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THE ARTS WEEK ON THE INTERNET. I understand why so many companies are making us ‘register’ and get ‘tickets’ to what are, after all, online events that could be available to everyone. They want our email addresses to add to their databases so they can come back to us later for tickets and support. They want whatever money they can get in ticket sales and merchandise and, in these difficult times, this is understandable and, to a degree, laudable. There is, though, a problem that, by making it complicated to watch their events, they are losing many older or less IT-experienced audience members who can just about click on a link but who give up when they have to jump through hoops of different kinds to see a performance they know is available if only they could reach it. I nearly gave up on the Old Vic last week when, even after paying for my ticket and receiving an incomprehensible ‘ticket’, I had to click on so many different pages that I couldn’t reach the play until after it had started. The company streaming last week's Noel Coward event even asked for a 'membership' and password, which almost nobody could find. By all means ask us for our names and email addresses, we want to help, but then just give us the access link to the performance. Please. La Cage aux Folles – Broadway 1983 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_aeHusrZeY Every so often I need to be reminded of what Broadway used to be. George Hearn and the exuberant original cast of one of Broadway’s most exuberant shows in its most exuberant show-stopper. This is from the Tony Awards broadcast of that year and needs no introduction. Philharmonia Orchestra – Nicola Benedetti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTAnEqH_FeA&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=6978a2d976-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_25_2018_20_58_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_087289d63a-6978a2d976-202441125 In the scruffy surroundings of the Battersea Arts Centre in London, a miracle – in these difficult times, a live concert with real musicians. Violinist Nicola Benedetti, a phenomenal musician and the nicest woman you’d ever hope to meet, with conductor Paavo Järvi and the string and wind players of the Philharmonia Orchestra, in a lovely socially distanced performance of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. We have always taken for granted that we can hear live classical music whenever we want. I, for one, won’t take that for granted again. S’Wonderful: Ann Hampton Callaway Sings the Gershwins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGeuROHOGlg Ann Hampton Callaway is a colossus who bestrides the worlds of jazz, popular music, cabaret, and song-writing. Oh dear, calling her a colossus suggests that she’s out of reach. She’s not, in fact here’s a wonderful Gershwin concert she gave last week from her home in Arizona for the NY Performing Arts Center. She’s a fine pianist as well as a world class singer and she can move seamlessly between genres. One of her best tricks is to write an instant song where the lyrics are constructed of unrelated words shouted out by members of the audience. I’ve seen her do this dozens of times and I still can’t work out how she does it. Needless to say, during lockdown, the audience isn’t there to do the shouting but even without the on-the-spot song writing, this concert displays her limitless talents in songs you know, often delivered in ways you don’t. Ann Hampton Callaway can do anything. If you’ve never heard her before this is your chance to meet one of the true phenomena of the music world. Emerging Dancers – English National Ballet https://www.ballet.org.uk/onscreen/emerging-dancer/?utm_source=E&utm_medium=SOLT&utm_campaign=ED2020&utm_content=Solus This is likely to be a treat for those of us who are fascinated by the opportunity to see young dancers before they’ve reached the heights. On September 22nd at 2.20pm EST 7.20pm BST, The English National Ballet will livestream the finals of their annual competition for their emerging dancers. The six finalists will perform classical pas de deux, and work with choreographers on new contemporary dance pieces. One of them will be awarded the 2020 Emerging Dancer Award. This inspiring contest is a fantastic opportunity to watch rising stars flourish, and witness how far their dedication has taken them so far. It costs a mere £5 and will be available until September 29th. But you do have to ‘register’ and jump through hoops to get into it in the first place. Be patient, it’s likely to be worth it. Rosa Bonheur – National Gallery https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/rosa-bonheur The curators of the National Gallery have a great short series of talks about woman painters. Rosa Bonheur’s horse paintings are wonderful – so alive and vibrant – and it turns out that she was an interesting woman as well as a great painter. This introduction is by Anne Robbins, the Gallery’s Associate Curator of Post 1800 Paintings, and I’d believe anything she told me. Metropolitan Opera – Puccini Week https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/ It’s Puccini week at the Met and what a feast. As usual, there’s different opera every night – 7.30pm EST, with each opera available for 24-hours following its first broadcast so we can still enjoy them on this side of the Atlantic. From the 2008 La Boheme with Angela Gheorghiu to the 2019 Turandot starring Christine Goerke, here are Met Puccini productions spanning ten amazing years. A particular favourite of mine is the delicious La Rondine (2009) with Samuel Ramey, the bass with the voice like liquid gold. And, as you might expect, there’s everything in between, from La Fanciulla del West (2011) to Madama Butterfly (2009) to Manon Lescaut (2016) to my least favourite version of Tosca (2018, starring Sonya Yoncheva) where the conductor seems to be in a hurry to catch the last subway home. All the others are brilliant, though. Don’t forget to scroll down until you reach the opera you want to watch. Scenes in the Square - Leicester Square. https://www.leicestersquare.london/blog/scenes-in-the-square-enhance-your-experience-with-our-new-audio-walking-tour/ This is a free walking tour of the movie statues in Leicester Square, featuring the likes of Bugs Bunny, Mary Poppins, Mr Bean, Paddington Bear, as well as Super Heroes Batman and Wonder Woman. Designed to appeal to all ages, Scenes in the Square brings the nation’s favourite movie moments to life, throwing it all the way back to the 1920s. There's a brilliant new guided audio tour to help you enjoy it even more. If you’re nowhere near London and can’t enjoy it in person, click on the website for pictures of the statues. Walking tour from Carnegie Hall to Lincoln Center – NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/arts/design/carnegie-hall-lincoln-center-virtual-tour.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20200917&instance_id=22229&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=6331304&segment_id=38332&user_id=83027c41d3f05329fc02574088fc83e7 This is another kind of walking tour, a virtual tour of my favourite corner of New York. This is where I live in New York, no, not actually in Carnegie Hall, although there have been weeks when I’ve spent so much time there they could have set up a camp bed for me in the lobby, but about halfway between Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center on the West Side of Manhattan. Michael Kimmelman, the architecture critic of the New York Times, has been conducting a series of virtual tours of different NY districts. This one, guided by the architects, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, lights on some architecturally beloved buildings like the Gainsborough Studios, Alwyn Court and the West Side YMCA, and it begins on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 57th Street, at Carnegie Hall. For some incomprehensible reason, they don’t stop to bow at my apartment building. Toreador song - Carmen – Royal Opera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr8sc4EjsTQ&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020_Sep_Opera_Newsletter_14Sep&utm_content=version_A&emailsource=51467 I don’t think this was meant as a joke but it certainly made me laugh. Who on earth thought the idiotic dance going on behind Kostas Smoriginas would enhance one of the most famous arias in all of opera? I missed this Royal Opera production in 2019 and again this week when it was repeated, and now I’m sorry I did. Well, I needed a good giggle. Maybe you do too.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
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