Berlin Philharmonic officials say that maintenance work on the roof of the Philharmonie concert hall likely caused the fire that threatened the building earlier this week. But the damage was largely contained, and the orchestra plans to be back in its home by June 2.
Tag: 04.22.08
Ancient Afghan Oil Paintings Discovered
Oil painting may have originated in Afghanistan centuries before the medium came into common use in Europe, new evidence suggests. Wall paintings made with oil-based paint were discovered by French researchers in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. “The wall-paintings were devotional art showing the Buddha, often in colourful robes.”
Artist Seeks Dying Person For His Art
A controversial German artist known for exploring death is searching for a dying volunteer to take part in an upcoming installation: taking his or her last breath while on display.
Study: Dull Chores Numb The Brain
Researchers have discovered that as people perform monotonous tasks, their brain shifts towards an at-rest mode whether they like it or not.
An End To Encore Bans At The Met
Solo encores were common in the 19th century but fell out of fashion as performance practice grew more serious. At the Met they had been explicitly banned for much of the 20th century. Before Monday night the only such occasion had been Luciano Pavarotti’s repeating the second-act tenor aria in “Tosca” in 1994, Met officials said.
Met Opera Expands Moviecasts
The Metropolitan Opera will simulcast its opening-night gala featuring Renee Fleming to theatres in North America as its program of high-definition broadcasts expands from eight to 11 next season.
Afghan Government Bans TV Soap Operas
In the latest battle of the long-simmering war between cultural conservatives and liberals, the minister for information and culture last week ordered television networks to stop broadcasting five soap operas by Tuesday, saying they were not in keeping with “Afghan religion and culture.”
A First: Self-Published Book Picks Up PEN/Ackerley Nomination
Jane Haynes’s Who Is It That Can Tell Me Who I Am? is on the shortlist for the prestigious PEN/Ackerley prize for memoir and autobiography.
How Language Shapes Our Perception
“Does language shape what we perceive, a position associated with the late Benjamin Lee Whorf, or are our perceptions pure sensory impressions, immune to the arbitrary ways that language carves up the world? The latest research changes the framework, perhaps the language of the debate.”
Nabokov’s Son Decides Not To Destroy Author’s Work
Vladimir Nabokov’s The Original of Laura will now not be thrown onto the flames, the 73-year-old has told Der Spiegel magazine, arguing that his father, the creator of Lolita and Pale Fire who died in 1977, would not want his son to suffer any more over his most tortuous dilemma.