Culture Zone - Edinburgh Festival Special

BBC Radio Scotland’s arts correspondent Pauline McLean presents a special Culture Zone featuring interviews and archive relating to the 64th Edinburgh International Festival. Among the many programmes featured are an interview with current Festival director Jonathan Mills from 2009, a very special interview with the late, great Sir Charles Mackerras from 1995 and the new Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Donald Runnicles discusses his appointment in an interview first broadcast last year. Elsewhere there are interviews with Festival favourites such as the Tony Award-winning actor Alan Cumming (X-Men United, Goldeneye, Spy Kids) and Tommy Smith, the director of the Scottish National Jazz orchestra, who outlines his plans for the Festival 2010. Also featured is a brand new interview with the director of the Book Festival Nick Barley, a fascinating archive feature relating to a production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a celebration of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo from 1990, a programme related to the appearance of the Simon Bolivar Quartet in the capital and, as classical accordionist James Crabb brings a recital of the instrument’s music to the Festival, we revisit a documentary looking at the history of the accordion in Scotland.