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Beethoven's FΓΌr Elise, playwright Garry Lyons, film director Rajkumar Santoshi

The story behind Beethoven's FΓΌr Elise, new play Blow Down marks the demolition of the Ferrybridge cooling towers, the director of a new film about Gandhi and his assassin

Beethoven’s love life has long fascinated music scholars primarily because so little is known about it despite some tantalising clues. In his new book, Why Beethoven, music critic Norman Lebrecht, identifies the dedicatee of Beethoven’s well-loved melody FΓΌr Elise, while Jessica Duchen has written a novel, Immortal, which provides one answer to the question, who was Beethoven’s β€œImmortal Beloved”? Both join Front Row to discuss why their explorations bring us closer to the composer.

Garry Lyons on his new play Blow Down at Leeds Playhouse, written to mark the demolition of the iconic cooling towers at Ferrybridge Power Station. It’s based on stories collected from people in Knottingley and Ferrybridge in Yorkshire. Blow Down will go on tour with performances in theatres and community centres across Yorkshire and the North East.

A new film about Mahatma Gandhi and his assassin Nathuram Godse has caused some controversy in India. Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh (War of Ideologies) imagines a world in which Gandhi survived and went on to debate with Godse, a premise that some have found offensive. Director Rajkumar Santoshi discusses the reaction to his film and ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ journalist Vandana Vijay explains why there’s increased sensitivity around some movies in India at the moment.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Emma Wallace

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42 minutes

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  • Tue 31 Jan 2023 19:15

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