“[He] was so often called rude names – the wild man of British cinema, the apostle of excess, the oldest angry young man in the business – that he gave up denying it all quite early in his career. Indeed, he often seemed to court the very publicity that emphasised only the crudest assessment of his work.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Tokyo Symphony Still Devastated Following March Earthquake
“The magnitude-nine quake caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to the orchestra’s state-of-the-art venue, leading to cancelled performances and forcing the TSO to practise at makeshift venues. But the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra is vowing to rise again.”
Ellsworth Kelly’s Curves, Rendered In Wood Grain
“From the beginning, Mr. Kelly declined to treat the material with stain or varnish. ‘When do you do something to it, that’s furniture,’ he said. The wood grain also provided a new way for Mr. Kelly to explore the intersection of the act of drawing – which he considers the basis of all of his art – and the surrealist penchant for lucky accidents.”
Will There Be A David Bowie Musical?
“Plans have been announced this weekend for the first full-scale musical based on the songs of the totemic British performer. A futuristic fantasy called Heroes: The Musical will tell the story of Major Tom, as well as the starman and a ‘young dude’ called David.”
No, There Will Be No David Bowie Musical (Yet), Says Bowie
“But ground control to Major Tom – your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong: in a brief statement Mr. Bowie’s representatives said that he had not consented to this project. ‘Neither the David Bowie Organization, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for a Bowie musical at the O2, as has been reported in the U.K.”
Mezzo Set To Become New Head Of Finnish National Opera
“Mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi, 46, is likely to become the new Artistic Director of the Finnish National Opera.” Her three-year term would begin in August 2013, following the tenure of former prodigy conductor Mikko Franck, now 32.
Pre-Mickey Mouse Disney Cartoon Discovered In England
“A lost Walt Disney cartoon that pre-dated Mickey Mouse has been discovered in a British film archive and will be offered for auction in Los Angeles on December 14. ‘Hungry Hobos’ was one of 26 episodes featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character created by Disney and cartoonist Ub Iwerks in 1927 for Universal Studios.”
Looking At Sleeping Beauty‘s Most Terrifying Sequence
“Watching [Alina] Cojocaru, with her steely grace and perfect phrasing (note, for example, the way she drifts that pirouette at 0:30 across the music, or the flawless arabesque sequence from 1:45) you might not guess that the Rose Adagio is one of the great challenges for ballerinas. But it’s a killer.”
Sultan Khan, Top Hindustani Classical Musician, Dead At 71
“The sarangi – a bowed, stringed instrument whose name means ‘a hundred colors’ and which has a well-earned reputation as an exceedingly difficult instrument to master – faced near-extinction not so long ago.” Khan was a leader in the instrument’s revival.
How One Ballerina Came Back From Career-Ending Injury
Simone Orlando of Ballet BC finished her final run as a dancer – portraying Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire – only by working through severe pain and injury that eventually led to a complete hip replacement. Then she turned to Canada’s Dancer Transition Resource Centre.