|
The Habit of Art – National Theatre at Home Click here for tickets Newly online, this was last play Alan Bennett wrote for the National Theatre under Nicholas Hytner's leadership. I can’t promise vintage Bennett, it’s not a patch on The Madness of King George or The History Boys, but it still has much to recommend it. It imagines a late life meeting between former friends, the poet W.H. Auden, and the composer Benjamin Britten, many years after they fell out during their collaboration on the opera Paul Bunyan. At this juncture we are asked to imagine that Britten has come to see Auden to ask for advice about Death in Venice, the opera he is currently composing. Britten has in fact come to discuss his misgivings about the paedophilic theme of Death in Venice and the light that may cast on his own life, but Auden assumes Britten wants him to write the libretto. If Bennett had left it at that The Habit of Art would have been thoroughly enjoyable. But no. Bennett surrounds this momentous meeting with what seem to me extraneous plots and characters including a play within a play, a broken rehearsal with other actors, a rent-boy, and a BBC journalist who has turned up to interview Auden. The big plus for me, though, in this fascinating but flawed production, is that it starred the late Richard Griffiths, one of the finest actors of his time (and one of the nicest men in show business) in the role of Auden. Alex Jennings does the honours as Britten with the professionalism and deep commitment he brings to all his roles. This original production was basically well-received and at least one critic called it, ‘a multi-levelled work that deals with sex, death, creativity, biography and much else besides’. How Botticelli Revolutionised Portraits - Art history in 10 minutes Click here to watch One of my favourite ways to spend ten minutes is with The National Gallery’s 10-minute talks. This one does what it says on the tin, sorry, title. Laura Llewellyn, the National Gallery’s Associate Curator of Renaissance Paintings, introduces us to Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli and explains what is was that made him a favourite of the Medici Family and one of the best established painters in Florence. She tells us that, although we tend to think of him as a painter of religious and mythical scenes, he was one of the first to ally his technical painterly skills with emotional content in his many and varied portraits. She points out that many of his portraits are posed head-on, facing the viewer, which emphasises their immediacy and intimacy, rare at the beginning of the 16th century where portraits were usually in profile. Mariinsky Theatre – Foxtrot Productions Click here for tickets Margy Kinmonth’s film looks at the rich history of the Mariinsky Theatre in the birth and growth of the Russian tradition in opera, music, and ballet. It’s always fun to be able to sneak backstage and see what really goes on while the swans are floating elegantly above you on the stage. Backstage, it becomes a frantically busy and labyrinthine world of underground passages full of scenery and costumes that link the rehearsal rooms. With interviews with Gergiev and other current opera and ballet commissars, it’s all irredeemably positive, although Gergiev does allow that the theatre used to be run by ‘criminals’ but that, of course, was before his time and he quickly disposed of them as soon as he took over. There’s a lot of self-congratulation and, in typical Russian fashion, everyone falls in line behind Gergiev's party line. There's no hint of the various scandals and violence that have plagued the theatre in the past, but the Mariinsky itself is beautiful and many of us never get a chance to see the St. Petersburg penchant for gold and curlicues up close. Kronos Quartet - Mahsa Vahdat Click here to Register The Los Angeles Times has described the Kronos Quartet, somewhat hyperbolicly, as “the most far-ranging ensemble geographically, nationally, and stylistically the world has known”. In this Cal Performances at Home streaming presentation they return with the newest edition of their 50 for the Future project. This ongoing multiyear project features new works by an international and diverse group of composers, made available online with the goal of training students and emerging professionals in contemporary approaches to string quartet music. This concert features new works by Terry Riley and Cal Performances’ artist-in-residence, Angélique Kidjo. For the second half of the concert, Kronos is joined by Mahsa Vahdat, a prominent performer of Persian vocal music who has previously collaborated with the quartet. This concert features melodies Vahdat composed to classical poems by Hafez and Rumi, as well as contemporary texts by Iranian poets. If you’re not familiar with Mahsa Vahdat she is a voice that is definitely worth your time. The LA Times describes her as “an alluring, descriptive singer….The sheer seductiveness of her voice and style proved compelling”. And Kronos, of course, is always worth hearing. Register to watch the performances. Jan 27–Feb 2. Che Gelida Manina - Met opera video Click here to watch I’ve been missing the Met since they ceased their miraculous free daily operas during the early part of the pandemic. Here’s a quick burst of what we’ve been missing - Rodolfo's Act I aria from Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Puccini's La Bohème. Ramón Vargas (Rodolfo), Angela Gheorghiu (Mimì) in a clip taken from the 2008 Live in HD transmission. You can still get as much Met as you want if you pay $14.99 a month for Met Opera on Demand. If you’re an opera lover it’s worth it. (https://www.metopera.org/season/on-demand/Learn-More/) Click here to watch Yoncheva And, as an extra special treat, in case you thought nobody could actually sing anymore, here is Sonia Yoncheva who is performing live at the Met this weekend in a solo concert. Here is her best aria from her performance in the title role in David McVicar’s 2018 production of Tosca. For me, her Vissi d’Arte stands up against the best. See what you think. Sound of Music revisited - Saturday Night Live Click here to watch American late night TV shows from Saturday Night Live to James Corden’s Late, Late Show have learned that the classic musical theatre offers great fodder for parody and homage. Here, Golden Globe winner and stage star Ariana DeBose, who wowed as Anita in the film version of West Side Story, flexed her comedy muscles in Saturday Night Live in a rather overlong but quite funny rewrite of Julie Andrews' signature song from The Sound of Music.
29 Comments
Cathy Thomas
25/1/2022 12:28:47 pm
Thanks for bringing our attention to the National Gallery's 10 minute talks. There are 18 others in the series. I have just watched the one on Gainsborough's 'The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly' which was very interesting.
Reply
5/9/2022 03:07:45 pm
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://freecodezilla.net/wp-rocket-nulled/
Reply
11/9/2022 11:14:31 pm
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://kurma.website/
Reply
15/9/2022 01:04:51 am
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma
Reply
4/10/2022 08:19:29 pm
I think this post is useful for people. It has been very useful for me. Looking forward to the next one, thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/kirikkale-escort/bahsili-escort/
Reply
5/10/2022 06:38:29 pm
It was a post that I found very successful. Good luck to you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/ankara-escort/evren-escort/
Reply
5/10/2022 10:28:59 pm
I follow your posts closely. I can find it thanks to your reliable share. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/osmaniye-escort/duzici-escort/
Reply
8/10/2022 05:16:37 pm
Thoughtful and real content is shared. Thank you for these shares. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/erzincan-escort/tercan-escort/
Reply
23/11/2022 12:58:12 pm
Sitemizi ziyaret et ve evden is imkanina bak: https://sites.google.com/view/evden-ek-is/
Reply
11/12/2022 08:54:56 am
kaliteli düşmeyen takipçi satın al: https://takipcialdim.com/
Reply
11/12/2022 10:59:04 am
instagram beğeni satın al: https://takipcialdim.com/instagram-begeni-satin-al/
Reply
11/12/2022 10:59:15 am
Tiktok takipçi satışı burada: https://takipcialdim.com/tiktok-takipci-satin-al/
Reply
17/12/2022 03:44:40 am
takipçi satın al ve sitemizi ziyaret et: https://takipcim.com.tr/
Reply
21/12/2022 12:15:55 pm
İnstagram takipçi satın almak istiyorsan tıkla.
Reply
8/1/2023 05:12:23 pm
100 tl deneme bonusu veren siteleri öğrenmek istiyorsan tıkla.
Reply
30/6/2023 04:04:59 pm
En iyi gümüşhane ilan sitesi burada. https://gumushane.escorthun.com/
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|