The sound of contemporary music

The BBC has a wonderful history of music patronage which includes commissioning such seminal contemporary works as Tippett's Second Symphony and Vision of St Augustine, Birtwistle's Imaginary Landscapes, and Boulez's Rituel. So it is great to read in today's Guardian that the BBC's musical aspirations remain boundless ....

BBC joins Lloyd Webber in search for Maria

Lord Lloyd Webber has struck a deal with the BBC for a Popstars-style talent show to find an unknown singer to play the lead in his new stage version of The Sound of Music due to open at the London Palladium next autumn.

The television programme, which is believed to have the working title How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, will show a series of auditions with the winner being offered the starring role for the musical's entire first run.

Lloyd Webber has spent four years trying to find someone to take the part of Maria, the governess portrayed on film by Julie Andrews.

Picture credit - Pantheon
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