Keith Tyson has won this year’s Turner Prize. “The 33-year-old former Cumbrian shipyard worker, dubbed the ‘mad professor’ for his fondness for exploring ideas from the outer limits of cod science and his outlandish proposals for giant neon dinosaurs and the like, had been the bookies’ favourite. As the artist with the best jokes, he was also the public’s first choice.”
Tag: 12.09.02
Best Of The Lot?
“Though art critics were underwhelmed by Tyson’s submissions to the Turner Prize exhibition, describing him as being at the soft end of the conceptual movement, he will probably escape the hilarity and condemnation which greeted last year’s winner, Martin Creed, whose sole exhibit was a room in which the lights turned on and off every few seconds.”
Celebrating Boheme
Baz Luhrmann’s “La Boheme” opens in a flash of color on Broadway. “The show is far more respectful of its sentimental operatic essence than many of the lugubrious, experimental productions of old war horses at the Met. (Think ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ or ‘Il Trovatore.’) What Mr. Luhrmann and his extraordinary production designer (and wife), Catherine Martin, have done is find the visual equivalent of the sensual beauty and vigor of the score.”
Youth Appeal
“Luhrmann does not so much reinvent ‘La Boheme’ as repackage it. He makes a powerful case for wresting it out of the exclusive control of highbrow culture and into the realm of mainstream musical theater.
Baz’s Boheme – Surprisingly Flat
Does opera really belong on Broadway? “Opera lovers needn’t fear. Luhrmann hasn’t gone too far. A young, handsome cast sings the opera in Italian as written. The amplification is far subtler than the miserable Broadway norm and almost pleasurable. To compensate for singing that is not of a particularly high standard – though, for the most part, OK — there is a sense of intimacy and detailed bits of characterization that are hard to equal in a large opera house.”
La Scala Opens In An Away Game
For the first time in 224 years, La Scala opened its season outside of its own theatre. “The newly built, 2,400-seat Arcimboldi, in a former industrial area, will host La Scala’s full program of operas, ballets and concerts through December 2004 while La Scala Theater, the company’s venerable temple of bel canto, undergoes a $56 million renovation.”