The Man Who Made France Old
Radio 4, 11.30am
Besides having a great name, Prosper M?rim?e was notable for many things. A polyglot – fluent in English, Spanish and Greek, he translated Russian literature into French – he created one of the great fictional characters, Carmen, she of the eponymous opera. But, as the notable authors Julian Barnes and Hermione Lee report, France – and we – have even more reason to be thankful for his time on earth (1803-70). In 1834 he was appointed to the post of inspector-general of historical monuments in France, a job that consisted, in part, of travelling the country recommending which buildings needed conservation and which should be rebuilt. As a result, tourists also have good reason to thank this all-round cultural superman.
Performance on 3: Proms Preview Evening
Radio 3, 7pm
An enterprise as mighty as the Proms – by the time it ends we will have said goodbye to this miserable excuse for a summer – needs a bit of a run-up, and here it gets one as the singer Mark Padmore wades through the 90 concerts (details on www.bbc.co.uk/proms) and picks out a few appetite-whetters. Nicholas Kenyon, whose ten-year tenure as Proms controller ends on the Last Night, talks about the landmarks in his years at the helm, and there are “postcards” from some of the visiting orchestras. Not to mention a performance by the cellist Paul Watkins, a soloist in tomorrow evening’s First Night. Petroc Trelawny oversees it all.
The Death of Arthur
Oneword, 6.30am, 2.30pm and 10.30pm
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Philip Madoc reads the first of nine instalments from Thomas Malory’s classic telling of the Arthurian myth.