“My parents were both village teachers. The village was full of women. And they had to work very hard during the day, there were no men left in the village, and after they were done with work – the village was full of benches – they would all come outside and they would talk. It was scary to listen to them, but it was also very interesting. They talked about war about death about loss, because some lost their husbands recently and this was much more exciting and much more interesting than reading the books that we had in the house.”
Tag: 08.22.16
Mastermind Of Destruction Of Timbuktu’s Medieval Shrines Pleads Guilty At The Hague
“Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is the first Islamist militant to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. He’s also the first person to ever plead guilty at the court. And the charges against him at the ICC are also a first: cultural destruction tied to his actions, and those of his rebels, at the historic city of Timbuktu.”
Here Are The 2016 Gramophone Award Winners
“We are pleased to announce to winning recordings in each of the 12 categories of the 2016 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. … The winners of the Recording of the Year, Artist of the Year, Young Artist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and Label of the Year will be announced at the Gramophone Awards ceremony in London on September 15.”
Soprano Daniela Dessì Dies Suddenly At Age 59
Fred Plotkin: “How could she sing in such a wide range of styles, from Mozart to bel canto (she sang Norma, Maria Stuarda and rare Rossini) to Verdi, Puccini and the verismo composers? She liked to say, ‘you sing using technique and your brain and the voice responds.'”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.22.16
How Dance Will Help Teach Us About The Next Transformative Technology
Dance is the most physical art. Bodies moving, yes, but also because of how bodies relate to the space they’re in. Much of the energy in tech innovation right now is exploring the edges between physical and virtual worlds, … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-08-22
The Fisher Folly: SFMoMA’s Bad Deal
We’ve never known exactly the details of the deal that the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art made in 2009 with the Fisher family to get its collection (better described, actually, as access to the family’s collection … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-08-22
SFMOMA’s Seismic Fisher Fissure: “Integration with the Museum’s Collection”?
The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Charles Desmarais last weekend blasted the lid off a huge hole in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s description of the strictures governing its 100-year mega-loan of the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-08-22
Toots Thielemans 1922-2016
Toots Thielemans, the man who made the harmonica a well-known jazz instrument died today in Brussels, Belgium, his hometown. He was 94. Thielemans was recently hospitalized after a fall that resulted in a broken arm, … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-08-22
Monday Recommendation: Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans, Yesterday & Today (Out Of The Blue) The loss today of the harmonica virtuoso makes this survey of his career poignant and rewarding. Two CDs with thirty-eight tracks, most previously unreleased, follow Thielemans … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-08-22
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Ang Lee Wants To Show His New Film Projected At Higher Speeds. But Can Theatres Handle It?
The New York Film Festival said on Monday that it would host the world premiere of Mr. Lee’s film on Oct. 14 in a theater — a relatively small one, with just 300 seats — rigged with projectors capable of playing the film in 3-D, 4K ultra-high-definition and at the extremely fast speed of 120 frames a second. No film has ever been shown publicly that way before, according to the festival and Sony Pictures, which will release “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” nationally on Nov. 11.
Jazz Harmonica Player Toots Thielemans, 94
“That Mr. Thielemans, who performed with greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman and Charlie Parker, played jazz on the harmonica was unusual enough. Even more unusual was how he first gained widespread international attention: by playing guitar and whistling in unison.”
Why You Sure Should Applaud The Ensemble Dancers In Big Shows
“I’m venturing to bet if there was a Lip Sync Battle between [Britney Spears] and a Broadway dancer, the Broadway dancer would kick her ass.”
The Real-Life Adults Of ‘Kids’ Show Us How New York Has Changed
“Before a bunch of yuppie goons took over the streets of Manhattan, they belonged to kids. It was the 90s. They were a bunch of broke teenagers from different boroughs who united in the East Village. High lived on St. Marks Place. Her mom was chill. Their apartment was the main base for the crew to crash, to eat. They smoked pot, drank 40s out of brown-paper bags, partied on rooftops, and skated through Washington Square Park.”