According to one critic, visiting Rome is no longer the frustrating endeavor it has long been for art lovers who encountered museums covered in scaffolding and prize treasures locked away out of view. “Jubilee Year has galvanised the owners of churches, galleries and temples into cleaning their finest possessions and placing them on view. Rome has refurbished more than 700 monuments, works of arts and sites. The results are spectacular.” – The Times (UK)
Author: Douglas McLennan
LET “CATS” COME TO YOU
Broadway shows will soon be widely available to home viewers, broadcast over two new theatre-dedicated TV networks. Theatre professionals are split over whether the new trend deserves applause. – Backstage
THE TURNAROUND KING OF OPERA
Michael Kaiser was touted as the man to turn around the tumultuous problems of London’s Royal Opera House. And he got the house reopened last winter after its renovation. But instead of sticking around, he was soon out the door and on his way to Washington’s Kennedy Center. – The Telegraph (UK)
A STAR WARS RING
“Plácido Domingo, the new artistic director of the Los Angeles Opera, announced today that George Lucas’s special effects company, Industrial Light and Magic, would design a new version of ‘The Ring.’ The epic, beginning with ‘Das Rheingold’ in 2003, will span two seasons.” – New York Times
OPERA’S BEST FRIEND
High-tech investor Alberto Vilar – a friend of Placido Domingo – has given $24 million to the Los Angeles Opera, the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia to fund permanent traveling productions. – Nando Times (AP)
MAESTRO VS ORCHESTRA
This weekend Kurt Masur takes up his new post as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic. The relationship between the traditionalist maestro and the experimenting and pragmatic LPO could generate sparks. Good thing. Perhaps “the bizarre, almost century-long seclusion of orchestras from the real energies of cultural life is coming to an end. The orchestra is about to become interesting, a place of argument and contestation, just as it was in the Romantic era.” – The Times (UK)
THE PLACIDO PLAN
Domingo announced plans to transform the Los Angeles Opera with a series of initiatives, including an ongoing relationship with the Kirov. “In addition, Domingo promises to make good on his previously expressed intentions to tap the Hollywood talent pool and reach out to the Latino community, as well as to expand the company’s training program for young artists.” – Los Angeles Times
THE TURNAROUND KING OF OPERA
Michael Kaiser was touted as the man to turn around the tumultuous problems of London’s Royal Opera House. And he got the house reopened last winter after its renovation. But instead of sticking around, he was soon out the door and on his way to Washington’s Kennedy Center. – The Telegraph (UK)
OPERA MARATHON
Over the next three months the English National Opera has set itself a challenge – “celebrating 400 years of Italian opera in no fewer than ten new productions. They will hire seven directors, six costume designers and five lighting designers. There will be just one master-designer presiding over the entire project – Stefanos Lazaridis. – The Times (UK)
HONG KONG PHILHARMONIC APPOINTS FIRST LOCAL-BORN MUSIC DIRECTOR
Samuel Wong served as assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic and is also music director of the Honolulu Symphony. – The Age (Melbourne)