Classically Speaking

Since we started this blog in 2008, we’ve interviewed many people connected to classical music, some who live in or are from West Virginia; others have visited to make music here or just were heard here on the radio. Performers, composers, conductors, teachers, authors, producers…it’s been wonderful to speak with them all and to have the opportunity to share these conversations with you. 

These interviews are scattered throughout the blog archives, so I’ve always been frustrated that they might not always be easy to find. I've finally created a directory to guide you to these interviews; you can find links to all of our classical music interviews all on one page: the Classically Speaking Interview Index.     

Check it out!  Find a favorite interview, or browse to find something new. 

I’ll be sure to keep it updated as we publish more interviews, and I welcome any suggestions for improving usability.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend! :)

Editor’s note: You may have noticed that Jim Lange has a new blog that is keeping him busy these days.  I’m only able to forgive him for spending less time in this corner of our site because of how much I like reading his posts on this new EclecTopia blog. 
 
Classical music is part of the wide (and wild) mix of music that Jim spins on EclecTopia, and his blog recently featured a review of a Stravinsky documentary.

“Anyone who appreciates Igor Stravinsky should watch Once at a Border - a DVD which is loaded with not only biographical, but personal insights into the man who launched the 20^th century."

[… ]

"Many times during the film, I felt like I was seeing something so rare and incredible: Stravinsky walking about the room where he wrote the Rite of Spring or out in his garden at his Hollywood residence. Those seemed to me like having a film with Beethoven talking about his ninth symphony. Simply magic."

[…]

"Mrs. Vera Stravinsky makes an all-too-brief appearance near the end of the film, looking a bit sad and lost. Perhaps she declined to be interviewed extensively, but it makes me wonder why she wasn’t more a part of the film? Imagine the insights.”

For more insights, read the whole review here.

Today on the radio, I referred to a few of our older posts. You can always dig through our archives to find them, but I thought it would be nice to make them even easier to find. 

* Idol and Glee: Not so original? 

* September and October Classical Calendar 

* Who is Suresh? (interview) 

There’s a bit of a look back, but what does the future hold? I’m planning on some more interviews with musicians performing in West Virginia and some autumn classical favorites; we'll also have a guest post from Aran Jenkins about guitarist Julian Bream and Jim Lange will be posting an interview with Hans Zimmer.

Plus, we have interviews with Wheeling Symphony conductor Andre Raphel Smith and Antonio Salvatore, another conductor in Wheeling. I’ve also been saving an interview with WVU Composer-in-Residence John Beall.

I've also been thinking about trying a classical music movie club here. If you see a movie that relates to classical music -- let me know about it. If you write a bit about the movie, we can post comments here on Classically Speaking to share with others. 

A few movies that have come up recently in conversation include: Amadeus, Lisztomania, The Red Violin, Tous les Matins du Monde, Fellini’s Orchestra Rehearsal, and Rhapsody. Any interesting classical music-related movies you've seen recently?

Not enough, you say? Well, we’re also working on a fun, interactive classical trivia quiz, which still needs a bit of work.  And I’m sure there’s going to be more.

So stay tuned, I think this fall and winter are going to be a lot of fun.