“Performer and composer, eccentric and original, Monk was shrouded in mystery throughout his life. Not an especially loquacious artist (at least with journalists), he left most of his expression in his inimitable work, as stunning and unique as anyone’s in jazz–second only to Duke Ellington’s and perched alongside Charles Mingus’s.”
Tag: 12.22.09
Injured Kristin Scott Thomas Pulls Out Of Paris Little Night Music
Maybe she’s right to worry. “Kristin Scott Thomas has dropped out of the upcoming Paris production of A Little Night Music due to a foot injury, with Greta Scacchi stepping into the role of fading actress Desirée Armfeldt.” The February run at the Châtelet also stars Lambert Wilson and Leslie Caron.
Germany To Egypt: No, We Won’t Return Nefertiti Bust
“German officials have ruled out returning an ancient bust of Queen Nefertiti to Egypt – saying it is too fragile to be transported. And they have insisted that the bust was acquired legally by the Prussian state nearly a century ago.”
Stopping In On Borders UK’s Last Day
“It was a forlorn scene; the literary fiction and big name biographies that the shop once sold to Islington’s bookish were long gone, leaving a small and somewhat more prosaic selection on display by the door.” Oh, look! “Letters to Penthouse VIII,” only 79p.
Robin Wood, Who Took Hitchcock Seriously, Dies At 78
A film critic who made a splashy debut with a piece on “Psycho” in Cahiers du Cinéma, “Mr. Wood never lost sight of the ethical and political aspects of film. This tendency became more acute after he came out as a gay man in the 1970s and took a sharp turn to the political left.”
If Time Flew, Does It Follow That We’ve Had Fun?
“When people are tricked into thinking that time has ‘flown by,’ they react to their surprise at the passage of time by assuming that it means they must have been having fun, says Aaron Sackett, a psychology researcher at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.”
$25M From NYC Propels Signature Toward Its New Home
The off-Broadway Signature Theater Company’s Frank Gehry-designed Signature Center “will allow for three unique programs, more than doubling the audience capacity of Signature’s existing base. The project previously had been announced to be part of the World Trade Center Site.”
Why El Sistema Is More Than A Music Program
Julian Lloyd Webber: “Using the safe haven of the symphony orchestra, 300,000 Venezuelan children are involved in the scheme at any one time, and many claim it has saved them from a life of delinquency and crime. … There are currently 208 local centres or ‘nuclei’ and another 40 are expected next year … [the nuclei often have] waiting lists of more than 1,000 children clamouring to join.”
BBC To Develop Streaming TV On Demand
“The BBC Trust has today given its provisional approval to the Corporation’s involvement in Project Canvas, which … is a joint venture between the BBC and five other partners to develop and promote a common standard that would allow viewers with a broadband connection to watch on-demand TV.”
Soprano Mary Curtis-Verna, 88, Queen Of The Last-Minute Substitutes
“Known to opera aficionados for her large, flexible voice and astute musicianship, Ms. Curtis-Verna was associated with the Met from 1956 to 1966. Appearing in nearly 100 performances, she was cast regularly in leading roles, including Tosca and Aida.” In 1958, Time magazine called her “the Metropolitan’s most highly publicized relief aria-pitcher.”