While he became world-famous as a velvet-voiced movie villain (Die Hard; the Harry Potter series), he had equal gifts as a romantic lead (Truly, Madly, Deeply; Sense and Sensibility; Love, Actually) and a classical stage actor of impressive range (Les Liaisons dangereuses; Private Lives; Antony and Cleopatra; John Gabriel Borkman).
Author: Matthew Westphal
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.14.16
Spoiler Alert: Humans Have Bodies
I began my professional life as an arts management educator just over 20 years ago, in Fall 1995. My focus, since then, has been rather specific: effective management of (mostly) professional (mostly) nonprofit organizations that … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2016-01-14
What orchestras could do for David Bowie
Do classical music institutions think that Bowie’s death had anything to do with them? The Seattle Symphony, at least, tweeted something strong. But I can make a case for any big-time classical group to pay great attention, and react publicly. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-01-14
New Year’s “Resolutions,” Sotheby’s Edition: What Artworld Uncertainties Should Be Resolved in 2016?
This is the third post in my series (hereand here) of how thorny artworld issues that vexed us in 2015 could achieve satisfying resolution in the year ahead. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-01-14
Vanishing act
Dance: such a fragile artform. Written in bodies, tucked in memories, if it isn’t seen, it dies. I was reminded of this melancholy fact by two recent reports. First, the Swedish choreographer Mats Ek … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2016-01-14
Bill Evans After LaFaro
To follow up on the post in the previous exhibit about the Bill Evans documentary, let’s revisit the 1962 Evans trio with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Paul Motian. This clip seems to be … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-01-14
Danny Barker’s Birthday
One of the great pleasures of my years in New Orleans was a friendship with Danny Barker (1909-1994). After he moved back to his hometown from New York, Danny became a guiding light to young … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-01-14
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Tamara Rojo On Dancing Juliet
“The first time I danced Juliet I was 19 and it was perfect for me because I believed everything that she believed in. I believed that true love was more important than social convention and that it was worth fighting, and dying, for. That changes over the years. It becomes difficult to be Juliet when you’re not in a moment in your life when you believe this anymore.”
Diary Of An Indian Classical Dancer
Vidya Patel, a kathak dancer from Birmingham who made the finals of last year’s BBC Young Dancer competition, talks about studying the art form in England, continuing to train with her guru, and working with contemporary dancers on a new piece by Richard Alston.
Consciousness Isn’t Mysterious, It’s Just The Brain Describing Itself To Itself
Neuroscientist Michael Graziano: “This is why we can’t explain how the brain produces consciousness. It’s like explaining how white light gets purified of all colors. The answer is, it doesn’t. Let me be as clear as possible: Consciousness doesn’t happen. It’s a mistaken construct.”
Why We All Fall For Con Artists
“We never think we’ll fall prey to their wiles. We can spot a gimmick a mile away, while those who become victims are foolish, or greedy, or both. Well, that’s not quite the case. If the NSA can be hacked, so can the average – or even exceptional – human mind.”
Seven Months After Losing His Leg, Actor Takes Off On 15-City Tour
“From the beginning, the doctors and nurses agreed that this feat seemed a near-impossibility. There was just not enough time. Not enough time between the Center City hit and run that took [Michael] Toner’s left leg in June and the role awaiting him: a starring spot in the Walnut’s three-week, 15-city tour of Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten.”
Was He Gay? It Depends: David Bowie’s Complicated Relationship With Queerness (And Vice Versa)
In 1972, he said he’d always been gay; by 1976, he was bi; in 1983, he said he’d only been experimenting; in 1993 he declared, “I was always a closet heterosexual.” J. Bryan Lowder considers how “we for whom queerness is not a phase seem to have two options in terms of how we deal with Bowie’s fraught relationship to our name and our stuff.”
Why The Young Helen Mirren Was Perfect For Playing A Rock Star (It Wasn’t Because She Could Sing)
David Hare, on his 1975 play Teeth ‘n’ Smiles: “Helen’s ways of not listening to direction were far more sophisticated than those of anyone I had previously encountered. Once she received me naked for a notes session in her dressing room. She discarded the Evening Standard, which had briefly obscured her, clearly with the aim of putting me off my stride. She succeeded.”
This Victorian Photographer Turned Her Rookie Mistakes Into Art 150 Years Ahead Of Its Time
“Just six months after she was given her very first camera, Julia Margaret Cameron applied to join the Photographic Society of London … From the start, Cameron’s work was lambasted in the press. And the biggest cause of criticism was the thing that, ironically, would turn out to be the hallmark of her style and her enduring fame.”