Twelve black and white photos of trees might not grab your attention immediately, though if I add that they are millennium-old olive trees from Puglia, presented as large-format prints exhibited in the ISAIA Showroom in Madison Avenue as seen through the perceptive and sensual lens of Barbara Luisi, you’ll certainly want to take a look. Art critic…
Lilly Jørstad — the mezzo-soprano who was strangely considered ‘unsuitable’ to continue her studies at the La Scala Academy — has gone on to demonstrate what a bizarre decision that was. She has been called by the La Scala opera house several times to sing the lead role in their production of Cenerentola for children, Rosina (after her…
The National Ballet of Canada will welcome a group of new Canadians to experience the magic of ballet. With the assistance of COSTI Immigrant Services, 72 Syrian refugees will attend the ‘Share the Magic’ performance of Alexei Ratmansky‘s Romeo and Juliet on 15 March. Since 1986, the National Ballet’s ‘Share the Magic’ program has introduced ballet to those…
Makhar Vaziev will leave his position as head of the La Scala Ballet Company and take over at the Bolshoi Ballet on 18 March 2016. The Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Vladimir Urin, had already announced last July that the current director, Sergei Filin, would not have his contract renewed, which expires on 17 March….
The Royal Ballet returns to the USA in June 2015 with programmes that reflect both the company’s heritage and its contemporary repertoire. It also brings with it the extraordinary lineup of dancers that make up the Royal Ballet today. Aside from the Brits – Lauren Cuthbertson, Rupert Pennefather and Edward Watson – there are the…
David Hallberg has been forced to withdraw from his Spring engagements as he his still recovering from the surgery he underwent during the Summer of last year. In a thrilling casting coup, he will be replaced by Sergei Polunin for his performances on 10 and 11 April at Teatro alla Scala in Giselle. Polunin will be…
While it’s great to see 87-year-old working choreographer Gillian Lynne get a special award, there is Marianela Núñez in the running for Outstanding Achievement in Dance, a nomination richly deserved by the Royal Ballet‘s most radiant and thrilling ballerina. Another welcome name for dance is designer Lez Brotherston who has collaborated with Matthew Bourne‘s New Adventures from the beginning,…
Pope Benedict XVI said at a meeting of cardinals this morning that he will resign as pontiff at the end of this month: Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church….
Gabriele Sinopoli, brother of the late, great orchrestra conductor Giuseppe, has emerged from a coma after being attacked by a group of drunks. They kept punching me in the head, one seemed like a professional. A group of thugs. The 64-year-old had beeped his horn to ask six young men to move out of the…
The Dutch ballet dancer and choreographer Rudi Van Dantzig, one of the famous names in the world of contemporary dance, has died in a hospital in Amsterdam at 78 after a long illness. He was born in Amsterdam August 4, 1933. Rudi van Dantzig took up ballet lessons in 1950, at the relatively late age…
Claudio Del Monaco remains in a chronic condition but the prognosis is more positive, though doctors at Treviso’s Ca ‘Foncello hospital haven’t yet taken him off the danger list. Del Monaco, director and son of Italian opera’s great Mario, has improved greatly since he was admitted to hospital. Two severe stab wounds, inflicted by his wife, Daniela…
George Michael has responded to the news that Rupert Murdoch’s News International has shut down the scandal-plagued British newspaper News of the World by declaring that today is a “fantastic day for Britain.” The paper has been accused of eavesdropping on the phone messages of murder victims, politicians and celebrities such as Michael. According to the Associated…
An exciting new line up for the Bolshoi Ballet: Sergei Filin has been appointed Artistic Direcor of the Bolshoi Ballet and Yan Godovsky has been made Manager of the Bolshoi Ballet. Two young men who seem exactly at the right point in their careers to assume such important roles. We wish them well. Photo: Yan Godovsky (left)…
Rich will leave the paper to join the New York Magazine. He has been an op-ed columnist at the New York Times since 1994, and was the paper’s chief drama critic from 1980 to 1993. New York Magazine editor-in-chief Adam Moss writes, Frank Rich is a giant — a powerhouse critic of politics and culture,…
After Riccardo Muti‘s fall from the podium in Chicago last week, doctors have implanted a pacemaker to treat a heart rhythm problem. Cardiologists at Northwestern Memorial Hospital blamed Muti’s fainting spell on 3 February as a “common heart rhythm disturbance” and said the pacemaker they implanted would monitor his heart and, if necessary, deliver a shock if…
The Metropolitan Opera in New York has lost its Siegfried for its costly new production of Richard Wagner‘s “Ring” cycle. The company said in a release Tuesday that heldentenor Ben Heppner has withdrawn from the production because the singer “has retired the role from his repertory.” Heppner’s casting as Siegfried in the Met’s new “Ring”…
A US homeless man with a “golden voice” has been given a second chance after being discovered by a reporter in Ohio who put a video of him on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6kI_u3ho_c A former radio announcer, Ted Williams, 53, had fallen on hard times, but – following an appearance on YouTube – has now got work…
The role of Mama Rose in “Gypsy” has always attracted great divas, from Ethel Merman to Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly to Patti LuPone. And now comes word that the greatest diva of them all — Barbra Streisand — is next in line. Streisand is deep in negotiations to direct, produce and star in a movie version…
Heart of a Soldier based on Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart’s acclaimed book and the life stories of Susan Rescorla, Rick Rescorla and Daniel J. Hill. A true story of military combat, love, friendship and heroism culminating with the devastating terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center” San Francisco Opera today announced details of…
A musician who went into a central London sandwich shop to buy something to eat has had a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin worth £1.2 million ($1.9 million) stolen, police said on Monday. British Transport Police have launched a public appeal to get the rare instrument back and the musician’s insurer, Lark Insurance Broking Group, has offered…
Before conducting the National Anthem and the ‘Die Walküre‘ overture, Daniel Barenboim took up a microphone and, addressing himself to the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, said: Image via Wikipedia I’m very happy, once again, to be conducting on the 7th December at La Scala. [7th December, feast day of Saint Ambrose, patron saint of Milan…
Last night saw the dress rehearsal of La Scala‘s new production of Die Walküre for the traditional opening of its season on the feast day of Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, the 7th December. The dress was without the first act as both Waltraud Meier (Sieglinde) and Simon O’Neill (Siegmund) are having vocal problems…
Some of the dance world’s losses, but the list is much, much longer: Alvin Ailey Michael Bennett Jorge Donn Robert Joffrey Rudolf Nureyev Christopher Gillis …
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