Enormously, breathtakingly bad. The Teatro Colón, once the peer of almost any opera company in the world, has gone through years of badly-targeted staff cuts, unfinished renovation and construction, labor unrest (justified and not), and disastrous political interference. Now a new general director faces the fearsome challenges of cleaning up. (in English)
Tag: 02.07.15
Tom Stoppard Says Audiences Are Now Too Ignorant To Get His Plays
“Sir Tom explained how he had to change a scene in The Hard Truth three times between the previews, making a particular allusion more and more obvious each time. … ‘And I must say that I was completely wrong [in assuming the audience would understand it] and I really resent it.'”
Michaela DePrince Doesn’t Have A Lot Of Hope That Ballet Will Become More Diverse
“There’s a dancer [Precious Adams] who was at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow – they told her to bleach her skin. She’s now doing very well at the English National Ballet, but often you look around, and there are no black dancers. Classical ballet is beautiful, but it’s very old.”
The Beautiful Brutalism Of Manchester
“A man called David taps me on the arm. ‘Do you know there’s a website called Fuck Yeah Brutalism,’ he whispers. Is that a fan site? ‘Of course,’ he say. What made him a brutalist? ‘Insipid modern buildings,’ he says. ‘I like the unloved.'”
Advice For A Boomer Who Can No Longer Tolerate Rock But Only Listens To Classical
“Returning to ground well-tilled can be a fruitless endeavour, so the doctor offers no cure: you have no disease. Besides, you have already hit on the best medicine the world has to offer anyone, at any age: passion and enlightenment.”
Serial, The Longform Podcast, Wins One Of Its Subjects The Right To File An Appeal
“‘In Episode 10 of the podcast, I reported that this appeal was alive by a thread,’ [podcast host an and reporter] Koenig wrote. ‘Now, I’d say it’s more of a … well-made string, maybe. Like the nylon kind. Because it means that the Court of Special Appeals judges think the issues Adnan raised in his brief are worth considering.'”
Brian Williams To ‘Step Back From’ NBC Nightly News
“‘In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions,’ Mr. Williams said in the two-paragraph memo.”