The Australian philanthropist who’s backing the Scottish festival

ByGramilano 2 September 20112 September 2011 Reading Time: 1 minute

An Australian philanthropist who once rescued a production by the Mariinsky Opera was last night revealed as the benefactor behind one of the most eagerly anticipated productions at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

Harold Mitchell, 69, who is credited as a “supporter” of Richard Strauss‘s Die Frau ohne Schatten in the Festival programme, in fact donated the £300,000 that made possible the four-hour production by the Mariinsky company. Yesterday, he indicated that he would continue investing in the festival, at least until 2014, the year Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games.

via The Times

Gramilano

Graham Spicer, aka 'Gramilano', is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.