WOSU Arts

Entries from May 2007

Christopher Purdy interviews Norman Lebrecht

May 16, 2007 · Leave a Comment

Norman LebrechtNorman Lebrecht
Recorded April 19, 2007

LISTEN (Running time: 15:17. 34.9 MB)
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CHRISTOPHER PURDY with NORMAN LEBRECHT

Norman Lebrecht is a widely read commentator on music, culture and politics.
He hosts Lebrecht Live for BBC3 and writes a column appearing each Wednesday in the London Evening Standard. Lebrecht’s latest book, The Life and Death of Classical Music, is a top seller in Britain and is published in the U.S. this week. The concluding chapter, “20 Recordings That Should Never Have Been Made,” is Lebrecht at his most provocative. We spoke by phone from London on April 19, 2007.

With thanks to studio engineer Eric French.

See also www.normanlebrecht.com

Categories: interview

Christopher Purdy interviews Robert Meeropol

May 16, 2007 · Leave a Comment

Robert MeeropolRobert Meeropol
Recorded April 25, 2007

LISTEN  (Running time: 24:08. 55.2 MB)
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CHRISTOPHER PURDY TALKS WITH ROBERT MEEROPOL

Robert Meeropol is the younger son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed by the federal government on July 19, 1953 on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. Mr. Meerpol is the author of two books, We Are Your Sons, with his brother Michael, and the recent An Execution in the Family.
In 1990 Robert Meerpol founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children. Based in Massachusetts, the fund has an international reach. Its mandate is to provide financial assistance to the children of people jailed or incapacitated for their political beliefs.

To date, the RFC has awarded over 3.5 million in grants.
See www.rfc.org for more information.

Robert Meeropol spoke with me from his office on April 25, 2007, about the legacy of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, about the case itself, his memories of visiting his parents on death row, and the Rosenberg Fund for Children.

With thanks to Kevin Petrilla.

Categories: interview

Christopher Purdy interviews Mike Farrell

May 16, 2007 · Leave a Comment

Mike FarrellMike Farrell
Recorded April 30, 2007

LISTEN (Running time: 13:56. 25.4 MB)
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CHRISTOPHER PURDY talks with MIKE FARRELL

I’m an American citizen first
Actor Mike Farrell enjoys wide popularity for his role as B.J. Hunnicut
in the long running TV hit “MASH,” as Dr. Jim Hansen in NBC’s “Providence,” and most recently in “Desperate Housewives.” Farrell’s new book, “Call Me Mike,” covers his years before the cameras and his life of community activism behind the cameras. He’s been an outspoken supporter of human dignity and human rights, with strong views on capital punishment. We spoke on the phone on April 30, 2007.

See also www.mikefarrell.org

Categories: interview

Christopher Purdy interviews Phyllis R. Silverman

May 9, 2007 · Leave a Comment

Phyllis R. Silverman
Recorded May 2, 2007

LISTEN  (Running time: 16:12. 29.6 MB)Phyllis Silverman
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CHRISTOPHER PURDY TALKS WITH PHYLLIS R. SILVERMAN

Phyllis R. Silverman is a researcher, teacher and author whose primary interest is bereavement and how death is dealt with in our society. Her early work was focused on the needs of the widowed and this led to the development of the Widow-to-Widow program. Dr. Silverman talks about society’s reaction to the recent shootings at Virginia Tech, explaining death and bereavement to children and the challenges facing men widowed after long marriages. We spoke form her home in Massachusetts on May 2, 2007.

See www.phyllisrsilverman.com

Categories: interview

Boyce Lancaster interviews Christopher O’Riley

May 9, 2007 · Leave a Comment

Christopher O’Riley
Recorded May 8, 2007

LISTEN (Running time: 7:39. 14.0 MB)Christopher O'Riley
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BOYCE LANCASTER TALKS WITH CHRISTOPHER O’RILEY

Christopher O’Riley is a classical pianist who studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. He has received awards at the Leeds, Van Cliburn, Busoni and Montreal competitions, as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant. O’Riley has made many recordings of classical music. including works of Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jean-Philippe Rameau, John Adams, Igor Stravinsky, and Alexander Scriabin. He is also the host of the weekly National Public Radio program “From the Top,” on which young musicians are heard and interviewed.

He was in Columbus preparing for a live taping of the show when Boyce Lancaster interviewed him.

See www.fromthetop.org

Categories: Classical Music · interview

Licia Albanese on Toscanini

May 1, 2007 · Leave a Comment

Licia Albanese on ToscaniniLicia Albanese
Recorded March 26, 2007

LISTEN  (Running time: 16:59. 38.8 MB)
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Soprano Licia Albanese shares her memories of the great conductor Arturo Toscanini, who died fifty years ago. Mme Albanese sang Mimi in “La Boheme” and Violetta in “La Traviata” on Toscanini’s broadcasts
with the NBC symphony in the 1940s. These recordings have never been out of print. She sang at the Metropolitan from 1940 to 1966 and continued her career for years afterward. Today, at 94, Albanese gives master classes for, and financial assistance to, young artists through the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation. We spoke from her home in New York on March 26, 2007.

See also www.lapfny.org for the Albanese Puccini Foundation

Categories: Classical Music · interview

Writers

May 1, 2007 · Leave a Comment

            WOSU Public Media is responsible for the production of quality material, service to the community, and making it all look extremely simple. In order to achieve this, WOSU employs both full- and part-time team members that share such goals and treat their responsibilities with a great deal of care. Amy Deeds, who was brought on temporarily to increase the efficiency and organization of WOSU auctions, is a perfect example of such a person.

            Deeds is a writer by trade. Before coming to WOSU, she worked in the Public Affairs Department at Kenyon College, writing articles about interesting faculty members and alumni. The job also brought the opportunity to travel to New Orleans, where she worked in a Katrina relief effort and wrote about her experiences. Before Kenyon, Deeds spent a substantial amount of her career as a freelance writer and as editor for Gannett Newspapers. Even today at WOSU, she spends lunches editing young writers’ articles (ahem) and “…always travel(s) with a red pen or two.”

            Deeds’ primary objective at WOSU Public Media, however, is mastering the day-to-day tasks presented by WOSU auctions. Specifically, she works with Auction Manager Andy Falter to make sure transactions run smoothly. Serving as the “middleman” between the donors and bidders, she inputs paperwork, facilitates credit card transactions, and ensures quick and accurate processing. As she puts it, her job basically is to take care of “anything that (the auction) needs.”

            Deeds is a temporary employee, and after her work at WOSU is finished, she plans to keep writing at the center of her life. Her editing work will undoubtedly live on anonymously at WOSU; as she stated, her goal is “…making it seem to the reader, that her writers are really good.” Lord knows we need the help. Her husband, Scott Gowans (also of WOSU Public Media), also spends time revising articles written for the Web site and WOSU’s “Airfare” magazine. If you have any doubt as to where their priorities lie, you can catch them in the parking lot next to their car – license plate “Writers.”

- By Brett Renzenbrink

Categories: Uncategorized