEN: Parry: I Was Glad, composed by Hubert Parry, performed by Westminster Abbey Choir, Simon Preston (organ) and conducted by William McKinney
DISC EIGHT: Dies Irae. Composed by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by Swedish Radio Choir and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Claudio Abbado

BOOK CHOICE: A Desert Island survival manual
LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered computer with sudoku puzzles and a writing application
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Part 1 Nos 4 & 5: Gloria in excelsis Deo – Et in terra pax, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Available now

38 minutes

Last on

Fri 24 Sep 2021 09:00

Music Played

  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah - Part 1: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion

    Singer: Kathleen Ferrier. Conductor: Adrian Boult. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Kathleen Ferrier: Edition.
    • Decca.
    • 7.
  • The Beatles

    Love Me Do

    • Please Please Me.
    • Parlophone.
    • 8.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Move Him Into The Sun

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Singer: Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya. Singer: Peter Pears.
    • War Requiem.
    • Decca.
    • 11.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Part 1 Nos 4 & 5: Gloria in excelsis Deo - Et in terra pax

    Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Bach Mass in B Minor: Gardiner.
    • SDG.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492 Sull'Aria

    Choir: Chorus and Orchestra of Netherlands Opera. Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
    • Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro).
    • Teldec.
    • 4.
  • Glória (Ireland's Gay and Lesbian Choir)

    Hand in Hand

    • Glór na Síog.
    • 2.
  • Hubert Parry

    Parry: I Was Glad

    Performer: Simon Preston. Choir: Choir of Westminster Abbey. Conductor: William McKinney.
    • The World of Royal Music.
    • Decca.
    • 6.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Dies Irae

    Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Choir: Radiokören. Choir: Eric Ericsons Kammarkör. Singer: Julian Konstantinov. Singer: Daniela Barcellona. Singer: Angela Gheorghiu. Singer: Roberto Alagna.
    • Giuseppe Verdi: Messa da Requiem.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 3.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 19 Sep 2021 11:00
  • Fri 24 Sep 2021 09:00

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast