The music director of the Vancouver Symphony (from which he departs next year) and popular guest conductor will succeed Keith Lockhart at the podium of the BBC Concert Orchestra this coming January. “Tovey’s new role will see him work with the orchestra for five years, including a Radio 3 concert at Watford Colosseum in February 2018, before leading performances in the BBC orchestra’s 2018-19 season at Southbank Centre.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Thief Carries Botero Sculpture Right Out Of Paris Gallery
“The Colombian artist’s 57cm-high sculpture, Maternity (2003), of a mother sitting on a plinth and cradling her baby, … was stolen from Galerie Bartoux in an upmarket district of Paris earlier this month in broad daylight. Gallery staff became aware of the theft only when they prepared to close the gallery.”
$1.5 Million Bounties For Beheading Bollywood Star And Director Offered By Indian Politician
A state-level boss of India’s ruling party, the Hindu nationalist BJP, is offering 10 million rupees each for the heads of the lead actress and director of Padmavati, a new movie about a legendary 14th-century Rajput queen. A leader of the present-day Rajput clans has threatened to cut off the star’s nose, and violent demonstrations have led to the delay of the film’s release. All this over rumors of a scene the director says isn’t even in the movie.
Pakistan Bans Film About Rape Victim’s Revenge, Then Reverses Itself After #MeToo-Style Campaign
“Verna, which stars popular actor Mahira Khan, was originally denied a certificate by the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) because of its ‘mature themes’ and ‘edgy content’. This caused an outcry among women’s rights campaigners, who accused board members of censoring women’s voices and putting their heads in the sand at a time when … ‘rape is a rampant issue in Pakistan’ … Soon the ban had inspired a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #UnbanVerna, which emerged as Pakistan’s own #MeToo movement.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.20.17
Forgetting Hitchcock
Unlike most of my colleagues, I liked, and was even a little moved by the world première of Nico Muhly’s Marnie by the English National Opera (it goes to the NY Metropolitan next year). … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-11-20
All there is
I’ve worked on enough shows by now to be familiar with the all-consuming experience of rehearsing, yet its disorienting nature still comes as a surprise each time it happens. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-11-20
French Teachers Suggest Practical Alternative For The ‘Masculine Prevails’ Grammar Rule
“The teachers’ objection was not just philosophical; it was philological. The rule, they said in the French version of Slate, was a parvenu (it was enunciated in the 17th century and became widely taught only in the 19th century) and politically motivated (it buttressed French laws that denied women equal rights). … In its place, the teachers suggested using ‘the rule of proximity,’ in which the adjective matches the gender of the noun closest to it, which was common practice for centuries.”
Now ‘Downton Abbey’ Has Its Own Traveling Museum
“All the old habitats, including Mr. Carson’s pantry, the servants’ dining room and Lady Mary’s bedroom (faintly scandalous with its memory of Kemal Pamuk’s coital demise) are painstakingly recreated, right down to the forks and spoons arranged just so on the Crawley dinner table. Behind the green baize door lies the servants’ quarters just as you left them, along with Mr. Carson’s old desk, complete with period-era bills and correspondence.”
Why We Still Need Chekhov’s Plays, Even After A Century
Lyn Gardner: “If the anniversary of the Russian revolution offers one reason for the current glut of Chekhov revivals, the other may well be the way the plays speak so directly to a world in flux, where the characters cannot comprehend or adjust to the cultural, social and political earthquakes that engulf them.”
So, When Are We Going To See The First Billion-Dollar Painting? (Probably Not For A While)
Some people are asking that very question following the record-smashing sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi for $450 million. But there were some special factors at play here that are unlikely to be repeated – as Robin Pogrebin reports, “the artwork achieved an unprecedented price because it was an unprecedented piece.”
*This* Is Probably The Right Way For An Orchestra To Do A Nightclub Concert
Anne Midgette on a National Symphony Orchestra concert at Anthem, a new riverfront club in southwest DC: “[Rather than] pander to a younger audience by giving it what they think it wants to hear, … this performance had the orchestra, in street clothes, simply playing the music it does well, including large chunks of this week’s subscription program. Rather than chasing the audience, it introduced itself as it is and let the audience come to it.”