All The World’s A Stage – Why Not Sing?

One of London’s most daring and admired theatrical directors is taking a hard right career turn, preparing to stage a major choral work by Michael Tippett which the composer never intended to be performed. And while Jonathan Kent may be better known for his accomplishents in non-musical theatre, his unusual body of work seems to point naturally in the direction of opera’s searing melodrama and rhythmic symmetries. In fact, it’s worth asking what took him so long to make the leap.

Russia To Consider Returning Dresden Collections

Russian president Vladimir Putin seems to have opened the door to negotiating the return of German artwork looted by Soviet troops at the conclusion of World War II. “Putin said that an exhibition in Russia of art that has been returned to Germany, including Raphael’s Sistine Madonna from Dresden’s State Art Collection, as has been proposed by Lidia Ievleva, director of the Tretyakov Gallery, could be held. Such an exhibition would create an atmosphere that could allow further progress on the matter of trophy art.”