More than a thousand men, women, and children alike dressed up as the popular Mexican artist to celebrate her 110th birthday, setting what appears to be a Guinness World Record for the most Fridas in one place.
Tag: 07.10.17
The Countertenor Pushing His Fach Into The 21st Century
Anthony Roth Costanzo has ” pushed beyond the old-music limitations of traditional countertenors, performing new works written for him by composers including Nico Muhly, Jake Heggie, Suzanne Farrin, Steven Mackey and Matthew Aucoin.” New music star Claire Chase says, “what Anthony is doing is making that tool [the countertenor voice], with its range and its versatility, viable for composers in the 21st century.”
Here’s The Story Behind The Original Ballerina Statuettes That Jeff Koons ‘Appropriated’
Sophia Kishkovsky looks into the history of Soviet ceramicist Oksana Zhnikrup and the Kiev workshop-factory where she created the figurines – to which, by the way, Koons did, in fact, purchase rights.
Lack Of Productions By Female Playwrights No Longer An Issue, Says (Male) Manager Of Major Company
Chris Campbell, literary manager of London’s Royal Court Theatre: “Diversity [in terms of] men and women has improved so drastically during my time working in theatre it is almost laughable. … I can’t remember the last time we sat down and talked about gender diversity in theatre. And that’s quite often because I’m the only man in the room.”
There’s Now A Play About DC’s Notorious ‘Peeping Rabbi’ – And His Victims Are Furious
A.J. Campbell wrote and staged Constructive Fictions at the Capital Fringe Festival without actually interviewing either Rabbi Barry Freundel – who was arrested in in 2014 for secretly filming women undressing and preparing for the mikvah at his Georgetown synagogue – or those he spied on. Said one victim, “Our pain is there for public consumption in a way that no one had any say in”; says the playwright, “I would totally love to meet with them. It didn’t occur to me.”
Another Replacement In The Met’s ‘Tosca’ – But This One Is James Levine (!)
The new production by director David McVicar, which opens at the Met’s New Year’s Eve gala, has already lost its original star tenor (Jonas Kaufmann) and soprano (Kristine Opolais). Now its planned conductor, Andris Nelsons (Opolais’s husband), has withdrawn as well – and he’s being replaced by a maestro who is certainly available and knows his way around the house and the score. (But with Levine’s fragile health and this production’s bad luck, we can only hope he actually makes it.)
Osmo Vänskä Will Stay With Minnesota Orchestra Until At Least 2022
“The orchestra announced Monday morning that the longtime music director has signed a new, three-year contract through its 2021-22 season. The extension came early – Vänskä’s current contract expires at the end of the 2018-19 season. … The new contract would extend his total tenure to 19 years, matching the orchestra’s two longest-serving music directors, Emil Oberhoffer and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.”
$3.9 Million In Gems Stolen From London Art Fair – In Apparent Inside Job
“Detectives are hunting two men who calmly walked into the Masterpiece art show last week and unlocked a cabinet before stealing several pieces of diamond jewellery. The men, both white and casually dressed, then locked the cabinet at the stand of Swiss jewellers Boghossian before strolling away.”
Actress Elsa Martinelli, 82
“In an acting career that shifted between Europe and Hollywood and peaked in the 1960s, Ms. Martinelli won the Silver Bear for best actress at the 1956 Berlin International Film Festival for the Italian comedy Donatella. Directors she worked for included Orson Welles (The Trial), Roger Vadim (Blood and Roses) and Elio Petri (The 10th Victim).” Yet the role for which she’s best remembered in the U.S. was as the love interest of Kirk Douglas’s character in The Indian Hunter.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.10.17
The problem with ranking cities’ cultural vibrancy
Two recent publications derive indices to rank different cities according to their cultural vibrancy … The problem is not with the quality of the data. Many of the raw data series will be of interest. The problem is in the very nature of the exercise. … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2017-07-10
Shifting Power in American Orchestras
I have become more worried about what happens when [our students in Play On Philly] leave our “bubble” that is filled with peers, teachers, administrators and board members that truly understand their circumstances and enter a field that is dominated by white supremacy and unconscious bias. … read more
AJBlog: Orchestras Everywhere Published 2017-07-10
How To Create An Art-Lover
While at the Guggenheim Museum yesterday, seeing Visionaries: Creating A Modern Guggenheim, I witnessed an awesome sight – but it wasn’t the art. It was a little girl, still in a stroller, with a sketchbook in hand, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-07-10
Monday Recommendation: Another Bill Evans Discovery
Bill Evans, Another Time (Resonance)
For years, it was thought that drummer Jack DeJohnette’s only recorded appearance with the Bill Evans trio was at the 1968 Montreux Jazz Festival. Then, in 2013, … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-07-10