Andreas Mitisek “has built a reputation for putting on opera seasons that are eclectic in repertory, unconventional and even provocative in performance. It’s not for nothing that Opera News magazine last year named the Austrian-born Mitisek, 50, one of 25 people who will be major forces in opera over the coming decade.”
Tag: 02.19.13
Russia Freezes Assets Of Head Of Ambitious Mikhailovsky Theatre
Vladmir Kekhman, the wealthy businessman who took over St. Petersburg’s second ballet-opera house and began luring stars from other companies and programming adventurous fare, has been banned from leaving Russia and had most of his assets frozen pursuant to a case by a Russian bank against his fruit-importing company.
Why The News Media Hype The Pope And The Papal Election
Frank Bruni: “We in the media love the clear-cut drama of transitions. They’re easy to grasp and frame. And in the case of the Vatican, they come with majestic visual backdrops, colorfully costumed characters: a pageant extraordinaire. It looks splendid on the front page and even better on the nightly news.”
Hilary Mantel Walks Into Controversy With Remarks On Kate Middleton
“Award-winning author Hilary Mantel [Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies] found herself surrounded by a storm of controversy Tuesday, as excerpts emerged from a recent lecture in which she skewers what she views as the public’s simplified view of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.”
Patricia Cornwell Awarded $50.9 Million In Lawsuit
A US federal court jury found that the mystery novelist’s “former financial company cheated her, her wife, and her company out of tens of millions of dollars.”
Can A New Prize Encourage Playwrights To Write Scripts In Yiddish?
“The National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene is announcing a new play contest to encourage writers and directors to conceive and develop new works in Yiddish. The winning play or musical will be showcased during the first New York International Festival of Jewish Performing Arts, in 2015 to commemorate the centennial of Folksbiene (Yiddish for ‘people’s theater’), the longest continuously running Yiddish theater in the world.”
When Art Critics Change Their Minds
“How does this happen with a person who supposedly has smart-enough eyes to operate as a critic in the first place? Does the mood of the times influence critics’ tastes? The high or low opinions of other critics? A lack of familiarity with a given medium or artist? And what do critics say of other critics who change course?” A passel of critics weigh in (and ‘fess up).
Reader’s Digest Files Bankruptcy (Again)
“This is the second time in less than four years. RDA Holding says it plans to emerge from Chapter 11 in less than six months.”
Iranian Conference Meets To Denounce “Hollywoodism”
“We Iranians look stupid, backward and simple-minded in this movie. Hollywood is not a normal industry; it’s a conspiracy by capitalism and Zionism. We need to come up with an answer to this and other films.”
Melbourne’s Second Orchestra Reels From Crisis To Crisis
Orchestra Victoria, which plays in the pit for all of the Australian Ballet’s and Opera Australia’s Melbourne performances and performs concerts in the state of Victoria’s regions as well as the capital, “has been beset with official indecision, management instability and financial strife.” One unnamed figure calls the band a “complete and total basketcase”.