John Dyson
John Dyson spent 23 years as a judge, moving up through the High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and finally becoming Master of the Rolls. He retired as Master of the Rolls three years ago, but he\u2019s back working on international arbitrations, busier than ever; in fact, he presided over the recent decision that the Saracens rugby team were being overpaid.
Through it all, the great passion that has sustained him is music. He's an accomplished pianist and took lessons from the legendary teacher Dame Fanny Waterman. Piano music is his first love, and so his music choices include Beethoven\u2019s exuberant first piano concerto; Schubert\u2019s F Minor Piano Fantasy for Four Hands, and Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations. He loves opera too, especially Verdi\u2019s Otello, an opera written when the composer was in his seventies. Choosing Leonard Bernstein\u2019s Chichester Psalms becomes an opportunity to talk about his Jewish heritage, and about his grandmother, who escaped from Bergen Belsen. John Dyson talks too about the rise of anti-Semitism now; he says: \u201cour suitcases are packed.\u201d
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3\nProduced by Elizabeth Burke\n