On the 6th April, 1881, a woman was hanged within the walls of Camberwell Prison. The ceremony was to be performed at eight o'clock, according to custom, and just after dawn the other prisoners began their ritual howling… …The only tribute to sensationalism was her coffin, which had been strategically placed … Continue reading
FEATURED POST
Dame Merle Park on a ballerina’s need for rest and energy: I have six spoonfuls of sugar in my tea
Back in the days when Merle Park was a CBE — she became Dame Merle in 1986 — she left this interview with a British women’s magazine. It makes interesting, and amusing, reading almost 40 years later.Dame Merle Park will celebrate her 80th birthday on 8 October this year. At times my energy has been at a … Continue reading
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Renata Scotto on her childhood, her musical beginnings and her debut in Traviata at 18
Renata Scotto has been made an honorary citizen of Tovo San Giacomo, a small town near the Ligurian coast, in the Province of Savona — just a few kilometres from where I happen to be writing this article. In my … Continue reading
World Ballet Day 2017: 5 October Live with Australian, Bolshoi, Royal, Canadian and San Francisco Ballet Companies
Five of the world's leading ballet companies will come together for World Ballet Day on Thursday 5 October to broadcast 20 hours of live, behind-the-scenes footage via Facebook Live, following a successful … Continue reading
Maria Callas was a tenor
In a bizarre muddle-up by someone at the Verona Sera online news service, a headline stated that 2 August was the 70th Anniversary of ‘tenor’ Maria Callas’s debut at the Verona Arena.Part of a large group of … Continue reading
Tamara Karsavina compares Rudolf Nureyev and Vaslav Nijinsky
Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961 and later that same year he danced with Margot Fonteyn for the first time, and the following year he joined The Royal Ballet. In 1963, the BBC asked the great Tamara … Continue reading
Xander Parish becomes a Principal Dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet
Last night, on the stage of The Royal Opera House which he left eight years ago, Xander Parish was promoted to Principal Dancer of the Mariinsky Theatre.The Mariinsky are in London for a three week run of five … Continue reading
La Scala brings Misty Copeland, Marianela Núñez and Roberto Bolle to California in Giselle
La Scala’s ballet company is in California, warming up for tomorrow’s opening night of Giselle at the Segerstrom Center.The company’s resident principal dancers will only be seen at the Saturday matinee, though … Continue reading
RECENT DANCE POSTS
Bolshoi Ballet’s Vladislav Lantratov on the cancelling of Nureyev: There is nothing worse for an artist…
On 8 July, after the dress rehearsal of the Bolshoi Ballet’s ambitious new ballet on the life of Rudolf Nureyev, the premiere was cancelled. … Continue reading
Ratmansky’s Swan Lake delights once again at La Scala: music and choreography restored
Such was La Scala’s confidence in Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan Lake that even before its premiere in Milan in June 2016 — the co-production with … Continue reading
Derek Deane on 20 years of his Swan Lake ‘in the round’
Swan Lake 'in the round' has been performed for 7 seasons at the Royal Albert Hall since its conception in 1997, so this year marks its 20th … Continue reading
Cesar Corrales is to become English National Ballet’s youngest Principal
Tamara Rojo has announced that Cesar Corrales is to become Principal of English National Ballet from the start of the 2017/2018 season. Joining … Continue reading
Bolshoi Ballet’s Italian dancer, Jacopo Tissi, on his first year in Moscow and dancing Diamonds at the Lincoln Center
Last August, young ballet dancer Jacopo Tissi, resigned from the La Scala Ballet to accept the offer a contract with the Bolshoi Company. As I … Continue reading
Cuban National Ballet in Turin with refreshing musicality and flair
Picture this. Turin. A balmy summer evening. To the left is piazza Castello with its impressive medieval castle. To the right, the Royal Palace, … Continue reading
RECENT MUSIC & OPERA POSTS
Marie Duplessis, at 23, inspired Dumas then Verdi; now 23-year-old Maria Mudryak sings La traviata
La traviata, an opera that has moved audiences to tears since its premiere in Venice in 1853, was based on a true story of prostitution, … Continue reading
Maria Mudryak answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A in italianoWhen did you start singing? My first performance was when I was three years old, then when I was five I started … Continue reading
Luisa Spinatelli – celebrating the life of the Milanese opera and ballet designer
Luisa Spinatelli… taking tasteful to a higher dimension The Amici della Scala (Friends of La Scala), run by the indefatigable Anna Crespi, … Continue reading
Founder of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, violinist Bronislaw Huberman, died 70 years ago today
Seventy years ago, on 16 June 1947, virtuoso violinist Bronislaw Huberman died at 64. He founded the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra by bringing … Continue reading
Great musicologist Philip Gossett remembered by his colleagues and friends
Philip Gossett called himself “a fan, a musician and a scholar,” in that order.The great music scholar, who died yesterday in Chicago at the … Continue reading
Jeffrey Tate dies of a heart attack at 74 at the Accademia Carrara gallery in Bergamo
Jeffrey Tate has died of a heart attack while visiting the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, to the east of Milan. He was 74.At 2 o'clock, near … Continue reading