The Lebrecht Interview

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  Weekly

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  Indefinitely

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Recent episodes (10)

• Janet Baker

  Mon, 5 Sep 11

  Duration:
  45 mins

  In the last edition in this series, Norman Lebrecht talks to the great English singer, Dame Janet Baker. The Yorkshire-born mezzo-soprano has mostly been known for her performances in operas by Mozart, Monteverdi, Purcell and Berlioz. In the concert hall she was renowned for her lieder singing especially Mahler, as well as English music, in particular the works of Benjamin Britten with whom she was much associated. The clarity of Janet Baker's voice and the dramatic intensity of her performances have given her a legendary status in the international worlds of opera and song.

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• Edward Gardner

  Mon, 29 Aug 11

  Duration:
  47 mins

  Edward Gardner is the Music Director of English National Opera and about to become Principal Guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He talks to Norman Lebrecht about his career to date. Gardner was appointed to the post at ENO in 2007 while in his early 30s and began by conducting a new production of Britten's Death in Venice. Since taking up the baton at ENO he has been involved with the planning of the company's repertoire and has conducted new productions of operas by Saariaho, Verdi, Bartok and Puccini. He talks about the challenges the company faces. How it has improved its image and work after a period of decline and argues with Norman about the continuance of the company's policy of performing operas in English.

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• Monica Mason

  Tue, 23 Aug 11

  Duration:
  47 mins

  Dame Monica Mason has spent all of her working life at the Royal Ballet in London. Now 70 she is about to start her final season as Director of the Royal Ballet. In conversation with Norman Lebrecht she talks frankly and warmly of the experiences her various roles in the company have given her.

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• Valery Gergiev

  Mon, 15 Aug 11

  Duration:
  46 mins

  Norman Lebrecht meets the conductor Valery Gergiev, head of the Kirov Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, and Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and the World Orchestra for Peace. Gergiev also runs festivals in Russia, Holland, Israel and around the Baltic, and was recently charged with re-launching the historic Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and St Petersburg. Undoubtedly one of the busiest musicians on the planet, Gergiev has been criticised for skimping on rehearsal and detail; he has also been accused of having too intimate a relationship with Russian power. In this extended and wide-ranging interview recorded at Gergiev's Festival in Mikkeli, Finland, Gergiev tells Norman about his childhood in Ossetia and his reaction to the death of his father when he was just 14; his own very special method of fund-raising; his controversial relationship with Vladimir Putin; and just what drives him to live life at his famously frenetic pace.

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• Richard Rodney Bennett

  Mon, 8 Aug 11

  Duration:
  44 mins

  In conversation with Norman Lebrecht, composer, pianist and singer Richard Rodney Bennett talks frankly about his life, his reasons for the different musical directions he has taken and why he no longer composes nor is interested in new music.

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• Thomas Quasthoff

  Mon, 1 Aug 11

  Duration:
  44 mins

  Norman Lebrecht meets the German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, widely considered to be one of the finest lieder singers performing today. Although only four feet tall, with very short arms - Quasthoff's mother was prescribed thalidomide during pregnancy - Quasthoff is nevertheless a towering presence on the stage. In this extensive and wide-ranging interview, Quasthoff reflects on his happy childhood, his very close relationship with his brother Michael (who died of cancer last year), and the challenges of rebuilding his marriage after its apparent collapse. Having said some years ago that he wouldn't return to the operatic stage, Quasthoff tells Norman how he's been lured back, and how his fundamental optimism has remained intact.

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• Deborah Borda

  Mon, 25 Jul 11

  Duration:
  44 mins

  Norman Lebrecht is joined by Deborah Borda, Chief Executive Officer of the hugely successful Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her career has also spanned a range of the great American institutions, including the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Detroit and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. She has a reputation for toughness and a creative approach to managing in often difficult circumstances. She talks about the future of the American symphony orchestra and reveals her approach to dealing with crises that frequently befall arts organisations.

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• Semyon Bychkov

  Mon, 18 Jul 11

  Duration:
  44 mins

  In the first of a series of interviews with prominent musicians, writer and broadcaster Norman Lebrecht talks to one of the world's most sought after conductors, Semyon Bychkov. Born in Russia, growing up during the Soviet era, he finished his education in the United States. He talks about living in poverty in Leningrad, crammed into a single room with his parents and brother, and having to share a bathroom with several families. He describes himself as obsessive about music, yet denies ever being a control freak. Married to pianist Marielle Labeque, he also discusses his difficult relationship with his brother, Yakov Kreizberg who died earlier this year.

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• Patrice Chereau

  Mon, 6 Sep 10

  Duration:
  43 mins

  Norman Lebrecht talks to the French film, theatre and opera director Patrice Chereau. He talks about his work including his controversial production of Wagner's Ring at Bayreuth.

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• Clive Gillinson

  Mon, 30 Aug 10

  Duration:
  45 mins

  Sir Clive Gillinson is Norman Lebrecht's guest. Formerly a cellist in the London Symphony Orchestra he later ran the LSO and is now Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall in New York.

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