“Haitian TV is clamorous and dissonant: instructional announcements about cholera prevention butt up against hedonistic music videos, foreign soap operas and glossy commercials aimed at people who can’t afford to buy much.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
When Leipzig Choirboys Grow Up
“This a cappella quintet has had Bach on the brain since they met singing at St Thomas’ Church Leipzig. … The ensemble’s name, Amarcord, is drawn from Fellini’s Oscar-winning 1973 film of the same name. … The word means ‘I remember’ in the Romagnolo dialect.”
A Brief Guide To Nudity In Opera
Yes, it happens – especially in Germany. And sometimes it’s not even gratuitous.
Actress Celeste Holm, 95
“[She was a] versatile actress who achieved fame on Broadway in the original production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s hit musical Oklahoma! in 1943 and five years later won an Oscar for best supporting actress in the landmark movie-drama Gentleman’s Agreement.”
A Book Fair In Somalia? Yes, Indeed
“It is an unlikely spot for a literary festival, a town of half a million people with no theatre and no cinema. But Hargeisa is carving out a reputation as the Horn of Africa’s answer to Hay-on-Wye by attracting readers and writers from around the world to its book fair.”
Theater’s Next Odd Couple: Bukowski And Sondheim
“It’s hard to imagine the writings of Charles Bukowski, the dyspeptic poet of drink and loneliness, being set to a jaunty musical theater score” – much less one by Stephen Sondheim. But that’s just what California Repertory Company director Joanne Gordon proposes to do in B.S.: Bukowski.Sondheim.
Canada’s Supreme Court Scraps Extra Royalty For Downloads
“[The] Supreme Court decided against an industry plan that would have authorized the collection of additional royalties on music downloaded through services such as Apple’s iTunes. The court said that downloading a copy of a song is essentially the same as going to buy it in a store – so no additional royalties should be added.”
Southwest German Radio To Merge Its Two Orchestras
Despite extended protests, the state-funded network – strapped for money, like most state entities in Europe these days – has decided to merge the ensemble based in Freiburg and Baden-Baden into the larger orchestra in Stuttgart.
Dara Singh, Bollywood’s First Action Star, Dead At 84
Singh began his career as a wrestler, winning a world championship in 1968, but started appearing in movies as early as 1952. He appeared in 115 feature films, always doing his own stunts, but he was most famous for his portrayal of the monkey god Hanuman in the wildly popular 1980s TV serialisation of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
Retailers Stick To Boycott Of Amazon’s Hard-Copy Books
Earlier this year, Amazon.com announced a deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to print and distribute in hard copy Amazon Publishing’s e-books. Brick-and-mortar stores – from Barnes & Noble to the independents – refused to carry the books. Now that the first books are ready to ship, stores are standing by their decision.