For now, it’s a small-scale relaunch: only 600 audience members in a roughly 2,000-seat house (so social distancing can be maintained) and chamber music rather than full-fledged opera. There will be a total of four programs in July before the traditional summer break; in September, the company will perform Verdi’s Requiem in Milan’s Duomo and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in the theater. – France 24
Author: Matthew Westphal
Meet France’s New Culture Minister
“[Roselyne] Bachelot, 73, is returning to politics after eight years working as a commentator in radio and television. Prior to that, she served as the minister of ecology and sustainable development under former President Jacques Chirac, then as health minister and minister of social cohesion under President Nicolas Sarkozy, always in rightwing governments.” – The Art Newspaper
Everest
If we are experts in music, we need to know about now. Imagine a scientist who said: ‘You know I only repeat the experiments of the 19th century. I’ve really worked at them. I get fantastic results.’ But is that science? – Bruce Brubaker
The New Deal, the Arts, and Race — and Today
FDR’s Works Progress Administration was the closest Washington had come to emulating European arts subsidies. At the same time, the New Deal made a devil’s pact with race – and the WPA was no exception. – Joseph Horowitz
Flamboyant Organ Virtuoso (And Flamboyant Hedonist) Jane Parker-Smith Dead At 70
“[She] brought glamour to the organ console thanks to her extraordinary dexterity at the keyboard and her love of life in the fast lane: she swore like a trooper, drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney and played the organ like a woman possessed.” – The Telegraph (UK)
Scots Gaelic Could Die Out In Next Ten Years: Researchers
“The study … found that only 11,000 people were habitual Gaelic speakers, after a rapid decline during the 1980s when the density of native speakers fell below 80%. … The language is rarely spoken in the home, little used by teenagers, and used routinely only by a diminishing number of elderly Gaels dispersed across a few island communities in the Hebrides.” – The Guardian
Turkey Might Really Turn Hagia Sophia Back Into A Mosque
The Byzantine emperor built it in the sixth century to be the flagship cathedral of Eastern (and perhaps all) Christianity. When the Ottoman sultan conquered Constantinople in 1453, he converted it into a landmark mosque. When Atatürk’s secular revolutionaries founded the modern Turkish republic, he made it a public museum honoring both faiths and their histories. But next week, a Turkish court will rule on whether President Erdoğan can make good on his longtime campaign promise to (as his justice minister puts it) “see its chains broken and opened for a prayer.” – Public Radio International
Philippine Artists Fight Against Duterte’s Anti-Terrorism Bill
“The bill’s vague provisions make it easy for the state to target artistic and creative productions, especially critical, satirical or protest forms it subjectively deems as anti-government or subversive – or terrorist, in today’s cruder parlance,” says Concerned Artists of the Philippines secretary general Lisa Ito, who compares current conditions under Duterte’s government to the martial law period under Ferdinand Marcos. – South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
Dance Magazine’s Editor In Chief Judged A Major Competition, And Here’s What She Wants Contestants To Know
Jennifer Stahl, who juried this year’s Boston semi-finals of Youth America Grand Prix: “Putting exact numbers to qualities like ‘musicality’ and ‘épaulement’ is just as tricky as it sounds. But I learned a few surprising takeaways that could make a big difference in a dancer’s final score. Whether you’re competing virtually right now or just starting to plan your solo for next year, keep these six things in mind.” – Dance Magazine
Can This Movie Make An AI Robot Into A Star?
A “synthetic actor” called Erica “has been cast in b, a $70 million science-fiction movie … about scientists who create an AI robot named Erica who quickly realize the danger of this top-secret program that is trying to perfect a human through a non-human form. Variety caught up with the filmmakers [Tarek] Zohdy and [Sam] Khoze to discuss b.” – Variety