Barbican classical podcast: Richard Egarr

Edward Seckerson

Writer and broadcaster Edward Seckerson is Chief Classical Music and Opera Critic for The Independent. He wrote and presented the long-running BBC Radio 3 series Stage & Screen, in which he interviewed many of the most prominent writers and stars of musical theatre. He appears regularly on BBC Radio 3 and 4. On television, he has commentated a number of times at the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. He has published books on Mahler and the conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and has been on Gramophone Magazine's review panel for many years. Edward presented the 2007 series of the Radio 4 music quiz Counterpoint. He has interviewed everyone from Leonard Bernstein to Liza Minelli; from Paul McCartney to Pavarotti: from Julie Andrews to Jessye Norman.

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The Academy Of Ancient Music has been at the forefront of the period instrument revolution for almost four decades. When Christopher Hogwood founded the group in 1973, the idea that we really could go back and through an informed awareness of style and faithful deployment of original instruments, rekindle the shock-of-the-new effect — the passion and vitality of great 17th and 18th masterworks — was greeted with a mixture of excitement and scepticism.

But revolutions generally encounter resistance from die-hard traditionalists and the AAM forged ahead with pioneering recordings of Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart symphonies. The Mozart cycle — the first ever on period instruments — became an instant classic. Now some 300 discs later — not least award-winning recordings of Handel operas — the AAM looks to an ever brighter future under the directorship of the brilliant keyboard master Richard Egarr, who took the helm in 2006. This exclusive audio podcast marks the start of a new-founded association with the Barbican, which will host key AAM projects in the years ahead. Details of those events are discussed here by Richard Egarr in conversation with Edward Seckerson. Egarr talks about the ethos of the group, his priorities for the future, the idea of informing as well as performing, the AAM's ongoing relationship with the Guildhall School, and his lifelong enthusiasm for Cliff Richard. Yes, you read that right.

Independent Classical: Richard Egarr by The Independent on Mixcloud

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www.aam.co.uk