dirac

Over in the Links, innopac raised an interesting issue in re the Q&A with Carlos Acosta in The Guardian today: We’ve had discussions along this line in the past, but I thought it was a topic to which it’s worth returning from time to time. Thoughts?

The PBS show is very good, well worth catching.

I add my thanks to drb's - I had not heard of this movie.

Yes, I especially liked all the solemn cop talk about 'securing the baggie.' Your tax dollars at work, folks. That said -- the law's the law. Quite so.

From Opera News: http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/ne...se.aspx?id=1427

Every once in awhile Gottlieb will write an article with “light at the end of the tunnel” sentiments and then a little later some performances will set him off and it’s back to the sackcloth and ashes. I don’t mean to suggest that he’s wishy-washy, he’s merely reporting what he sees, I’m sure. But I’d hesitate before reading any special significance into this particular piece.

Thank you for posting this, papeetepatrick - I hadn't heard. I loved her voice. Sad to lose both her and Sills in the same week, although it is nice to be able to note that both of them lived long, full lives and had great careers.

I had that same reaction. One knew he was about that age, of course, but seeing the big four-oh in print did stand out for some reason.

An appreciation by Tim Page in The Washington Post.

I would also add to the cautionary remarks above that drug use doesn't necessarily and automatically mean 'abuse' or 'addiction.'

Forgive me if I sound blunt, Brioche, but it's a route that can no more be avoided in a discussion of Sills than a discussion of Callas. I remember reading that she regarded it as one of her best roles, as did others. She had lovely French diction, too.

All too recognizable, once she had taken up what seemed to be permanent residence in Wobble City. She did not retire too soon. It's most unfortunate that she did so little recording in her very best years. I listened last night to her "Se pieta" from Giulio Cesare. The angels in heaven trill like that. I recall also a clip from the recent PBS documentary, "Beverly Sills: Made in America" where she sings Baby Doe with Douglas Moore listening. So moving.

Wolcott mentions quite frequently on his blog and elsewhere that he’s married to Laura Jacobs; I really don’t think that he’s duty bound to mention it every time he talks about ballet or even criticizes a critic; it’s his blog, after all. I, too, have found Macaulay’s writing for the Times a trifle, shall we say, lush – it was evident from the time of his debut article, but I thought he was just a little overexcited and he’d calm down. But it’s turned into a veritable tsunami of gush. If Wolcott’s undiplomatic remarks make him turn off the waterworks for a bit and stop tearfully waving his hankie as Kyra or whoever pulls away from the harbor and steams toward the open Atlantic, this Times subscriber will not, forgive me, cry about it.

That last quality made me dislike her Madame Bovary. You had the feeling Huppert would just bop Charles on the head one evening or put something in his soup. She's so great in Piano Teacher, although she's way too beautiful - Jelinek makes it clear in the book that her heroine is plain. Not to discourage other lines of thought, but please chime in, anyone who's seen 'Paris, Je t'aime.'

Thank you for posting this, Mme. Hermine. This does not sound good at all. I recall seeing an obituary for her husband not long ago and I understand he had been ill for a long time. She must have had a heavy burden to carry. I never saw her live but I love her early recordings. She was the first person I can recall identifying as an 'opera star' as a kid; I'm sure that was true for many. My best wishes go out to her and her family.

I just thought it was refreshing to see romance and sentiment done with a little taste. Over here in America we tend to get stuff like Crossing Delancey....

A reminder of the need to post when you vote, people.

I noticed that, too. He tosses 'dull' and 'boring' in her direction with a careless shrug.

It's too bad there isn't more available video of Farrell during her Bejart years. Choreography aside, going by the Elusive Muse excerpts she was at a physical peak (and never looked more beautiful).

Le Clercq with the space is correct.

Thanks to those who have posted. Please provide more details if the spirit moves you. I haven't seen it yet. Earlier this year I did see a French movie, 'Avenue Montaigne,' and liked it very much. It's a light comedy of the kind only the French seem to pull off regularly. The heroine was a fey gamine sort, a type that normally makes me want to toss my popcorn, but I liked this one and it was sad but good to have the opportunity to say goodbye to the late Suzanne Flon.

papeetepatrick, thank you so much for doing the heavy lifting with this thread, and thanks also to sidwich and agnes. (There are more of you out there, please chime in!) I will post at a decent length eventually. I feel bad about saying the following, because I had looked forward to seeing and hearing Passion and expected to like it, but I was disappointed when I saw the broadcast on PBS and disappointed also by the CD. It's not quite to the topic, but has anybody seen Xanadu? I dearly loved the movie and this show actually sounds like fun.

What 4mrdncr said. As a Comcast subscriber, I used to have Ovation. I wasn’t blissfully happy with it because of the many, many repeats and the many, many commercials, but it was certainly better than nothing, although generally inferior to the arts programming on PBS. Comcast took it away and I complained, but couldn’t get it back – it was not available even on the Super Colossal Absolutely Everything Exorbitantly Priced Golden Superior Digital Package. I think any arts channel that is required to attract the maximum number of eyeballs and compete on the open market with more commercial channels is going to fail, and that would likely have been true in past decades also. The high arts do not as a rule pay for themselves and shouldn’t be asked to do so, which is why PBS and the Classic Arts Showcase programming are the last redoubts – they are subsidized. (Also, back in the old days the networks had to pay a lot more attention to the FCC’s strictures on broadcasting programming in the public interest.) It may also be possible that those viewers who did appreciate Ovation’s original programming weren’t vocal enough when they lost the network or didn’t indicate their appreciation while they still had it. It’s very important to do that. PBS, as noted, does pay attention to what its subscribers say they want. Send money – and tell them what you want when you do so, and make it clear that your support is contingent on getting what you want. If you get the new Ovation, tell them and your provider that you want to see the arts and plenty of them. Maybe it will work, maybe not. But you’ll have tried, and they will know you’re out there.

And the layout of newspapers makes the comparing and contrasting of stories much easier. They've had hundreds of years to work on such things, of course, but right now the hard copy is still far superior. I certainly don't agree with what Acocella said, and it's quite true, printpeople can be obtuse when it comes to the web. A closely related topic was actually raised awhile ago in the Writings on Ballet Forum, and there are a number of posts worth reading: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=20948

I can only speak for myself, but I subscribe to two newspapers and a goodly number of magazines. Dinosaur that I am.