It can be a rocky road for young artists in the opera world. Years of opera training and no guarantee of success. Still – there is help out there. Private patrons and mentors are part of the answer, providing much needed financial support and mentoring for cash-strapped singers. The National Opera Studio, NOS for short,…
Category: review
Photo synthesis: Hiroshi Sugimoto, Hayward Gallery, London
I came to this exhibition very late, so this is something of an ‘emergency’ post to encourage any of you with some time over the holiday season to catch it in its final fortnight. Sugimoto’s photography is always different; always the same. The subjects change but they are all viewed, literally, through the same lens….
The vast picture show: ‘The Big Screen’, Kulturforum, Berlin
Any cinema enthusiasts within visiting distance of Berlin should head to the Kulturforum (the city’s major arts complex located near Potsdamer Platz) before the end of February. Until then, it plays host to ‘The Big Screen’, a huge, wide-ranging exhibition chronicling the development of the film poster, alongside the evolution of cinema itself. A show…
Vow of violence: ‘Jephtha’, Royal Opera House, London
‘Jephtha’ was Handel’s final oratorio. He was losing his sight during its composition – ironic, perhaps, that his zealot hero is undone by what he sees at a crucial moment. And, given the work’s power and torment, it is hard not to sense Handel raging against the literal dying of the light. For those unfamiliar…
Screening of ‘Il Boemo’ at the 27th Made in Prague Festival sheds new light on forgotten composer, Josef Mysliveček who would become Mozart’s mentor.
The 27th Made in Prague Festival is a long-established arts festival showcasing Czech culture in London. New to the festival, I made my way to the Prince Charles Cinema in Soho last Saturday to attend a special gala screening of the film Il Boemo. Il Boemo translates as The Boemian or The Czech, and relates to Czech musician, Josef Mysliveček,…
7 Deaths of Maria Callas and Callas Paris 1958
This is an important year for Maria Callas fans – this being the centenary year of her birth. Artistic tributes to La Divina, (Callas’s nickname), kicked off with Serbian performance artist, Marina Abramović, who used the English National Opera to explore her obsession with Callas. 7 Deaths of Maria Callas is no ordinary opera as you…
Dying inside: ‘7 Deaths of Maria Callas’, English National Opera, London
‘7 Deaths of Maria Callas’ is described as an “opera project”, the brainchild of performance artist Marina Abramović. The timing is ideal – English National Opera (ENO) describes the piece as “celebratory”, as we approach the centenary of Callas’s birth on 2 December; while Abramović is currently the subject of a major retrospective at the…
‘Letter(s) to Erik Satie’ – Pianist Bertrand Chamayou explores the Cage Satie Connection
In Letter(s) to Erik Satie, Bertrand Chamayou celebrates the works of Erik Satie (1866-1925) and John Cage (1912-1992). Satie and Cage might seem an unusual pairing, yet both were idiosyncratic composers, separated by time and geography. The cabarets of 19th century Paris were Satie’s training ground, whereas Cage a conceptual artist from California was blooming…
Astral peaks: Raf and O, ‘We are Stars’
This is the most exquisite album yet from Raf and O, who I believe belong to that select group of artists who create not only great music, but also a universe in which that music can live and breathe. Open and upfront about their key influences – chiefly David Bowie and Kate Bush, more of…
Elizabeth Sombart on the “hope” in Mozart in conversation with ArtMuseLondon
ArtMuseLondon : Elizabeth, you have a double album out in which you play Mozart’s greatest piano concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Why have you chosen Mozart, and why these concertos? Elizabeth : Following the difficult times we have gone through, I feel that Mozart can bring us joy, hope, and some much needed magic to…
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