Rio de Janeiro’s showy new Cidade da Música, designed by Christian de Portzamparc, had its official opening just after Christmas, even though construction won’t be finished for six months. With costs having sextupled and Cariocas fuming that the money should have been spent on health, education and transport, the city’s new mayor has halted all work and spending on the project pending a major audit.
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Spain Creates A New National Ballet
Beginning next April, the Ballet Clásico Nacional, directed by choreographer and teacher Victor Ullate, will be based at a new Center for Choreography at the Teatros del Canal in Madrid.
Peter Brook To Leave Bouffes Du Nord
The legendary stage director, now 83, will give up the helm of the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in 2010. The worn old theater, which Brook rescued from ruin in 1974, is where he has based his International Centre for Theatre Research and where he staged such renowned productions as The Tragedy of Carmen and The Mahabharata.
Boos And Bombshells At La Scala Opening Night
A temporary truce between unions may have let opening night at La Scala proceed as scheduled, but that doesn’t mean it went smoothly. A gale of boos and catcalls landed on Daniele Gatti, apparently for his decision to replace the lead tenor 24 hours before curtain. Several of the singers received very mixed reactions from the crowd as well. In keeping with longstanding tradition, this major occasion on the Italian artistic and social calendar featured myriad protests on the plaza in front of the opera house; inside, there was another shocker as society’s grande dames admitted to wearing gowns that weren’t new.
William Christie Elected To France’s Académie Des Beaux-Arts
The harpsichordist-conductor and founder of Les Arts Florissants has been appointed to the chair in the august body previously held by the late Marcel Marceau.
William Christie To Revive Legendary Production Of Atys
The lavish 1987 staging of Lully’s tragédie lyrique by Christie and director Jean-Marie Villégier at the Paris Opera made history, eventually appearing on three continents and proving that French Baroque opera could be popular enough to attract ticket scalpers. Now Christie has announced that, thanks to the support of an unnamed American patron, the production will be revived in 2010 at Paris’s Opéra-Comique. (No word yet of a U.S. run.)