Lesley Garrett

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the opera singer Lesley Garrett. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her musical Yorkshire family - both her grandfathers were musical entertainers - and how she learnt to read music before she could read books. Having won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, she moved straight into performing and was snapped up by the English National Opera. She'll be discussing her favourite roles and her passionate belief that opera should lose its elitist image.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Broadway Babe Book: Photograph album Luxury: Tightrope