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As the only begetter of the Verbier Festival – unquestionably the starriest event in the classical calendar – Martin Engstroem has always lived dangerously. His initial idea was simply to combine partying and performances on top of a mountain, but being artistic boss of Deutsche Grammophon meant he had a stunning roster of talent to [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 26 July 2011 at 11:49 am
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Substituting a modest ‘a’ for the usual ‘the’, Peter Brook’s ‘Flute’ comes courtesy of seven barefoot singers, two dreadlocked actors, a pianist, simple lighting changes, and thirty bamboo poles: the flute isn’t played, but hovers magically in the air. Those who dislike this production itemise the things that aren’t there: no Three Ladies, no Three [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Monday, 28 March 2011 at 10:42 am
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It’s commonly assumed that counter-tenor is the highest male register, but as those who have seen Lukas Hemleb’s production of Agostino Steffani’s ‘Niobe’ at Covent Garden will attest, there’s a voice still higher – the male soprano. And this wacky show points up the differences between these registers – and between varieties of counter-tenor – [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Friday, 1 October 2010 at 6:35 pm
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‘First it rained, then it poured,’ says Martin Engstroem, of the time when the festival he’d created ran into such daunting financial problems that its future suddenly looked in doubt. But he might also have been talking about this year’s opening night.
As Charles Dutoit raised his baton to give the down-beat for Yuja Wang and [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Thursday, 22 July 2010 at 5:07 pm
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Orchestrally speaking, Janacek is bringing out the best in our big opera houses. While Sir Charles Mackerras gallantly triumphs over age and infirmity to conduct a coruscating performance of ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ at Covent Garden, Mark Wigglesworth extracts more pliant beauty from the Coliseum band than any other conductor has in recent memory.
Dramatically, [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Monday, 22 March 2010 at 2:07 pm
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One of the most dependable pleasures of the operatic year comes when English Touring Opera unpacks its goodies at the start of a new season. You know everything will be pared down for travel, with visibly portable sets, but you also know that whatever it’s doing will reflect an original take. I will never forget [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 16 March 2010 at 2:49 pm
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A few blogs ago, I ruffled some fine-art feathers by suggesting that Anish Kapoor was a fraud. I recommended that readers should catch an interview he had given on BBC World, in which the bogusness of London’s fine-art scene was gloriously laid bare. Having just watched Tracey Emin interviewed on BBC Four by the indulgently [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 16 March 2010 at 2:31 pm
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Bejun Mehta's first 41 years make an interesting story. The son of two musicians, and a nephew of Zubin Mehta, he first found fame – and accolades from Leonard Bernstein – as a boy soprano. After the break he tried unsuccessfully to make it as a baritone, then as a cellist, before being inspired by [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 29 December 2009 at 6:22 pm
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To see the revival of David McVicar’s fabulous ‘Turn of the Screw’ (left) is to be reminded just how good English National Opera can be when it sticks to its metier: getting brilliant directors to give tried and trusted classics a new and original twist, with singers who understand how to work as an ensemble. [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Monday, 9 November 2009 at 2:39 pm
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Anyone wanting to take the pulse of the fine-art world in its present state should use the BBC’s watch-again facility to catch Stephen Sackur’s interview with Anish Kapoor in BBC World’s Hard Talk slot. Because in twenty-five delicious minutes this encounter definitively lays bare the vast con-trick which has turned contemporary fine art into [...]
By Michael Church | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Monday, 19 October 2009 at 4:57 pm
