Denver’s spectacular new opera house will host its first actual opera this coming week, and Opera Colorado, the venue’s principal tenant, is pulling out all the stops with a major production of Bizet’s Carmen starring none other than mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. “In a daring departure from its usual practice, Opera Colorado is presenting eight performances of Carmen – twice as many as normal. And it already appears the gamble has paid off. A little more than a week before Thursday’s opening, the company had already sold 70 percent of its available tickets, and Rex Fuller, director of marketing, expects at least some of the performances will sell out.”
Tag: 10.29.05
The Next Great Film Festival?
For 25 years, the Hawaii Film Festival has been plugging along, flying more or less completely under the Hollywood radar. So Roger Ebert was surprised this year to attend the fest and discover something that looks quite a bit like an event on the rise. “I remember Sundance and Toronto in their earliest days, when everybody at the festival could fit into one hotel banquet room. Look at them now. Then I look at the enormous crowds at Hawaii, its 200 films, its creative programming, and I think, yes, the dream that Jeannette Paulson had when she started the festival 25 years ago is becoming a reality.”
Bittersweet Symphony
As the New York Philharmonic opened their stage and their hearts to the displaced musicians of the Louisiana Philharmonic this weekend, Alice Tully Hall became a study in contrasts, with musicians who seemingly have it made in this business sitting side by side with musicians who have seen their world turned upside down. To call the benefit concert, which raised more than $300,000 for the New Orleans ensemble, a triumph would seem to understate the magnitude of the LPO’s plight. But still, for one night in Manhattan, the LPO players could close their eyes and revel in the moment. “It’s bittersweet,” said one LPO violinist. “I’ve lost everything, but I get to play in the New York Philharmonic tonight.”
Russia’s Shame Becomes Box Office Gold
“The biggest post-Soviet film blockbuster packing the country’s multiplexes is a bloody tear-jerker about a topic many Russians would rather forget – the 10-year war that resulted in the Soviet Union’s messy withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. For many here the film also is apparently read not only as a metaphor for Russia’s Chechen quagmire, but even for the very collapse of the Soviet Union. The movie, Company 9, has grossed $23.47 million since its Sept. 29 opening and is close to doubling the total receipts here of the latest installments of the popular Lord of the Rings and Star Wars films.”
New Van Gogh Self-Portrait?
“An art historian said yesterday she believes she has discovered an early self-portrait of the artist Vincent van Gogh under a painting of a Paris scene. Aukje Verggeese said the portrait came to light when she used X-rays to see a monument visible under the painted surface as she was attempting to pinpoint the scene of the landscape.”
Shakespeare For The Casual Fan
Speculation about Shakespeare – who he was, what he did, even whether he really existed – has become a profitable literary subgenre, with new books constantly being released to propound ever more unbelievable theories of the Bard, and others written expressly to dismiss such pie-in-the-sky ideas. It’s actually become difficult for a casual reader to find a straight-ahead, informative, and engaging biography of the playwright, in the same way that it is hard to find a book featuring an objective dissection of American foreign policy under George W. Bush. But “amid all this specialized debate, there is also a steady flow of less agitated books intended for the general reader, including three particularly insightful and well-written ones in the last year or so.”
St. Louis Musician Endowment Nears Its Goal
As the St. Louis Symphony attempts to dig out of the financial hole it fell into a few years back, one of the key measuring sticks is the salary earned by its musicians, and how it stacks up to other major American ensembles. In summer 2004, the SLSO began a special endowment drive designed specifically to make salary increases feasible within the existing budget – the goal for the drive is $20 million. This week, the orchestra announced that $17 million has been raised for the project, and the overall orchestra endowment now stands at $112 million.