“Turkish pianist Aysedeniz Gokcin’s love of classical music – and classic rock – has inspired her to release an album which features Pink Floyd songs reworked into the style of 19th Century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Chicago Lyric Opera Super Burned During Dress Rehearsal
“A day after he was burned while playing a fire-breathing stilt walker at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, actor Wesley Daniel was doing well and sending out photos of himself at the hospital, according to friends and relatives.”
Broadway’s Power Players: Movie Stars
“Hollywood stars like [Scarlett] Johansson and Al Pacino have become so essential to Broadway – both for attracting investors and selling tickets – that they are calling the shots as never before, bringing back plays that were seen on Broadway only a few years earlier and sometimes edging out new works.”
Italy Blocks Premiere Of Anti-Berlusconi Documentary
“A decision from Italy’s MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Art to postpone the Italian premiere of a controversial documentary examining the ‘decline’ of Italy under the leadership of media mogul Silvio Berlusconi is sparking cries of censorship in the Italian capital.”
The Secret Of Galileo’s Genius (Well, One Of Them)
His father, music theorist Vincenzo Galilei, “wrote a book … ripping apart ancient Ptolemaic systems of lute tuning, as his son ripped apart Ptolemaic astronomy. … The young Galileo took for granted the intellectual freedom conceded to Renaissance musicians … [and] transfer[red] the spirit of the Italian Renaissance in the plastic arts to the mathematical and observational ones.”
The First Wave Of Hurricane Sandy Documentaries
“It was a profoundly ill wind that blew onto the East Coast in late October … It was inevitable that filmmakers would seize on the story. The unearthly atmosphere of a blacked-out Lower Manhattan alone was enough to send would-be auteurs prowling the streets with cameras.”
Harvard MBA Students Help South African Ballet Company Hang On
Johannesburg’s South African Mzansi Ballet has been trying to get by without state funding for a dozen years, and the struggle doesn’t get any easier. Last month, six Harvard Business School students came to get some real-world experience and offer some marketing expertise. Together, they found some surprising things – for instance, that there’s a potential fan base for European ballet in Soweto.
Brouhaha Over The Bell Jar‘s New Cover
Sylvia Plath’s novel “is once again stirring up strong emotions, with the publisher Faber accused of portraying the book as glorified chick lit through its design for the book’s 50th anniversary edition.”
Judging This Book By That Cover: Maybe Faber Did Right By The Bell Jar
Sam Jordison: “The official figures aren’t out yet, but Faber have assured me it’s doing the business. There’s no evidence that this cover has ostracised a potential part of its audience, but there is already some that it has helped the book reach a new generation of readers.”
A Visual History Of Bell Jar Covers
Flavorwire takes us from the first UK edition (1963), through a classic 1966 image and a range of European translations (plus one in Thai), to the 50th anniversary design that’s causing such a ruckus this year.