The Académie Française introduced these changes – the elimination of some (not all) circumflexes and simplified spelling of some words – back in 1990, but they’re only now entering the school curriculum. And the French are protesting in (very Gallic) solidarity with their beloved diacritical mark.
Author: Matthew Westphal
How A Discreet Art Shipper Quietly Became A Wealthy Dealer – And Got Sued By His Russian Oligarch Client
Says Yves Bouvier: “If I buy for two and I can sell for eleven, I will sell for eleven.” (That’s not counting the commission.) “I think in [my client’s] head the problem was not that Bouvier made money – it was that he made too much money.”
Why ‘Hamilton’ Is The Musical For The Age Of Obama
Just as Camelot was the emblematic show of JFK’s day (“about the idealism and glamour of courtly power, and also about its fragility”) and South Pacific was of the Truman-Eisenhower era (“about what America was going to do and be after the Americans had won their terrible war”), argues Adam Gopnik, Hamilton captures both the changes and the contradictions in the U.S. during this President’s term.
Where Classical Music Meets Social Justice: The Sphinx Organization
“We’re looking at classical music and the broader arts as being woefully under-representative of the communities in which they reside. That’s one piece of the puzzle, but it’s only the art form. Then I see key minority communities that are strongly represented in the population but not represented in the field. There’s this reciprocal void that has to do with history, barriers, lack of opportunities, lack of access. To bridge that gap is where Sphinx comes in.”
Here’s The Woman Replacing Millepied At The Head Of The Paris Opera Ballet
Aurélie Dupont has spent her entire education and career at the company and its school; she retired from the stage last summer at the top rank of étoile.
Pussy Riot Is Back – With New Video About Russia’s Chief Prosecutor
“Wearing police uniforms and fishnet stockings, they whip hooded prisoners and waterboard them in their prison cells. The well-made-up women gleefully throw wads of cash into the air and flirt viciously with their viewers. The Russian punk protest group … sashayed back into the public eye on Wednesday with the release of a music video savaging the country’s prosecutor general, Yuri Y. Chaika, who locked up three members of the group in 2012.”
‘Cold Mountain’, Jennifer Higdon’s New Opera, Comes Indoors
The work opens at Opera Philadelphia this weekend, following its world premiere last summer at “the open-air Santa Fe Opera, … one of the most beloved venues in the country. But one hears of comments about not having to compete with Mother Nature, and how singing after stage combat is easier when not at a 7,199-foot elevation.”
How Music Festivals Shape Medium-Sized Cities
“Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles are three exceptional American cities, with robust economies and a surfeit of culture. I was interested in comparing a triad of slightly smaller metros and their festivals because they seemed very different in their histories, culture, and senses of place.” Richard Florida talks to sociologist Jonathan R. Wynn, author of Music/City: American Festivals and Placemaking in Austin, Nashville, and Newport.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.04.16
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Still Stalled, as Monitoring Report is Issued on Saadiyat Island Labor Conditions
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 4th annual monitoring report on labor conditions on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, recently released by the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) of the United Arab Emirates’ capital, gives a mixed picture of progress and continued concerns. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-02-04
Frank Collett Observed
Rifftides reader Mike Harris responded to last week’s post about the passing of pianist Frank Collett and the outpouring of comments about him. Testifying to what all those folks have been saying, … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-02-04
So you want to see a show?
Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) inThe Wall Street Journal when they opened. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-02-04
[ssba_hide]
Neuroscience And Free Will Seem To Be Rethinking Their Divorce
Three decades of studies seemed to “point in the same, troubling direction: We don’t really have free will. In fact, until recently, many neuroscientists would have said any decision you made was not truly free but actually determined by neural processes outside of your conscious control. Luckily, for those who find this state of affairs philosophically (or existentially) perplexing, things are starting to look up.”