My day is full of commuting, and one way I’ve found to make this time productive is by listening to various podcasts. Yes, I don’t listen to music, but I’ll explain that another time, perhaps even next week. The topics of these podcasts I listen to vary; they’re not just musical. History, comedy, sports, and more are available on the app I use. Recently, I started listening to a purely musical one called “Dear Maestro,” and its first season is dedicated to Leonard Bernstein.
The main idea behind the podcast by Kate Guthrie and Flora Wilson—the former a historian, the latter a musicologist—is to examine what is known as “fandom,” meaning people who pathologically love classical musicians. They love them so much that they send them letters and tell them incredible things! The first season, therefore, focuses on Bernstein and is based on the correspondence of the famous conductor and composer, who received countless letters from his fans. “Different times,” one might say… now they would email him.
Other times, I think about those people who used to sit in front of a piece of paper, and today in front of a computer (or even with a mobile phone in hand), writing to their idols, probably with the understanding that the probability of them replying is extremely small. Yet, they always have hope. In the past, such letters would be answered by someone tasked with managing the famous person’s communication, and indeed—if the celebrity was somewhat astute and cared about their public image—the reply envelope would often contain a small gift for the fan, a signed photograph or something similar, and not just a dry letter.
However, listening to this particular podcast, you realize a fundamental issue: fans are the same everywhere, even in the hardcore classical music scene. They certainly didn’t scream at concerts like Beatles fans did, for example, but during the exact same period, fans had similarly crazy reactions or wild requests. You can find this podcast here https://dearmaestro.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/ and, as you can see, it’s a wonderful activity from the excellent University of Bristol. I hope you enjoy it.
Of course, don’t forget that we will meet on December 9th at 8:00 PM at Blue Haus, Themistokleous 80, on Exarcheia Square to get to know each other and discuss exactly these kinds of things (you know, crazy fans, great but difficult maestros, etc.).
See you there!
https://www.facebook.com/events/872262162138161
