The Georgian National Opera House in Tbilisi has survived tsars, commissars, civil war and economic shock over its 165 years. Now, after a six-year, $40.5 million renovation paid for by the country’s richest man (a former prime minister), it’s open again.
Tag: 01.27.16
Art Institute Of Chicago Receives Largest Cash Gift In Its History
“Massachusetts collector Dorothy Braude Edinburg, who died in Jan. 2015, donated the money” – more than $35 million – “in her will and, in an unusual move, earmarked it for new art purchases. The final figure is still being determined.”
New York’s Attorney General (*Finally*) Goes After Shady Ticketing Practices By The Biggest Firms Out There
“‘Ticketing is a fixed game,’ Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement. ‘My office will continue to crack down on those who break our laws, prey on ordinary consumers and deny New Yorkers affordable access to the concerts and sporting events they love. This investigation is just the beginning of our efforts.'”
Experimental Theatremakers, Think Carefully Before You Take That Mainstream Gig
Lyn Gardner: “In a tight funding climate, it’s not surprising that independent theatre-makers are attracted to the opportunities and financial support that the mainstream can offer. But those opportunities sometimes come at a price … Sometimes it leads to a leeching of the very things that made an artist’s work most distinctive in the first place.”
Netflix Banned By Indonesia’s State Telecom
“State-owned telecommunications and internet provider Telekomunikasi Indonesia has blocked Netflix from all of its platforms … because of a permit issue and its unfiltered contents.”
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos Wins Sonning Music Prize 2017
The award, worth DKK 600,000 (currently about $88,000), “is Denmark’s highest musical honour and has been given annually to an internationally recognised composer, instrumentalist, conductor or singer since 1959.”
Berkeley Art Museum Steps Up With A Big New Home
“As much as anything else, the 83,000-square-foot, $112 million fusion of museum and movie house is a bid by UC Berkeley to put its museum on the arts map as a revived, vital West Coast cultural force.”
This Woman Is To Peter Brook What Jeanne-Claude Was To Christo
Well, except for the spouse part. “Trusted lieutenant, enforcer, co-writer, co-creator: however Marie-Hélène Estienne is described, she has been at Brook’s side for the last 40 years. For the past 20, he has barely made work without her. … Calling her unsung doesn’t quite do it: she might be the most famous theatremaker no one has ever heard of.”
Police Break Down Door After Neighbors Mistake Man Trying To Sing Opera With Screaming
“Police officers were surprised early Tuesday morning when they kicked in the door of an Amsterdam man they thought was in trouble and shouting, only to discover he was actually trying to sing along with an opera recording.”
The Useless Agony Of Going Offline
“After seventy-two hours without my handheld devices, I didn’t miss my smartphone or access to Facebook. I missed learning new things.”