“My wife and I met a group of people at a local winery,” producer Russ Johnson explains. “And they were very boisterous and fun. Eventually, the question came up, so what do you do? And they were like, ‘We’re opera singers.'” That’s when he started thinking what a great docu-soap subject an opera company could be.
Tag: 01.25.10
Benedict Nightingale Is Retiring; Replacement Is Named
Nightingale, the chief drama critic of The Times of London, “is retiring after a monumental career, having spent 47 years writing theatre reviews.” Beginning June 1, his job will belong to Libby Purves, “a former Today programme presenter, Tatler editor and columnist for the paper since 1981.”
LACMA Puts Rare Art Publications Online
“Dubbed the ‘Reading Room,'” the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new offering “is intended to make books, catalogs and other literature available that would otherwise be difficult to access.”
How To Restore A Ripped Picasso
“First, the conservator can line up the torn ends and affix them to a new piece of fabric that lines the back of the painting. She might also try to attach the torn ends to each other using a method called Rissverklebung, in which individual fibers are rewoven back into place.”
Load The 3-D Glasses Into The Dishwasher, Please
“What happens to all those 3-D glasses after they’ve been used to goggle at floating mountains and blue aliens? They usually get washed or recycled.” Unless, of course, they don’t.
Picasso Painting Torn In Adult-Ed Mishap At Met Museum
“An unidentified woman attending a museum class ‘lost her balance’ and crashed into the artwork,” leaving a 6-inch rip in the canvas. “‘Actor’ was worth about $130 million, according to a New York art dealer.”
Of Music And Choice
“Our results suggest that a principal mechanism whereby popularity ratings affect consumer choice is through the anxiety generated by the mismatch between one’s own preferences and the others’. This mismatch anxiety motivates people to switch their choices in the direction of the consensus.”
Is Money Ruining The Music Industry?
“You realise there’s something hugely missing now. And I think that’s fun and creativity. That was the main thing. And I think the problem is that in the last 10-15 years it’s become about money and the money men are now running the companies, whereas traditionally it’s always been the creatives. So I think that’s a long-term thing and that’s important for the general health of the industry.”
Meet The Enhanced MP3
“A leading technology company is set to launch a new digital music file format which will embed additional content for fans including lyrics, news updates and images in what could be a successor to the ubiquitous MP3 file.”
Revisiting Diaghilev
“Diaghilev used the Ballets Russes as a vehicle for promoting synthesis of the arts in a bid to overcome the fragmentation characteristic of the 19th century. Diaghilev’s artistic vision was also a bridge between East and West, exemplified by the involvement in Ballets Russes of artists like Picasso and Henri Matisse and the composer Satie.”