Architect Dominique Perrault’s new European Court of Justice building in Luxembourg features a pair of “pencil-thin gold towers” that “light up like a pair of giant candles” in the late afternoon sun, a light-filled central plaza, and a central judges’ chamber surrounded by a gold-colored “woven steel veil, which floats over the court like an improbably glamorous mosquito net over the bed of a fairytale princess.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Pangs Of Hell (Or Something) Are Raging In Their Bosoms
“There are 30 seconds of perfectly groomed young women in the back-arching, pupils-dilating throes of carnal abandon – either in flagrante delicto with a partner, or in the bath, or pressed against a window, that sort of thing” in the current UK television ad for a Durex feminine lubricant. The accompanying music is “Der Hölle rache,” the Queen of the Night’s stratospheric vengeance aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute.
The Enduring Power Of Jesus
The actual observance of Christianity is plummeting in modern-day Britain, but in the arts, the religion’s narratives and iconography remain powerful sources of both inspiration and controversy – from the very successful music of classical composers James MacMillan and John Tavener to artist Chris Ofili’s notorious Holy Virgin Mary (the one with the elephant dung) and sculptor Terence Koh’s depiction of Jesus with an erection to Jerry Springer: The Opera and David Hare’s play Gethsemane to the BBC1 television series Apparitions, about a contemporary priest chasing Satan away from souls. How does the subject of Christianity continue to engage artists and audiences, even as belief wanes?
– He Even Inspires Confectionery
Last year a large crucifix made of chocolate, titled My Sweet Lord, caused a mini-storm when it appeared in a Manhattan art gallery. But now the idea has gone commercial: a German businessman has started manufacturing and selling “Sweetlord®” and the “Original Chocolate GoldJesus®” (available at www.goldjesus.com).
Could Milk Have Helped Defeat Prop 8?
Gus van Sant’s new biopic on Harvey Milk, the gay activist and politician assassinated in San Francisco’s City Hall in 1978, opened just three weeks after voters passed a constitutional amendment undoing California’s legalization of same-sex marriage. “How does Proposition 8 change the meaning – the symbolic significance as well as the real-world function – of Milk? And if the film had found an audience early enough, could it have made a difference?”
Composer Brett Dean Wins 2009 Grawemeyer Award
Brett Dean, one of Australia’s most admired composers (and a formidable violist as well), receives the $200,000 prize for his violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing, co-commissioned by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Cologne Philharmonie and premiered in the US by the Boston Symphony.
Alas, Poor Yorick! Skull Booted From RSC Hamlet
Pianist André Tchaikowsky’s dying wish was realized last month when his skull made its debut in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet in Stratford-upon-Avon. Now that the news is out, the RSC has retired the skull, saying that it is “too distracting for the audience.”
Lost Cantors Of Rome, Found
Last year composer Yotam Haber was nosing around some archives in Rome when he found some historic recordings of cantors from Roman synagogues, which maintained a distinct chant style through the centuries. He has incorporated some of those recordings in his new score, death will come and she shall have your eyes.
Empire State Building Archives Up For Auction
The architectural archive of New York’s most famous skyscraper, which includes more than 500 elevation drawings, models and other items, will be sold at the Wright auction house in Chicago on Dec. 11. The low estimate for the collection is $740,000.
The Turmoil Continues: New Chairman At Opera Australia
This tumultuous spring at OA has seen music director Richard Hickox accused by some of nepotism and declining artistic standards, stoutly defended by others, and killed last month by a burst aorta. Now the company’s chairman, Gordon Fell, is stepping down, to be replaced by scientist and former telecom executive Ziggy Switkowski. The company says that Fell’s departure had been planned for some time.