“Dubai Opera is attempting to rival the famous Sydney Opera House, with 2,000 seats, an elegantly designed marble interior boasting a dramatic multi-story 11,000-pound glass chandelier, and by hosting talent like the prestigious tenor Plácido Domingo. But perhaps even more striking than the glamorous décor is the building itself, inspired by the dhow, the traditional ship found in the Persian Gulf.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Six Months On, Benjamin Millepied Talks About His Stormy Tenure At The Paris Opera Ballet
“I hadn’t accepted this assignment for the prestige, but to bring about long-term change. I realize that things could not happen as I envisaged. … Although I regret that the adventure did not last longer, it could not end otherwise.” In an extended Q&A, the now-former artistic director of the world’s oldest and most august ballet company talks about what he found frustrating – and what frustrated others about him. (in French; Google Translate version here)
Michel Butor, 89, Experimental French Novelist
“Mr. Butor objected to being characterized as a member of the nouveau roman movement, although he shared a publisher … [with] leading figures in the school. His novels shared certain characteristics with theirs – a cameralike detachment, an indifference to psychology, a preoccupation with physical details and the instability of human perception – but he took a more philosophical and political approach.”
India’s First Newspaper Was A Cross Between The Daily Mail And Private Eye
“Started in 1780 by Irishman James Augustus Hicky, … the paper was a mixture between tabloid and satire – rather unlike the more serious tone of newspapers in Britain at the time, which had just won the right to report on Parliamentary proceedings. Though Hicky’s Bengal Gazette was ostensibly concerned with political developments within the East India Company, Hicky primarily focused his coverage on the mockery of his personal enemies.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.06.16
Bach’s Brandenburgs: Liberated by The Sebastians?
The world probably wouldn’t be appreciably different had Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos not been discovered sitting on some shelf, possibly unplayed and unexamined, for a century or so after they were finished in 1721. … But the Brandenburg Concertos are so singular in Bach’s output, [and] in the history of concertos, that their impact on audiences was inevitable. … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2016-09-06
Gard Foundation Symposium–Our Communities: Begins Today
Today marks the beginning of The Robert E. Gard Foundation’s gathering … Our Communities: A Symposium on the Arts is a reflection on the state of arts/community connections … Since this is a by-invitation-only event, I have been tasked with keeping the outside world apprised of at least some of the discussions that take place there. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-09-06
Leonard Weinglass, Our ‘Modern Clarence Darrow’
Other defense attorneys may have been more famous – William Kunstler, for example – but radical leftists of a certain age remember the late Leonard Weinglass with special feeling. … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-09-06
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How Do You Design A New School Building For The Site Of One Of The Worst School Shootings In American History?
The challenge of designing a new building for Sandy Hook Elementary School fell to Svigals + Partners; the result seems almost cheery.
Berkeley Breathed Talks About The Revived ‘Bloom County’
“Early and Late Bloom County should be worth a week in some future bullshit college course on pop history. Nobody has done this before – start strip, stop strip, start family, see world, get old, watch world become digital, start strip again. So it is sorta intriguing. Remember, Bloom County became of age when I was barely out of college. I ended it at an age most college kids now graduate and finally leave the house. Read: what the hell did I know?”
Syrian Architect Develops Plan For Rebuilding Country’s War-Ravaged Cities (In One Of Which She Is Trapped)
“Did Syria’s urban architecture help fuel the civil war that has shattered the country and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people? This is the provocative theory proposed by Marwa al-Sabouni, a young architect from Homs who spent two years confined to her apartment with her husband and two children as the city’s historic heart was reduced to rubble.”
Yeah, Critics Hate Kevin Smith Movies – So What? He’s Made Himself Critic-Proof
“After horrible failures such as Jersey Girl and Cop Out, Smith retreated from Hollywood – not only because he had to, but because he could. His loyal fans, willing to follow him anywhere he commands, fund his work. … What Smith knew … was that the film is less important than the intellectual property and the fanbase that will gladly hand over their money for the right to own a piece of it.”
Is August Wilson The Shakespeare Of Modern America?
Actor Keith David: “‘There is a rhythm in this language that if you betray, you won’t find the truth of. It’s inherent in the language. … [And his characters] are rich, full, incredible human beings – and thinking human beings, colorful not only in their use of language but the way in which they think and communicate, both with each other and out in the world.”