As someone who has Radio 4 on indiscriminately for large parts of the day I\u2019m used to an endless procession of voices. Those from the regular programmes are instantly recognisable if, in the main, fairly unremarkable. But there are certain voices that come on from time to time that provoke extreme reactions, good and bad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most of the past ten years, it\u2019s clear from their voices\nthat the politicians in power have been condescending to us from a great\nheight, deigning to reach down and give us a pat on the head from somewhere up\nin the stratosphere (in fact it was only a matter of time until someone, as it\nturned out, the then PM, actually said \u2018Calm down, dear\u2019 in the House \u2013 to\nAngela Eagle). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose it was only to be expected from those in control; the worrying thing about the current crop is that they can\u2019t even claim that, nor have they even reached even the most modest heights from which they could patronise us with any conviction. Never have the \u2018ums’ and \u2018ers\u2019 been so prominent, as they try to remember what the hell their latest \u2018lines to take\u2019 said, or the steadfast refusals to answer the simplest question been so blatant. (And have you noticed their pathetic \u2018Our NHS\u2019 trope? We haven\u2019t forgotten that just a few months ago they were willing to run it into the ground and flog it off to the highest bidder.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for a bit of balm for the soul and the ears, let\u2019s turn\nto a trio of wise Irishwomen who combine unusually deep voices with messages of\nreal substance, making their presence on the airwaves thrilling. Who could fail\nto notice former President Mary Robinson\u2019s resonant voice, purveying stirring\ngood sense? Likewise Baroness Onora O\u2019Neil, a philosopher of great distinction\nwho is able to convey concepts of great complexity in plain language and\nsonorous tones. I heard her speak in the Lords on the subject of trust in the police,\nand had I been a bent copper I would have wept. Finally, there\u2019s Edna O\u2019Brien,\nwho has faithfully chronicled the lives of woman for decades. Rich and\nreflective, her voice commands the ether with grave authority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do they all manage to sound like this, and why can\u2019t I?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019m not biased. There are plenty of blokes I like to hear\non the radio \u2013 some sadly no longer with us, like Kenneth Williams (a passion\nDame B and I share), Rabbi Lionel Blue and Alan Rickman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there is one man whose voice resonates with me like no\nother: Simon Russell Beale. As an actor of immense range, he makes his\nbeautiful voice (and he can sing!) serve whatever the context, but always with\nhis unmistakeable timbre. The melancholy with which he suffused his reading of The Great Meaulnes<\/em> left a deep ache of\nregret in the listener, whereas as Sir Harcourt Courtly in London Assurance<\/em> his voice sparkled with wit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I switched on the radio a few months ago, and there he was!\nI was instantly beguiled and began to listen. It wasn\u2019t until the name \u2018Lyra\u2019\npierced my consciousness that I realised that this was The Secret Commonwealth<\/em>, which I hadn\u2019t yet read. Potential spoiler\nalert! I had to stick my fingers in my ears and go \u2018la-la-la\u2019 as I raced to turn\nhim off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I once saw Simon Russell Beale in a pub in Pimlico but was\ntoo awestruck to approach him \u2013 just as well really, for at least he was spared\nthe embarrassment of my gushing fan-dom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" . . . the politicians in power have been condescending to us from a great height. . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,55,65],"tags":[292,128,291],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7470"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7470"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7516,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7470\/revisions\/7516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}