Bernard Levin talks to Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, now living and studying in Britain.
' If the person questioned is a self-possessed, controlled individual, then the questions may have to be provocative to make him " give ".' (ROBIN DAY, 1975) In the second of this series of conversations, Bernard Levin talks to one of the more redoubtable figures in broadcasting. Twenty-five years of current affairs broadcasting, a formidable knowledge of politics, strong views on television's political role, an incisive mind and swift tongue, uniquely fit Robin Day for the hot seat, though he has been most reluctant to take it in the past. In a recent interview he granted to a young boy on Jim'll Fix It, we learned why he wears a bow tie; today we learn about the man behind it as he talks about his personal and professional philosophy.
Arthur Rubinstein now aged 93, is Bernard Levin 's guest in the third of this series of eight
Dennis Potter is widely considered the most distinctive playwright yet to have emerged from television. Frequently his work has expressed a sense of moral and philosophical anguish. Lately he has been moving towards 'a new and, for me, startling but exhilarating trust in the order of things'.
Tonight, in the fifth of this series of eight conversations, he talks to Bernard Levin about the challenges and pitfalls of working in this uniquely American medium.
Bernard Levin talks to Friedrich Hayek , who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1974. Born in Vienna at the turn of the century, he became a naturalised British citizen in 1938, and now lives in West Germany. Throughout his life he has been the scourge of those who advocate a planned ' society.
Sir Michael Tippett , 75 this year, talks of his own creative processes, and of the obligations of the creative artist to his fellow men in a time 'where there are questions and no answers'.
Ram Dass, formerly Dr Richard Alpert of the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, talks to Bernard Levin about his search for enlightenment in the last of this series of eight conversations. The search took him to India, where he found a Guru. Now back in America, he himself is regarded by many as a Guru of alternative ways of living.
From this beginning as the ' angry young man', Osborne's contribution to the theatre has spanned a quarter of a century and over two dozen plays. Tonight he looks back with BERNARD LEVIN , who on separate occasions has said of his work: original, symbolic, subtle, dignified, profound ', ' ... a ramshackle, top-heavy and profoundly unsatisfying play'.
Bernard Levin talks to Sir Colin Davis Tonight his guest is the Musical Director of the Royal Opera, and perhaps the greatest living interpreter of Mozart. Davis secretly decided to become a conductor at the age of 14, but it was nearly 20 years before his talent was acclaimed. After he had conducted Don Giovanni in place of Otto Klemperer , The Times described him as ' a conductor ripe for greatness'.
ANTHONY BURGESS spent much of his early life convinced he would become a famous composer. He wrote his first symphony at 16. Instead, after a period as a school-master, he became a prolific novelist, critic and linguist, a man of letters in every sense. He has written 42 novels to date, the best-known being A Clockwork Orange, and the most massive his latest, Earthly Powers, which was tipped last year for the Booker Prize, but did not win. Burgess now finds compensations in literary fame - his symphonies get played.
Bernard Levin talks to the philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin who has been described as ' one of the diamond minds of our generation'. Berlin abandoned pure philosophy after the last war in favour of the history of ideas, on the grounds that he preferred ' a field in which one could hope to know more at the end of one's life than when one had begun '.
When ALAN PATON published his first novel, Cry the Beloved Country, he was 45 and immersed in the struggle against racial injustice in South Africa. He has been an active politician and a penal reformer, testing his liberal ideals and Christian faith against the harsh realities of apartheid. Now, at 78, he has just published his autobiography Towards the Mountain.
Lord Weinstock LORD WEINSTOCK has been Managing Director of GEC for nearly 20 years. Since then it has been among the most consistently successful companies in Britain, and Weinstock has been largely viewed as the prime mover, ' a key figure of contemporary British mythology '. Tonight BERNARD LEVIN talks to the man who is also a valued adviser to both Labour and Conservative Governments, and closely involved in the shaping and managing of nuclear power in Britain.
Levin's conversation is with DAVID HOCKNEY who has graduated successfully from the early days of fame as a popular painter, to the position of arguably the greatest of living English artists. At 43, he is still experimenting with as wide a range of styles and techniques as he did in his student days.
KRISHNAMURTI was brought up to believe he was a reincarnation of Christ, the New Messiah. Fifty years ago he denounced this, and has spent the time since teaching his own philosophy of life all over the world. At 86, his reputation as a major spiritual leader has not diminished. His recent annual public talk in Hampshire was attended by 4,000 devoted followers.
Bernard Levin talks to the four members of the Amadeus Quartet and they play Schubert's Quartet Movement in c minor. In 250 years of quartet playing, no group of musicians has stayed together as long as the Amadeus Quartet. They are about to celebrate their 35th year of playing, teaching and making records all over the world. If one player had to stop for any reason, they would all stop, for, as second violinist Siegmund Nissel says, ' I could not contemplate playing quartets with someone else'.
Former American Secretary of State, joint-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Vietnam War, survivor of the Water-gate scandal, DR HENRY KISSINGER is a man of power and paradox. A consummate tactician, he combined ruthlessness with political vision, and played a major role in America's relations with the world during the Nixon years. Now he is out of power, critics are questioning the value of his long-term political achievements. Was he ' the man who balanced the world' or ' a man pedalling downhill fast through an earthquake, the wreckage closing in behind him'?
This year the dramatic tenor jon VICKERS celebrates his 25th season at Covent Garden. He started his working life as a businessman, and what makes his transformation all the more surprising is that he claims: ' I had no ambition to be a singer, and in honest truth I have no ambition to be a singer.' In constant demand in all the great opera houses of the world, his ability to reveal what motivates an operatic character has been described by Sir Colin Davis : Jon is a tremendous force. He's the only one who brings those obsessive operatic characters to life: Tristan, Florestan, Peter Grimes and Aeneas in The Trojans.'
DR JONAS SALK , discoverer of the Salk polio vaccine, is both a scientist and an idealist. He is currently involved in developing theories which suggest a positive alternative to the visions of nuclear holocaust and world starvation which haunt the 20th century. At the Salk Institute in California one of his major projects is promoting the exchange of ideas between science and the arts.
PETER BROOK has been fascinating and bewildering audiences for over 35 years, as a director of theatre, film, television and opera. Since his highly acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1970, he has devoted his energies to setting up and experimenting with his International Centre of Theatre Research at the tiny Bouffes du Nord Theatre in Paris. In trying to discover a form that's totally new, and in constantly challenging accepted theatre conventions, his philosophy is: ' Never stop. It's a golden rule -one always stops as soon as something is about to happen.'
At 81, Pritchett still works from 9.0 to 5.0 every day of the week, weekends included, lest he should forget how to write. Preferring the ' darting glance ' of the short story to the novel, which he feels has to tell the reader everything, Pritchett has also written two brilliant autobiographies, A Cob at the Door and Midnight Oil.
Bernard Levin talks to Field Marshal Lord Carver who finished his Army career as Chief of Defence Staff, never intended to remain a soldier when he joined up. Considered a radical within the Army, he incurred a degree of unpopularity as a result of his pruning of the Territorial Army. Even in retirement he has not shunned controversy. He is a persistent critic of the Government's decision to buy the Trident nuclear missile system.
Like Lord Byron, LEONARD BERN STEIN awoke one morning to find himself famous. At 25 he substituted for Bruno Walter and conducted the New York Philharmonic entirely without rehearsal. Bernstein sees himself as a composer who conducts, and wants ' to keep on trying to be, in the full sense of that wonderful, word, a musician ... ' He has written everything from song-cycles to symphonies, but is probably still best known as the creator of West Side Story.
Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford English Dictionary, he has been variously described as the ' master lexicographer of our generation ' and ' the custodian of the English language '. He prefers to see himself as a marshaller of words, ' the study of which has turned out to be the central intellectual passion of my life'. The publication of the fourth volume of his life's work, the supplement to The Oxford English Dictionary, is due in 1985. It will stand at two million words, and will have taken nearly 30 years to complete.
Recognised as one of the greatest pianists in the world, Alfred Brendel is famous for his interpretations of the music of Beethoven. Mozart, Schubert and Liszt. Renowned for his scholarly attention to the musical text, he is often described as an ' intellectual pianist '. He qualifies this by saying that ' feeling must remain the alpha and omega of a musician'. At a less rarefied level, Brendel is known among his colleagues as a man who relishes a good joke.
In the first of eight programmes Bernard Levin talks to Isaac Stern. A natural force not to be explained,' was Time magazines description of Isaac Stern. Certainly his impassioned performances have led him to be regarded as one of the foremost violinists of this century. Until recently he followed' a fevefish schedule that included 200 concerts a year, and countless recordings. Amid all this he has found time to lead a campaign to save Carnegie Hall , of which he is now President. He has discovered and encouraged many of today's leading younger musicians, and even made a major tour of China (the documentary film of which won an Oscar). He was the first recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Music Award for ' a life dedicated to music and devoted to humanity'.
'The task is enormous; some people would even say impossible.' So said SIR MICHAEL EDWARDES on taking up the greatest challenge of his career, the chairmanship of British Leyland. Now, after five turbulent years at the helm, he has left to follow other courses, including returning to the chairmanship of the Chloride group, for whom he worked for over 20 years. His unique management technique and business philosophy not only helped keep BL alive, but have lastingly affected the attitudes of bosses and unions to industrial relations
Bernard Levin in conversation with V. S. Nalpaul ' What I admire in his fiction, I also admire in his non-fiction: his vivid perceptions, his humanity, his view of the world.' (PAUL THEROUX) v. s. NAIPAUL, of Indian descent, bom in Trinidad, resident in England, frequent visitor to other parts of the world, is a unique novelist and travel writer. In both forms he is recognised as one of the finest writers in the English language, from novels like A House for Mr Biswas to non-fiction accounts such as The Return of Eva Peron. Though he finds writing is a difficult process, he has gone on to win a wide range of awards for his books, including the Booker Prize.
' He has combined the life of a man of action with the deeper qualities of a person at home in the world of dreams and myths and the inner significance of things.' (CHRISTOPHER BOOKER ) SIR LAURENS VAN DER POST, writer, explorer, soldier and philosopher, worked as a journalist in Durban as a way into literature before coming to live in England. Among his 20 novels and autobiographical works, the best known is perhaps The Lost World of the Kalahari. which was also an award-winning BBC series.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Aaron Copland , the grand old man of American music commonly regarded as the greatest of all their composers, he has written such pieces as Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid and The Pied Piper ballet; late in life he has also won acclaim as a conductor. A friend and colleague of Benjamin Britten , Martha Graham and Igor Stravinsky , Copland has led a fascinating life, full of achievement.
As MP for Belper for 25 years, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and minister in various posts, including Foreign Secretary, LORD GEORGE-BROWN was one of the most influential and colourful politicians of his time. But then he resigned from his cabinet post, lost his parliamentary seat. joined the House of Lords and eventually resigned from the Labour Party altogether. Now retired, but by no means inactive, he can reflect on a long period of political life, and comment on current events.
'A scientist must be freely imaginative and yet sceptical, creative and yet a critic... There is poetry in science, but also a lot of book-keeping.' So says scientist Sir Peter Medawar, Nobel Prize-winner for his research in immunology. His discoveries have led to skingrafting and organ transplants both becoming commonplace types of treatment. For this and other work he has been knighted, awarded the Order of Merit and Companion of Honour, but he is far more than scientist alone. Something of a Renaissance man, he has written on many subjects of wide appeal, most recently in his latest book, Plato's Republic.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Henry Moore A few days before his 85th birthday. HENRY MOORE talks in his studio to BERNARD LEVIN. Regarded for many years as the greatest sculptor Britain has ever produced, he continues to work seven hours a day seven days a week. In this rare and candid interview he looks back at his life and reconsiders his work and views.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Sir Clive Sinclair 'Within the not-too-distant future, we may not be the most intelligent species on earth.' These are the words, not of a science-fiction writer, but SIR CLIVE SINCLAIR , whose list of technical advancements to date make his assertions hard to ignore. He introduced the first pocket calculator, the first digital watch, the first flat-screen pocket TV and helped raise the level of computer literacy in Britain with his range of affordable microcomputers. In this conversation he shares his view of the present day and his extraordinary vision of the future.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Alan Ayckboum Playwright, director, lyricist and ex-actor, ALAN AYCKBOURN has been stage-struck since his youth. Now, in his 40s, he is one of the world's most successful writers of plays, squeezing up to three a year into the gaps between his full-time career as director of productions at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. It would be difficult to find a week when one of Ayckbourn's works is not in performance somewhere; but though his popular acclaim is hard to equal, he writes almost reluctantly.
VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY , one of the world's outstanding pianists, left Russia for the West in 1963 aged 26. By then he had already established an international reputation, having won the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels when only 18. Since then his life has centred completely around his music, which is 'always a joy' to him; he recently began to conduct, and now has almost as great a reputation as a conductor as he has as a pianist. Here he talks not only about his life and work today, but also about his extraordinary time as a musician in the Soviet Union.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Dame Elisabeth Frink Britain's foremost sculptress Dame Elisabeth Frink's themes - predatory birds and bird-men, wild boars, horses, standing figures - have become part of the language of the art of our world. Perhaps the most remarkable are her disembodied heads - 'Goggle Men', brutal figures of despotism; and their victims, 'In Memoriam' sculptures of noble sufferers. For her, 'art has always been a civilising factor.... I think a lot of governments have lost sight of humanity now'.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Sir John H. Plumb , who has been called 'one of the most enjoyable of living historians'. As well as the ever-popular England in the Eighteenth Century he has written two highly acclaimed volumes on Robert Walpole ; other important works include The Death of the Past, and the television series Royal Heritage. Throughout, he has successfully combined scholarship and popular readability. He has, until recently, been Master of Christ's College at Cambridge, where before that he was Professor of Modern History.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Dr Edward Teller Dubbed the 'father of the H-bomb', physicist Edward Teller is one of America's most controversial scientists. Defence super-hawk, confidant of presidents and said to be the inspiration behind President Reagan's proposed 'Star Wars' weapons programme, he is a man of great complexity and great conviction. The man who inspired Dr Strangelove proves himself to be a deeply thoughtful scientist with important views on defence, the responsibility of the scientist and Western relations with the Soviet Union.
Bernard Levin in conversation with Lord Rothschild Lord Victor Rothschild, head of the house of Rothschild in this country, has done many things besides being chairman of the family bank. First and foremost he was a distinguished scientist and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; since then he has chaired many organisations including the Agricultural Research Council, Shell Research Limited, and the Royal Commission on Gambling. He was the first Director-General of the Government Think Tank - the culmination of a varied and powerful career.
Bernard Levin talks to Sir Roy Strong , who has been Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum for ten years, and has combined a dashing style with a series of scholarly historical works, notably about the Tudors, the Stuarts, and the Victorians. He has also been Director of the National Portrait Gallery, where he was responsible for a series of spectacular exhibitions, acting on his conviction that 'to bring life and people into the museum is absolutely essential'.