The Pop Group’s former frontman Mark Stewart has died. He was 62.
Stewart’s death was announced by his label Mute on Friday (21 April) in a tweet that reads: “We’ve lost such a dear friend, please respect the privacy of Mark’s Family and friends at this time.”
In a separate statement per The Guardian, they said: “In honour of this original, fearless, sensitive, artistic and funny man, think for yourself and question everything. The world was changed because of Mark Stewart, it will never be the same without him.”
A cause of death has yet to be announced.
Formed in 1972 by Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith, the British rock band have been considered pioneers of the late Seventies post-punk movement.
Much of their music, which covered a range of musical influences at the time, including punk, dub, funk,...
Stewart’s death was announced by his label Mute on Friday (21 April) in a tweet that reads: “We’ve lost such a dear friend, please respect the privacy of Mark’s Family and friends at this time.”
In a separate statement per The Guardian, they said: “In honour of this original, fearless, sensitive, artistic and funny man, think for yourself and question everything. The world was changed because of Mark Stewart, it will never be the same without him.”
A cause of death has yet to be announced.
Formed in 1972 by Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith, the British rock band have been considered pioneers of the late Seventies post-punk movement.
Much of their music, which covered a range of musical influences at the time, including punk, dub, funk,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Inga Parkel
- The Independent - Music
Former Newsround star Lizo Mzimba made an unexpected “on stage” feature at Coachella over the weekend.
During the desert festival’s opening weekend, the BBC presenter was projected on a jumbo screen during UK artist Jai Paul’s solo Coachella debut on Saturday 15 April.
Midway through the songwriter’s set, an old photo of Mzimba from his Newsround days appeared behind him.
“Never ever imagined that a picture of me from my Newsround days would end up being projected on a huge screen at Coachella at the weekend,” the entertainment correspondent tweeted.
Alongside a screenshot taken from a recording of the concert, Mzimbo added: “Very honoured and grateful. Thank you @Jai_Paul.”
Several fans joyously responded in the comments, with one writing: “No way! Please tell me the back story of this.”
“Inspired a generation!” praised a second. “How? Why? Wonderful but there are Big questions,” another said.
Never ever...
During the desert festival’s opening weekend, the BBC presenter was projected on a jumbo screen during UK artist Jai Paul’s solo Coachella debut on Saturday 15 April.
Midway through the songwriter’s set, an old photo of Mzimba from his Newsround days appeared behind him.
“Never ever imagined that a picture of me from my Newsround days would end up being projected on a huge screen at Coachella at the weekend,” the entertainment correspondent tweeted.
Alongside a screenshot taken from a recording of the concert, Mzimbo added: “Very honoured and grateful. Thank you @Jai_Paul.”
Several fans joyously responded in the comments, with one writing: “No way! Please tell me the back story of this.”
“Inspired a generation!” praised a second. “How? Why? Wonderful but there are Big questions,” another said.
Never ever...
- 4/21/2023
- by Inga Parkel
- The Independent - Music
It’s Robert Smith‘s birthday so, naturally, fans of the singer are sharing what is commonly believed to be one of his greatest moments.
The musician, who is the frontman of The Cure, turns 64 today (Friday 21 April).
In 2019, he became a viral sensation on Twitter thanks to his hilariously deadpan response to an excitable reporter.
Smith was in attendance at that year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where The Cure were being inducted alongside Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, The Zombies, Radiohead and Roxy Music.
The singer approached a chipper interviewer at Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre, who said to him: “Congratulations, The Cure – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees 2019! Are you as excited as I am?”
Smith, without missing a beat, replied: “Um, by the sounds of it, no.”
The interviewer, brushing off the response, laughed in response, and asked him: “Oh, no, what are we going to do?...
The musician, who is the frontman of The Cure, turns 64 today (Friday 21 April).
In 2019, he became a viral sensation on Twitter thanks to his hilariously deadpan response to an excitable reporter.
Smith was in attendance at that year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where The Cure were being inducted alongside Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, The Zombies, Radiohead and Roxy Music.
The singer approached a chipper interviewer at Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre, who said to him: “Congratulations, The Cure – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees 2019! Are you as excited as I am?”
Smith, without missing a beat, replied: “Um, by the sounds of it, no.”
The interviewer, brushing off the response, laughed in response, and asked him: “Oh, no, what are we going to do?...
- 4/21/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Music
Conductor Simon Rattle has spoken out about the existential threat facing the UK’s classical music scene.
Rattle, who currently serves as the music director of the London Symphony Orchestra, is set to conduct at a protest concert this week that will object to planned cuts by the BBC and Arts Council England (Ace).
It was recently revealed that the BBC Singers, a longstanding vocal ensemble that Rattle describes as the “best in the world”, is facing abolition as part of wider predicted cuts across the BBC’s classical music ecosystem.
Speaking to The Times, Rattle said: “The BBC and Arts Council England, the two largest funders of musicians in the country, seem to be operating a pincer movement against our art form.”
The BBC Singers are performing at the protest concert on Sunday, which will be held at London’s Barbican venue.
“I said I would like to pay...
Rattle, who currently serves as the music director of the London Symphony Orchestra, is set to conduct at a protest concert this week that will object to planned cuts by the BBC and Arts Council England (Ace).
It was recently revealed that the BBC Singers, a longstanding vocal ensemble that Rattle describes as the “best in the world”, is facing abolition as part of wider predicted cuts across the BBC’s classical music ecosystem.
Speaking to The Times, Rattle said: “The BBC and Arts Council England, the two largest funders of musicians in the country, seem to be operating a pincer movement against our art form.”
The BBC Singers are performing at the protest concert on Sunday, which will be held at London’s Barbican venue.
“I said I would like to pay...
- 4/21/2023
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - Music
A world expert on William Shakespeare has compared Taylor Swift to some of history’s greatest writers – including the Bard himself – and said she is a “real poet”.
Scholar Sir Jonathan Bate, a former Shakespeare professor at Warwick University, said he believed the popstar is more than “just high-class showbiz” and has a “literary sensibility” that was apparent from her debut album.
In a piece for The Sunday Times Magazine titled Why Taylor Swift is a literary giant, he wrote that he had “one of the best nights of [his] life” at one of Swift’s concerts.
“Listening to her lyrics, which most of the rapturous (mainly female) audience seemed to know by heart, I came away with confirmation of a thought I first had 15 years ago: this isn’t just high-class showbiz, Taylor Swift is a real poet,” he said.
Sir Jonathan analysed how the singer has been inspired by...
Scholar Sir Jonathan Bate, a former Shakespeare professor at Warwick University, said he believed the popstar is more than “just high-class showbiz” and has a “literary sensibility” that was apparent from her debut album.
In a piece for The Sunday Times Magazine titled Why Taylor Swift is a literary giant, he wrote that he had “one of the best nights of [his] life” at one of Swift’s concerts.
“Listening to her lyrics, which most of the rapturous (mainly female) audience seemed to know by heart, I came away with confirmation of a thought I first had 15 years ago: this isn’t just high-class showbiz, Taylor Swift is a real poet,” he said.
Sir Jonathan analysed how the singer has been inspired by...
- 4/16/2023
- by Ellie Harrison
- The Independent - Music
Superstar classical pianist, Lang Lang, will return to the Royal Albert Hall in November for two headline concerts spotlighting the work of composer Camille Saint-Saëns.
The musician, currently being seen on Channel 4’s hit show The Piano, will be accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as he performs two immortal Saint-Saëns works: the composer’s second piano concerto, and his Carnival of the Animals. The latter piece will also feature a second soloist: Lang Lang’s wife, fellow pianist Gina Alice.
Matthew Todd, Director of Programming at the Royal Albert Hall, said: “Lang Lang is one of the giants of the classical world: a unique performer whose prodigious talent has made him a worldwide sensation. These headline performances will see him take centre stage at the Hall, performing a pair of works that will show him at his incomparable best.”
Lang Lang. Credit: Haiqiang Lv
The concert will begin...
The musician, currently being seen on Channel 4’s hit show The Piano, will be accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as he performs two immortal Saint-Saëns works: the composer’s second piano concerto, and his Carnival of the Animals. The latter piece will also feature a second soloist: Lang Lang’s wife, fellow pianist Gina Alice.
Matthew Todd, Director of Programming at the Royal Albert Hall, said: “Lang Lang is one of the giants of the classical world: a unique performer whose prodigious talent has made him a worldwide sensation. These headline performances will see him take centre stage at the Hall, performing a pair of works that will show him at his incomparable best.”
Lang Lang. Credit: Haiqiang Lv
The concert will begin...
- 3/26/2023
- by Music Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Music
Ron Howard will direct a biopic on the life of Lang Lang, the world-renowned Chinese pianist about his journey from life in Northern China to making it to the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and to international acclaim.
The untitled feature on Lang Lang will be fully financed by Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios and will be produced by Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Michelle Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney wrote the screenplay based on Lang Lang’s own memoir co-written with David Ritz called “Journey of a Thousand Miles.”
At just 38 but someone who has been active since the early 1990s, the young concert pianist Lang Lang has played with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and some of America’s top orchestras. His memoir charts his own childhood and shows how his family, both of them musicians whose careers in China’s insular classical music world never panned out,...
The untitled feature on Lang Lang will be fully financed by Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios and will be produced by Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Michelle Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney wrote the screenplay based on Lang Lang’s own memoir co-written with David Ritz called “Journey of a Thousand Miles.”
At just 38 but someone who has been active since the early 1990s, the young concert pianist Lang Lang has played with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and some of America’s top orchestras. His memoir charts his own childhood and shows how his family, both of them musicians whose careers in China’s insular classical music world never panned out,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, Karen Lunder producing with AGC head Stuart Ford.
AGC Studios will fully finance and Ron Howard will direct an untitled biopic of the celebrated pianist Lang Lang from Imagine Entertainment.
Brian Grazer, Imagine Entertainment executive chairman, is producing with president of features Karen Lunder, and AGC Studios chairman and CEO Stuart Ford.
Michelle Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney wrote the screenplay based on the memoir Journey Of A Thousand Miles by Lang Lang and David Ritz. Lang Lang and Jean-Jacques Cesbron along with Polygram Entertainment’s Michele Anthony and David Blackman will serve as executive producers.
AGC Studios will fully finance and Ron Howard will direct an untitled biopic of the celebrated pianist Lang Lang from Imagine Entertainment.
Brian Grazer, Imagine Entertainment executive chairman, is producing with president of features Karen Lunder, and AGC Studios chairman and CEO Stuart Ford.
Michelle Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney wrote the screenplay based on the memoir Journey Of A Thousand Miles by Lang Lang and David Ritz. Lang Lang and Jean-Jacques Cesbron along with Polygram Entertainment’s Michele Anthony and David Blackman will serve as executive producers.
- 9/22/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Voice UK blind auditions continued with more than 8.7 million last night (February 14), according to overnight figures.
The BBC One singing competition appealed to 8.76m (41.3%) from 7.15pm.
It was followed by The National Lottery: Win Your Wish List and Casualty, which managed 4.94m (24.3%) and 4.87m (24.7%) respectively.
BBC Two's How We Got to Now with Steven Johnson began with 882k (4.1%) from 7.35pm.
A Dad's Army repeat took 1.61m (7.9%), before Simon Rattle: The Making of a Maestro drew 761k (3.8%).
On ITV, Harry Hill's Stars in Their Eyes concluded its run with 2.12m (10.9%) from 6.30pm. Planet's Got Talent averaged 1.66m (8%), with Take Me Out attracting 3.03m (14.4%).
The Jonathan Ross Show managed 2.18m (11.1%) from 9.20pm.
On Channel 4, The World's Weirdest Weather was watched by 1.17m (5.5%) in the 8pm hour, before an airing of The Bourne Legacy garnered 1.53m (8.9%).
The latest episode of Channel 5's CSI was caught by 932k (4.6%).
The...
The BBC One singing competition appealed to 8.76m (41.3%) from 7.15pm.
It was followed by The National Lottery: Win Your Wish List and Casualty, which managed 4.94m (24.3%) and 4.87m (24.7%) respectively.
BBC Two's How We Got to Now with Steven Johnson began with 882k (4.1%) from 7.35pm.
A Dad's Army repeat took 1.61m (7.9%), before Simon Rattle: The Making of a Maestro drew 761k (3.8%).
On ITV, Harry Hill's Stars in Their Eyes concluded its run with 2.12m (10.9%) from 6.30pm. Planet's Got Talent averaged 1.66m (8%), with Take Me Out attracting 3.03m (14.4%).
The Jonathan Ross Show managed 2.18m (11.1%) from 9.20pm.
On Channel 4, The World's Weirdest Weather was watched by 1.17m (5.5%) in the 8pm hour, before an airing of The Bourne Legacy garnered 1.53m (8.9%).
The latest episode of Channel 5's CSI was caught by 932k (4.6%).
The...
- 2/15/2015
- Digital Spy
Complete list of winners and nominees of the 2014 Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Sunday February 8. Winners will be updated as they're announced during the telecast and pre-telecast. Record Of The Year “Fancy,” Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli Xcx “Chandelier,” Sia **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith “Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift “All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor Album Of The Year **Winner** “Morning Phase,” Beck “Beyoncé,” Beyoncé “X,” Ed Sheeran “In The Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith “Girl,” Pharrell Williams Song Of The Year “All About That Bass,” Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor) “Chandelier,” Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia) “Shake It Off,” Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift) **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith) “Take Me To Church,” Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier) Best New Artist Iggy Azalea Bastille Brandy Clark...
- 2/8/2015
- by Donna Dickens
- Hitfix
This week, Vulture will be publishing our critics' year-end lists. 1. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Metropolitan Opera The Met had a rough year: the threat of a strike, conflict over the allegedly terrorist-loving The Death of Klinghoffer, and a nauseating deficit ($22 million!). But once the curtain goes up, such trivial problems fade in favor of much worse ones, like those playing out in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. In Graham Vick’s long-absent vintage production, the soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek made killing your husband, banging his employee, poisoning his father, and going on a death march to Siberia into a hugely entertaining evening.2. St. Matthew Passion, Peter Sellars and the Berlin Philharmonic Sellars reconfigured both the Park Avenue Armory and Bach’s oratorio, performing the piece in the round and bringing out the intimate human currents in a monumental, scriptural score. Led by Simon Rattle, it was also terrific theater. 3. Salome,...
- 12/11/2014
- by Justin Davidson
- Vulture
The BBC has outlined plans for its upcoming arts coverage.
Director General Tony Hall stated that the corporation aims to increase its art output with its "strongest commitment to the arts in a generation".
"The arts are for everyone, and from now on BBC Arts will be at the very heart of what we do," he added.
Productions from Glyndebourne and Shakespeare's Globe will be filmed for broadcast, along with Gemma Arterton's appearance in The Duchess of Malfi at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
The One Show will broadcast live from the Hay Literary Festival in May, while the makers of The Hollow Crown will reunite for filmed versions of Shakespeare's Henry VI and Richard III.
The BBC Arts... strand will be used on TV, radio and online via the BBC's iPlayer service.
iPlayer will premiere BBC Two series The Story of Women and Art, along with coverage of...
Director General Tony Hall stated that the corporation aims to increase its art output with its "strongest commitment to the arts in a generation".
"The arts are for everyone, and from now on BBC Arts will be at the very heart of what we do," he added.
Productions from Glyndebourne and Shakespeare's Globe will be filmed for broadcast, along with Gemma Arterton's appearance in The Duchess of Malfi at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
The One Show will broadcast live from the Hay Literary Festival in May, while the makers of The Hollow Crown will reunite for filmed versions of Shakespeare's Henry VI and Richard III.
The BBC Arts... strand will be used on TV, radio and online via the BBC's iPlayer service.
iPlayer will premiere BBC Two series The Story of Women and Art, along with coverage of...
- 3/25/2014
- Digital Spy
Oscars buzz boosts UK box office and whether growling on a plane or voicing an animation, it's Liam Neeson's moment
• Review of The Lego Movie
• Review of Non-Stop
• More on the UK box office
The winner
Adding another £4.79m in the past seven days, The Lego Movie now stands at a sturdy £26.67m after three weeks of play. That puts it level with the lifetime tallies of blockbusters including Spider-Man 2 (£26.72m) and Ocean's Eleven (£26.47m), and ahead of fellow animations including Ratatouille (£24.80m) and Wall-e (£22.91m). The Lego Movie will pretty soon overtake the likes of Shrek (£29m) and A Bug's Life (£29.45m) and is clearly headed into the mid-30s (£m).
Although box office for The Lego Movie is certainly skewed to the weekend, its decent performance in the Monday-to-Thursday period suggests that it is picking up a true adult audience, rather than merely adult chaperones of children.
• Review of The Lego Movie
• Review of Non-Stop
• More on the UK box office
The winner
Adding another £4.79m in the past seven days, The Lego Movie now stands at a sturdy £26.67m after three weeks of play. That puts it level with the lifetime tallies of blockbusters including Spider-Man 2 (£26.72m) and Ocean's Eleven (£26.47m), and ahead of fellow animations including Ratatouille (£24.80m) and Wall-e (£22.91m). The Lego Movie will pretty soon overtake the likes of Shrek (£29m) and A Bug's Life (£29.45m) and is clearly headed into the mid-30s (£m).
Although box office for The Lego Movie is certainly skewed to the weekend, its decent performance in the Monday-to-Thursday period suggests that it is picking up a true adult audience, rather than merely adult chaperones of children.
- 3/4/2014
- by Charles Gant
- The Guardian - Film News
Which music stars went home with awards at the 2014 Grammy Awards? Find out with this full winners list.
Winners in each category are bolded.
Record of the Year
"Get Lucky" -- Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers
"Radioactive" -- Imagine Dragons
"Royals" -- Lorde
"Locked Out of Heaven" -- Bruno Mars
"Blurred Lines" -- Robin Thick feat. T.I. and Pharrell
Album of the year
"The Blessed Unrest" -- Sara Bareilles
"Random Access Memories" -- Daft Punk
"Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" -- Kendrick Lamar
"The Heist" -- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
"Red" -- Taylor Swift
Song of the year
"Just Give Me a Reason" -- Jeff Bhasker, Pink and Nate Ruess (Pink feat. Nate Ruess)
"Locked Out of Heaven" -- Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Bruno Mars (Bruno Mars)
"Roar" -- Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry and Henry Walter (Katy Perry)
"Royals...
Winners in each category are bolded.
Record of the Year
"Get Lucky" -- Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers
"Radioactive" -- Imagine Dragons
"Royals" -- Lorde
"Locked Out of Heaven" -- Bruno Mars
"Blurred Lines" -- Robin Thick feat. T.I. and Pharrell
Album of the year
"The Blessed Unrest" -- Sara Bareilles
"Random Access Memories" -- Daft Punk
"Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" -- Kendrick Lamar
"The Heist" -- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
"Red" -- Taylor Swift
Song of the year
"Just Give Me a Reason" -- Jeff Bhasker, Pink and Nate Ruess (Pink feat. Nate Ruess)
"Locked Out of Heaven" -- Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Bruno Mars (Bruno Mars)
"Roar" -- Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry and Henry Walter (Katy Perry)
"Royals...
- 1/26/2014
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Penelope Keith and Angela Lansbury are among the stars in the Queen's New Year Honours List for 2014.
Pete Tong, Karren Brady and Ruth Jones are also named on the annual list.
For the first time since the Order of the British Empire was founded in 1917, women outnumber men in the overall list.
Keith - perhaps best known for her roles in the sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born - is named a dame. She said: "You know I sort of feel elated, exhausted and thrilled. It's the big one. I had already got an OBE and then a Cbe, so I don't know what is better than the icing on the cake, but this is."
British-born Murder, She Wrote star Lansbury is also named a dame for her successful acting career, charitable work and philanthropy.
Apprentice star Karren Brady, the vice-chair of West Ham Football Club, gets...
Pete Tong, Karren Brady and Ruth Jones are also named on the annual list.
For the first time since the Order of the British Empire was founded in 1917, women outnumber men in the overall list.
Keith - perhaps best known for her roles in the sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born - is named a dame. She said: "You know I sort of feel elated, exhausted and thrilled. It's the big one. I had already got an OBE and then a Cbe, so I don't know what is better than the icing on the cake, but this is."
British-born Murder, She Wrote star Lansbury is also named a dame for her successful acting career, charitable work and philanthropy.
Apprentice star Karren Brady, the vice-chair of West Ham Football Club, gets...
- 12/30/2013
- Digital Spy
Homeland, Strictly Come Dancing, the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Great British Bake Off, Game of Thrones and Call the Midwife will go head-to-head for this year's TV BAFTA Audience Award.
In the run-up to the awards on May 12, Digital Spy writers will be campaigning for their own picks from the shortlist - fans can vote for their own favourites at radiotimes.com/bafta.
You've heard the case for Game of Thrones, Strictly, Homeland and Call the Midwife - and today we present the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony.
This is cheating, isn't it? Not so. Sticking some cameras at a sporting event and claiming that it's great telly should certainly be frowned upon, and if the gold medals Super Saturday were being considered for this award, we wouldn't be arguing for it. The London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony was something altogether different.
Directed by Danny Boyle, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, soundtracked by Underworld and friends,...
In the run-up to the awards on May 12, Digital Spy writers will be campaigning for their own picks from the shortlist - fans can vote for their own favourites at radiotimes.com/bafta.
You've heard the case for Game of Thrones, Strictly, Homeland and Call the Midwife - and today we present the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony.
This is cheating, isn't it? Not so. Sticking some cameras at a sporting event and claiming that it's great telly should certainly be frowned upon, and if the gold medals Super Saturday were being considered for this award, we wouldn't be arguing for it. The London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony was something altogether different.
Directed by Danny Boyle, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, soundtracked by Underworld and friends,...
- 4/19/2013
- Digital Spy
Bond movie wins film prize and BBC2's Twenty Twelve scoops comedy, while London 2012 cauldron takes visual arts gong
James Bond movie Skyfall, London Games comedy Twenty Twelve and the Olympic cauldron were among the winners at the 2013 South Bank Sky Arts awards.
The 23rd James Bond outing won the film prize at the awards ceremony, hosted by Lord Bragg in London at Tuesday lunchtime.
Continuing the Olympic theme, the visual arts award went to Thomas Heatherwick's London 2012 cauldron, while Twenty Twelve helped the BBC to a clean sweep in the TV categories, picking up the comedy prize.
Tom Stoppard's BBC2 adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford's Parade's End won the drama award, in an all-bbc shortlist also featuring Shakespeare adaptations The Hollow Crown and police thriller Line of Duty.
Tom Hiddleston picked up the Times breakthrough award for his acting in The Hollow Crown and films including War Horse and Avengers Assemble.
James Bond movie Skyfall, London Games comedy Twenty Twelve and the Olympic cauldron were among the winners at the 2013 South Bank Sky Arts awards.
The 23rd James Bond outing won the film prize at the awards ceremony, hosted by Lord Bragg in London at Tuesday lunchtime.
Continuing the Olympic theme, the visual arts award went to Thomas Heatherwick's London 2012 cauldron, while Twenty Twelve helped the BBC to a clean sweep in the TV categories, picking up the comedy prize.
Tom Stoppard's BBC2 adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford's Parade's End won the drama award, in an all-bbc shortlist also featuring Shakespeare adaptations The Hollow Crown and police thriller Line of Duty.
Tom Hiddleston picked up the Times breakthrough award for his acting in The Hollow Crown and films including War Horse and Avengers Assemble.
- 3/12/2013
- by Jason Deans
- The Guardian - Film News
Skyfall, Alan Partridge comedy Welcome to the Places of My Life, and the Olympic Velodrome are among the nominees for this year's South Bank Sky Arts Awards.
The awards, which are now in their 16th year, celebrate the best of British culture of the last 12 months and take place at the Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday, March 12. They will air on Sky Arts later in the week.
© BBC
[Left: Skyfall / Right: Alan Partridge]
Other nominees this year include music stars Jessie Ware and Plan B, writers Hilary Mantel and Will Self, and TV comedies Twenty Twelve and Hunderby.
Melvyn Bragg is editor and master of ceremonies at the event, which hands out accolades to visual art, theatre, opera, dance, comedy, classical music, pop, TV drama, literature and film.
"2012 was a remarkably fine year for British achievement, not least in British art, by British artists," said Bragg.
© Pete Mariner
© BBC
[Left: Jessie Ware / Right: Twenty Twelve]
"Arriving at this shortlist was a tough job for our judges.
The awards, which are now in their 16th year, celebrate the best of British culture of the last 12 months and take place at the Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday, March 12. They will air on Sky Arts later in the week.
© BBC
[Left: Skyfall / Right: Alan Partridge]
Other nominees this year include music stars Jessie Ware and Plan B, writers Hilary Mantel and Will Self, and TV comedies Twenty Twelve and Hunderby.
Melvyn Bragg is editor and master of ceremonies at the event, which hands out accolades to visual art, theatre, opera, dance, comedy, classical music, pop, TV drama, literature and film.
"2012 was a remarkably fine year for British achievement, not least in British art, by British artists," said Bragg.
© Pete Mariner
© BBC
[Left: Jessie Ware / Right: Twenty Twelve]
"Arriving at this shortlist was a tough job for our judges.
- 2/6/2013
- Digital Spy
Skyfall, Alan Partridge comedy Welcome to the Places of My Life, and the Olympic Velodrome are among the nominees for this year's South Bank Sky Arts Awards.
The awards, which are now in their 16th year, celebrate the best of British culture of the last 12 months and take place at the Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday, March 12. They will air on Sky Arts later in the week.
[Left: Skyfall / Right: Alan Partridge]
Other nominees this year include music stars Jessie Ware and Plan B, writers Hilary Mantel and Will Self, and TV comedies Twenty Twelve and Hunderby.
Melvyn Bragg is editor and master of ceremonies at the event, which hands out accolades to visual art, theatre, opera, dance, comedy, classical music, pop, TV drama, literature and film.
"2012 was a remarkably fine year for British achievement, not least in British art, by British artists," said Bragg.
[Left: Jessie Ware / Right: Twenty Twelve]
"Arriving at this shortlist was a tough job for our judges.
The awards, which are now in their 16th year, celebrate the best of British culture of the last 12 months and take place at the Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday, March 12. They will air on Sky Arts later in the week.
[Left: Skyfall / Right: Alan Partridge]
Other nominees this year include music stars Jessie Ware and Plan B, writers Hilary Mantel and Will Self, and TV comedies Twenty Twelve and Hunderby.
Melvyn Bragg is editor and master of ceremonies at the event, which hands out accolades to visual art, theatre, opera, dance, comedy, classical music, pop, TV drama, literature and film.
"2012 was a remarkably fine year for British achievement, not least in British art, by British artists," said Bragg.
[Left: Jessie Ware / Right: Twenty Twelve]
"Arriving at this shortlist was a tough job for our judges.
- 2/6/2013
- Digital Spy
27 July: the actor relives working with Danny Boyle to help create the dazzling opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics
I was in Liverpool on a location scout for the film Jack Ryan when I got the call. Danny Boyle rang me and explained that they'd had a great tragedy – Mark Rylance's daughter had passed away and he was pulling out of his role in the opening ceremony. He asked if I would take over. I was standing on a street corner and I was so shocked at Mark's news that I didn't really take in the second part.
A couple of days later I went to see Danny at the Olympic Stadium. It was three weeks before the ceremony and the place was packed with thousands of people all doing things impressively. Danny seemed to know everybody's first name – it was like taking a walk with the Pied Piper. We...
I was in Liverpool on a location scout for the film Jack Ryan when I got the call. Danny Boyle rang me and explained that they'd had a great tragedy – Mark Rylance's daughter had passed away and he was pulling out of his role in the opening ceremony. He asked if I would take over. I was standing on a street corner and I was so shocked at Mark's news that I didn't really take in the second part.
A couple of days later I went to see Danny at the Olympic Stadium. It was three weeks before the ceremony and the place was packed with thousands of people all doing things impressively. Danny seemed to know everybody's first name – it was like taking a walk with the Pied Piper. We...
- 12/23/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
By forging a new mythology for Britain, Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony earns our culture critic's pick for best art event of the year
Was it the paean to the NHS, or the gay Brookside kiss that did it? Was it Simon Rattle solemnly conducting Rowan Atkinson, or the nod to Ken Loach's films? Perhaps it was the procession of great British pop hits (Olympic gold for that ticked off)? It might have been the moment when Conservative MP Aiden Burley tweeted that the whole show was "multicultural crap".
But for me, the spellbinding thing about Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony was the way it forged a new mythology for Britain: not the tired old stuff about cricket and spinsters bicycling to evensong, but something that was rich and strange, and embraced Shakespeare and Blake and children's books and Tim Berners-Lee and, yes, cricket. Plus the weather and suffragettes and Monty Python.
Was it the paean to the NHS, or the gay Brookside kiss that did it? Was it Simon Rattle solemnly conducting Rowan Atkinson, or the nod to Ken Loach's films? Perhaps it was the procession of great British pop hits (Olympic gold for that ticked off)? It might have been the moment when Conservative MP Aiden Burley tweeted that the whole show was "multicultural crap".
But for me, the spellbinding thing about Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony was the way it forged a new mythology for Britain: not the tired old stuff about cricket and spinsters bicycling to evensong, but something that was rich and strange, and embraced Shakespeare and Blake and children's books and Tim Berners-Lee and, yes, cricket. Plus the weather and suffragettes and Monty Python.
- 12/6/2012
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Screenplay by Tom Tykwer, Andrew Birkin & Bernd Eichinger
Germany, 2006
It’s been a staple of European film for many an era; the sensory cinematic experience. That is, a movie that isn’t a movie, what really is a motion picture, and one that takes most care to ensure you’re intoxicated by its visuals, aesthetics and overpowering mood and tone. Forget sharp dialogue and thick plotting, navigating through a crisp story, this isn’t the core of such pieces. Arriving almost at a halfway point between art house and international mainstream is Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, adaptation of the equally hypnotic novel of the same name.
An unwanted pregnancy to a wench mother in the squalor laden slum fish markets of 18th century Paris, young Jean-Baptiste Grenouille has the cruelly ironic gift of a sense of smell superhuman,...
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Screenplay by Tom Tykwer, Andrew Birkin & Bernd Eichinger
Germany, 2006
It’s been a staple of European film for many an era; the sensory cinematic experience. That is, a movie that isn’t a movie, what really is a motion picture, and one that takes most care to ensure you’re intoxicated by its visuals, aesthetics and overpowering mood and tone. Forget sharp dialogue and thick plotting, navigating through a crisp story, this isn’t the core of such pieces. Arriving almost at a halfway point between art house and international mainstream is Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, adaptation of the equally hypnotic novel of the same name.
An unwanted pregnancy to a wench mother in the squalor laden slum fish markets of 18th century Paris, young Jean-Baptiste Grenouille has the cruelly ironic gift of a sense of smell superhuman,...
- 10/14/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
Probably some of you were a little too busy with, er, other things on your mind while reading Fifty Shades of Grey to realize author E.L. James was giving you the perfect playlist for your very own, um, enjoyment. Or if you’re that great a multi-tasker, in between buying that complete set of restraints and riding crops, you’ve already downloaded all the Thomas Tallis, Bach and more that accompanies Ana and Christian’s adventures in and out of the “Red Room of Pain,” For the rest of us, Emi has actually compiled a bunch of those songs into Fifty Shades of Grey – The Classical Album (alas, that means no Britney Spears or Kings of Leon will be included).
“I am thrilled that the classical pieces that inspired me while I wrote the Fifty Shades Trilogy are being brought together in one collection for all lovers of the books to enjoy,...
“I am thrilled that the classical pieces that inspired me while I wrote the Fifty Shades Trilogy are being brought together in one collection for all lovers of the books to enjoy,...
- 8/7/2012
- by Sabrina Rojas Weiss
- TheFabLife - Movies
Michael Nyman has taken issue with the use of the theme from Chariots of Fire in Danny Boyle's London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. The Oscar-nominated composer wrote a post on Facebook to complain about both the choice of song and the humour in the segment featuring Rowan Atkinson. "Michael Nyman is filled with wonder over the most 'significant' musical item in the Olympics opening ceremony," he said "You take Simon Rattle and the Lso to play not music by a British composer but by Vangelis, a Greek." He continued: "But it's there because it is the memorable soundtrack to Chariots of Fire, a film dealing with (more)...
- 8/6/2012
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Richard Williams on the greatly enjoyable - and occasionally bemusing - spectacle of the first night
James Bond parachuting into the Olympic stadium with... the Queen? Not Judi Dench. Not even Helen Mirren. The real Queen. "Good evening, Mr Bond," she said, rising from her Buckingham Palace desk to greet a dinner-jacketed Daniel Craig and play her part in a little film that formed one of the highlights of Danny Boyle's tumultuously inventive opening ceremony to the 2012 Games. Now, thanks to Boyle, we really have seen everything.
Muhammad Ali, probably the most famous Olympic champion of all, was among the flag-bearers. Sir Paul McCartney sang us home. The secret of the cauldron was kept right to the end: it was lit by seven young athletes nominated by Britain's greatest Olympians. Frankly the big surprise had come several hours earlier.
As the Bond theme twanged out and the stadium's bowl...
James Bond parachuting into the Olympic stadium with... the Queen? Not Judi Dench. Not even Helen Mirren. The real Queen. "Good evening, Mr Bond," she said, rising from her Buckingham Palace desk to greet a dinner-jacketed Daniel Craig and play her part in a little film that formed one of the highlights of Danny Boyle's tumultuously inventive opening ceremony to the 2012 Games. Now, thanks to Boyle, we really have seen everything.
Muhammad Ali, probably the most famous Olympic champion of all, was among the flag-bearers. Sir Paul McCartney sang us home. The secret of the cauldron was kept right to the end: it was lit by seven young athletes nominated by Britain's greatest Olympians. Frankly the big surprise had come several hours earlier.
As the Bond theme twanged out and the stadium's bowl...
- 7/28/2012
- by Richard Williams
- The Guardian - Film News
Serious and silly, subversive and mainstream, high and low: Danny Boyle's bonkers Olympics opening ceremony could only have been made by a British artist
The NHS, gay kisses; the Sex Pistols, Ken Loach; the Windrush, the Suffragette movement. As Danny Boyle's extraordinarily bonkers Olympic opening ceremony progressed, you could feel left-of-centre Britain gradually giving into its curious and often unintentionally hilarious charms, while Tory Britain little by little grew more enraged. It was bewildering enough, at times, to its domestic audience; abroad it must frequently have been plain incomprehensible. But we, in Britain, knew what it added up to, despite its baffling moments: it was Boyle's impassioned poem of praise to the country he would most like to believe in. One that is tolerant, multicultural, fair and gay friendly and holds the principles of the welfare state stoutly at its heart. One that is simultaneously silly and earnest,...
The NHS, gay kisses; the Sex Pistols, Ken Loach; the Windrush, the Suffragette movement. As Danny Boyle's extraordinarily bonkers Olympic opening ceremony progressed, you could feel left-of-centre Britain gradually giving into its curious and often unintentionally hilarious charms, while Tory Britain little by little grew more enraged. It was bewildering enough, at times, to its domestic audience; abroad it must frequently have been plain incomprehensible. But we, in Britain, knew what it added up to, despite its baffling moments: it was Boyle's impassioned poem of praise to the country he would most like to believe in. One that is tolerant, multicultural, fair and gay friendly and holds the principles of the welfare state stoutly at its heart. One that is simultaneously silly and earnest,...
- 7/28/2012
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
Technical triumph showed Danny Boyle's great capacity for spectacle but was marred by strange shifts in tone
Watching Danny Boyle's £27m spectacular, I was reminded of an old rhyme about a famous director of Hollywood epics. It ran "Cecil B DeMille rather against his will, Was persuaded to leave Moses out of the Wars of the Roses." In other words, in trying to give us a potted, panoramic vision of Britain past, present and future, Boyle seemed to throw in everything bar the kitchen sink. Logistically, the show was a triumph. Imaginatively, it left something to be desired.
Like Boyle's National Theatre production of Frankenstein, it began with the sounding of a giant bell. And I liked the opening image of a lost vision of pastoral England: a place of shire horses, sheep and cows, Maypole dancing, home-baking and cricket on the village green. The shattering of that...
Watching Danny Boyle's £27m spectacular, I was reminded of an old rhyme about a famous director of Hollywood epics. It ran "Cecil B DeMille rather against his will, Was persuaded to leave Moses out of the Wars of the Roses." In other words, in trying to give us a potted, panoramic vision of Britain past, present and future, Boyle seemed to throw in everything bar the kitchen sink. Logistically, the show was a triumph. Imaginatively, it left something to be desired.
Like Boyle's National Theatre production of Frankenstein, it began with the sounding of a giant bell. And I liked the opening image of a lost vision of pastoral England: a place of shire horses, sheep and cows, Maypole dancing, home-baking and cricket on the village green. The shattering of that...
- 7/27/2012
- by Michael Billington
- The Guardian - Film News
Director honours British film history in Olympics opening ceremony – with help from Simon Rattle and Mr Bean
British film took, if not centre stage, then certainly a meaty supporting role in Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony. Tribute was paid to the UK film industry when Simon Rattle took to the stage to conduct music from Chariots of Fire, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Mr Bean.
Or was it? Opinion was split over which of his comic creations Rowan Atkinson was portraying. Some said Bean, others claimed to have had their funny bones tickled by Johnny English, Atkinson's bumbling spy, who started life in Barclaycard adverts before graduating to two big-screen comedies that became box-office smashes. Things were further complicated by archive footage of Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder.
Either way, Atkinson's character guested on keyboards, at one point playing with a brolly, at another drifting into a reverie...
British film took, if not centre stage, then certainly a meaty supporting role in Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony. Tribute was paid to the UK film industry when Simon Rattle took to the stage to conduct music from Chariots of Fire, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Mr Bean.
Or was it? Opinion was split over which of his comic creations Rowan Atkinson was portraying. Some said Bean, others claimed to have had their funny bones tickled by Johnny English, Atkinson's bumbling spy, who started life in Barclaycard adverts before graduating to two big-screen comedies that became box-office smashes. Things were further complicated by archive footage of Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder.
Either way, Atkinson's character guested on keyboards, at one point playing with a brolly, at another drifting into a reverie...
- 7/27/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
When I was growing up, New York 's best (now long-defunct) classical radio station, Wncn, played only American composers' music each Fourth of July. With the classical world dominated by Europeans, this was a welcome and educational corrective. In the history of American music, independence wasn't achieved until the 20th century; 19th century composers such as John Knowles Paine and George Whitefield Chadwick studied in Europe and blatantly imitated European models. Listening to their music "blind," few would guess they were Americans. There was Revolutionary War-era vocal writer William Billings, but his originality was more a lack of proper technique. Continuing Wncn's tradition, here's a look at true American classical. music.
There is a bit of chauvinism in this article, as "American" here refers not to all the Americas (North, Central, and South) but rather the colloquial usage in the United States to mean that country's residents (hence, the Mexican Carlos Chavez,...
There is a bit of chauvinism in this article, as "American" here refers not to all the Americas (North, Central, and South) but rather the colloquial usage in the United States to mean that country's residents (hence, the Mexican Carlos Chavez,...
- 7/4/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 9 Vienna Philharmonic/Bruno Walter (Emi Classics)
Written after Gustav Mahler had been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart disease, his Ninth Symphony -- the last the composer completed-- has been widely interpreted as reflecting that knowledge, but of course there are many reactions produced by the prospect of death. The lengthy first movement is a meditation on the mysteries, terrors, and -- yes -- consolations of death. Leonard Bernstein, who never shied away from romanticizing biographical details, proclaimed the asymmetrical rhythms at the beginning to be a portrayal of the composer's irregular heartbeat.
The cries of the muted brass are poignant, a bit afraid, but somewhat assuaged by the occasional reappearance of a beautiful melody that seems to promise relief from earthly cares. But the nervous twitterings of the winds, and the lengthy sections of quiet foreboding, display an overriding unease. The dances of the second...
Written after Gustav Mahler had been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart disease, his Ninth Symphony -- the last the composer completed-- has been widely interpreted as reflecting that knowledge, but of course there are many reactions produced by the prospect of death. The lengthy first movement is a meditation on the mysteries, terrors, and -- yes -- consolations of death. Leonard Bernstein, who never shied away from romanticizing biographical details, proclaimed the asymmetrical rhythms at the beginning to be a portrayal of the composer's irregular heartbeat.
The cries of the muted brass are poignant, a bit afraid, but somewhat assuaged by the occasional reappearance of a beautiful melody that seems to promise relief from earthly cares. But the nervous twitterings of the winds, and the lengthy sections of quiet foreboding, display an overriding unease. The dances of the second...
- 6/26/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor is his longest, a six-movement ode to Nature and the World. It includes a children's choir and a contralto soloist but is largely instrumental, using a quite large orchestra complete with posthorn, harps, English horn, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, bass trombones, and a lot more brass than usual. Mahler's nature is not exclusively a calm pastoral scene -- it's stormy, uneasy, sometimes threatening, with mysterious rustling and twittering, yet with rays of sunlight cutting through the shadows at times.
This work had a long and confusing path from conception to completion. Mahler wrote movements II through VI in the summer of 1895. The following year, he worked on a first movement, weaving in elements of the movements he’d written in '95. That movement kept growing and growing -- at least a half an hour long, by itself it as long as all of Beethoven's First Symphony.
This work had a long and confusing path from conception to completion. Mahler wrote movements II through VI in the summer of 1895. The following year, he worked on a first movement, weaving in elements of the movements he’d written in '95. That movement kept growing and growing -- at least a half an hour long, by itself it as long as all of Beethoven's First Symphony.
- 6/10/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
London — Olympic organizers have announced the details of a nationwide arts extravaganza coinciding with the London Games.
Some 12,000 events will feature 25,000 artists – including representatives of every nation competing in the Summer Olympics that start July 27 and end Aug. 12.
Artists including Cate Blanchett, Damien Hirst, Wynton Marsalis, Yoko Ono, Simon Rattle, Ai Wei Wei and are set to take part in the festival encompassing art, music, comedy and dance.
Plans include a major concert featuring Jay-z, Rihanna and Florence + The Machine. Some 100,000 fans are expected for the event, which will take place at the Hackney Marshes in east London.
The festival runs from June 21-to Sept.9.
_________
Online:
. http://www.london2012.com/festival...
Some 12,000 events will feature 25,000 artists – including representatives of every nation competing in the Summer Olympics that start July 27 and end Aug. 12.
Artists including Cate Blanchett, Damien Hirst, Wynton Marsalis, Yoko Ono, Simon Rattle, Ai Wei Wei and are set to take part in the festival encompassing art, music, comedy and dance.
Plans include a major concert featuring Jay-z, Rihanna and Florence + The Machine. Some 100,000 fans are expected for the event, which will take place at the Hackney Marshes in east London.
The festival runs from June 21-to Sept.9.
_________
Online:
. http://www.london2012.com/festival...
- 4/26/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Andreas Knapp Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena kneels in concert.
The performance of sacred music in concert halls has become so common that we rarely pause to reflect on what is lost in translation. Outside its intended context, church music, like a Madonna displayed on a museum wall, loses its ritual power. What was conceived as an act of communal worship – a mass for the dead, a re-enactment of the Passion – becomes a professional spectacle offered up for the edification of a passive audience.
The performance of sacred music in concert halls has become so common that we rarely pause to reflect on what is lost in translation. Outside its intended context, church music, like a Madonna displayed on a museum wall, loses its ritual power. What was conceived as an act of communal worship – a mass for the dead, a re-enactment of the Passion – becomes a professional spectacle offered up for the edification of a passive audience.
- 4/19/2012
- by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Increasingly shown in 3D, classic stage works including Madam Butterfly are winning new audiences
If there is a queue around the block leading into the local cinema this month, it might not be for the next in a chain of blockbuster action sequels. Should the cinema be a smaller, independent venture, people may be lining up to watch an opera or a ballet.
The growth of live and recorded opera and ballet performance for cinema audiences is providing a bankable boost for many cinemas. This spring, there is an added attraction: more productions will be screened in 3D, bringing audiences even closer to the theatrical experiences at a fraction of the cost of tickets.
Tomorrow, the Royal Opera House will release its new feature film, Madam Butterfly 3D, and the team behind the production argue it is not just a cheaper option for opera fans, but also a good way...
If there is a queue around the block leading into the local cinema this month, it might not be for the next in a chain of blockbuster action sequels. Should the cinema be a smaller, independent venture, people may be lining up to watch an opera or a ballet.
The growth of live and recorded opera and ballet performance for cinema audiences is providing a bankable boost for many cinemas. This spring, there is an added attraction: more productions will be screened in 3D, bringing audiences even closer to the theatrical experiences at a fraction of the cost of tickets.
Tomorrow, the Royal Opera House will release its new feature film, Madam Butterfly 3D, and the team behind the production argue it is not just a cheaper option for opera fans, but also a good way...
- 3/4/2012
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
Programme includes theatre productions starring Juliette Binoche and Cate Blanchett, and major Bauhaus exhibition
The Barbican arts centre in London will celebrate next year's Olympics with an "unparalleled" lineup of international stars, including the actors Juliette Binoche and Cate Blanchett; stage directors Yukio Ninagawa and Peter Sellars; and the first UK performance of Einstein on the Beach, the opera that four decades ago made the reputations of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson.
The centre will host the biggest exhibition in the UK for 40 years on the Bauhaus design school, which flourished in the 1920s and early 30s.
"In 2012, London welcomes the world for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Barbican will be at the forefront of that international moment with an extraordinary range of cultural experiences for all," said Barbican director Sir Nicholas Kenyon.
He predicted that London will "punch above its weight" in the arts festival, and promised...
The Barbican arts centre in London will celebrate next year's Olympics with an "unparalleled" lineup of international stars, including the actors Juliette Binoche and Cate Blanchett; stage directors Yukio Ninagawa and Peter Sellars; and the first UK performance of Einstein on the Beach, the opera that four decades ago made the reputations of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson.
The centre will host the biggest exhibition in the UK for 40 years on the Bauhaus design school, which flourished in the 1920s and early 30s.
"In 2012, London welcomes the world for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Barbican will be at the forefront of that international moment with an extraordinary range of cultural experiences for all," said Barbican director Sir Nicholas Kenyon.
He predicted that London will "punch above its weight" in the arts festival, and promised...
- 5/24/2011
- by Maev Kennedy
- The Guardian - Film News
UK cinemas
Most of my musical journeys are in 3D, but then I'm lucky enough to hear most of my music live. I am probably therefore not the target audience of this cinema release by the Berlin Philharmonic, which aims to bring the experience of a live concert to those without the habit or possibility of attending one. Even so, this recording of Simon Rattle conducting Mahler's First Symphony and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, taken from a concert in Singapore's Esplanade last autumn, dazzled on numerous levels.
The last time I heard Mahler's First from these forces was in the Albert Hall, where only the occasional detail of Rattle's virtuosic interpretation reached me. In the cinema, everything is right there, the extraordinary presence and definition of the sound revealing not just the finesse of the playing but also the gutsy energy of performances that, elsewhere, have risked seeming somewhat mannered.
The...
Most of my musical journeys are in 3D, but then I'm lucky enough to hear most of my music live. I am probably therefore not the target audience of this cinema release by the Berlin Philharmonic, which aims to bring the experience of a live concert to those without the habit or possibility of attending one. Even so, this recording of Simon Rattle conducting Mahler's First Symphony and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, taken from a concert in Singapore's Esplanade last autumn, dazzled on numerous levels.
The last time I heard Mahler's First from these forces was in the Albert Hall, where only the occasional detail of Rattle's virtuosic interpretation reached me. In the cinema, everything is right there, the extraordinary presence and definition of the sound revealing not just the finesse of the playing but also the gutsy energy of performances that, elsewhere, have risked seeming somewhat mannered.
The...
- 5/9/2011
- by Guy Dammann
- The Guardian - Film News
Our critics pick the season's highlights: From Lady Gaga to Harry Potter, Coppélia to Tony Cragg, this summer has something for all
May
4 Film The Tree of Life
The much-delayed fifth feature from director Terrence Malick, snapped up by Icon for UK release ahead of its Cannes showing, is a multi-generational drama featuring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn – and, reportedly, dinosaurs.
5 Classical From the House of the Dead
Opera North's production of Janáek's final work, directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Richard Farnes. Stars Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Alan Oke and Roderick Williams. Leeds and touring
Dance By Singing Light/Romance Inverse
National Dance Company of Wales bring Stephen Petronio and Itzik Galili's arresting double bill to Dance City in Newcastle, with the former set to the poetry of Dylan Thomas.
6 Theatre Shrek
Nigel Lindsay plays the lime-coloured, lovelorn ogre, with Amanda Holden as Princess Fiona and Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad,...
May
4 Film The Tree of Life
The much-delayed fifth feature from director Terrence Malick, snapped up by Icon for UK release ahead of its Cannes showing, is a multi-generational drama featuring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn – and, reportedly, dinosaurs.
5 Classical From the House of the Dead
Opera North's production of Janáek's final work, directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Richard Farnes. Stars Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Alan Oke and Roderick Williams. Leeds and touring
Dance By Singing Light/Romance Inverse
National Dance Company of Wales bring Stephen Petronio and Itzik Galili's arresting double bill to Dance City in Newcastle, with the former set to the poetry of Dylan Thomas.
6 Theatre Shrek
Nigel Lindsay plays the lime-coloured, lovelorn ogre, with Amanda Holden as Princess Fiona and Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad,...
- 4/30/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Concert conducted by Sir Simon Rattle will be shown in 140 UK cinemas as orchestras hope the technology will raise funds
When Sir Simon Rattle brought the Berlin Philharmonic to London for a series of rapturously received concerts in February, tickets rapidly disappeared. But fans who missed out will get another chance to see the acclaimed orchestra in cinemas next month, and for the first time in 3D.
Britain's most celebrated conductor is aiming to reach new audiences by screening 3D concerts in hundreds of cinemas across the world, including 140 in Britain. The technology aims to give cinemagoers the sensation of not only sitting in the front rows but right among the orchestra, offering close-ups of the virtuoso players.
The first film features a performance of Mahler's First Symphony and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, recorded in Singapore.
Rattle, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002, is hoping to replicate the success of opera,...
When Sir Simon Rattle brought the Berlin Philharmonic to London for a series of rapturously received concerts in February, tickets rapidly disappeared. But fans who missed out will get another chance to see the acclaimed orchestra in cinemas next month, and for the first time in 3D.
Britain's most celebrated conductor is aiming to reach new audiences by screening 3D concerts in hundreds of cinemas across the world, including 140 in Britain. The technology aims to give cinemagoers the sensation of not only sitting in the front rows but right among the orchestra, offering close-ups of the virtuoso players.
The first film features a performance of Mahler's First Symphony and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, recorded in Singapore.
Rattle, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002, is hoping to replicate the success of opera,...
- 4/5/2011
- by Dalya Alberge
- The Guardian - Film News
Fifty years ago, a husband and wife founded the much loved Little Angel puppet theatre. But would their talented kids take over? By John-Paul Flintoff
A long time ago, in a land far away, there was a little girl who made puppets. "I made them myself," recalls Lyndie Wright. "I filled my mother's oven with papier-mache." One day, a touring puppet company came through Pretoria, in South Africa, where the little girl lived. She went to a show and was spellbound. "There is a picture in the archives somewhere, showing me in the audience," she says.
Years later, the puppet company came back. By now, Lyndie was a student at art school, but she joined up to be general dogsbody and went touring through South Africa and neighbouring countries. The man who ran the theatre, John Wright, was older than her, but they fell in love. When Lyndie moved to...
A long time ago, in a land far away, there was a little girl who made puppets. "I made them myself," recalls Lyndie Wright. "I filled my mother's oven with papier-mache." One day, a touring puppet company came through Pretoria, in South Africa, where the little girl lived. She went to a show and was spellbound. "There is a picture in the archives somewhere, showing me in the audience," she says.
Years later, the puppet company came back. By now, Lyndie was a student at art school, but she joined up to be general dogsbody and went touring through South Africa and neighbouring countries. The man who ran the theatre, John Wright, was older than her, but they fell in love. When Lyndie moved to...
- 3/12/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Plus a hoodie with a clarinet and Berlin's art oasis
Merkel dons 3D glasses for Wim Wenders's Pina
On Sunday night, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and president, Christian Wulff, turned up at the Berlin film festival to watch the premiere of Wim Wenders's Pina, a 3D documentary about the German choreographer, who died in 2009. Now, as a thought experiment, imagine a British equivalent to this film. It might be, say, a documentary about Complicite directed by Mike Leigh, or Ken Loach filming the life and work of Michael Clark. Neither of these movies will ever be made, but bear with me. Imagine the premiere of your imaginary film. Now imagine David Cameron and, say, George Osborne turning up. No? Me neither.
Classic Bausch dances to get a full release
Incidentally, there were those in the audience for the first screenings of Pina who expressed a desire to...
Merkel dons 3D glasses for Wim Wenders's Pina
On Sunday night, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and president, Christian Wulff, turned up at the Berlin film festival to watch the premiere of Wim Wenders's Pina, a 3D documentary about the German choreographer, who died in 2009. Now, as a thought experiment, imagine a British equivalent to this film. It might be, say, a documentary about Complicite directed by Mike Leigh, or Ken Loach filming the life and work of Michael Clark. Neither of these movies will ever be made, but bear with me. Imagine the premiere of your imaginary film. Now imagine David Cameron and, say, George Osborne turning up. No? Me neither.
Classic Bausch dances to get a full release
Incidentally, there were those in the audience for the first screenings of Pina who expressed a desire to...
- 2/16/2011
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
Velvet-voiced singer, actor and activist who broke new ground for black performers
A handful of decades ago the roles for black performers in Hollywood movies were deliberately kept peripheral to the plots, so that their appearances could easily be edited out for screenings in the American south. Black singers and musicians were barred from taking rooms in the same hotels in which they were performing. Partners in an interracial marriage might decide to leave the Us and move to more hospitable locations, such as Paris, to avoid hate mail and threats. All this and more happened to the singer and actor Lena Horne, who has died aged 92.
Horne not only rose above it all, but also significantly contributed to changing the situation. The velvet-voiced, multi-talented Horne first negotiated, and then resisted, the worst that a racist entertainment industry could throw at her. She rose to its summit as an original...
A handful of decades ago the roles for black performers in Hollywood movies were deliberately kept peripheral to the plots, so that their appearances could easily be edited out for screenings in the American south. Black singers and musicians were barred from taking rooms in the same hotels in which they were performing. Partners in an interracial marriage might decide to leave the Us and move to more hospitable locations, such as Paris, to avoid hate mail and threats. All this and more happened to the singer and actor Lena Horne, who has died aged 92.
Horne not only rose above it all, but also significantly contributed to changing the situation. The velvet-voiced, multi-talented Horne first negotiated, and then resisted, the worst that a racist entertainment industry could throw at her. She rose to its summit as an original...
- 5/10/2010
- by John Fordham
- The Guardian - Film News
The Infernal Comedy, based on true story of Austrian serial killer, among highlights of Barbican's plans for coming year
It might not be the cheeriest night out, watching John Malkovich as a resurrected Austrian serial killer on stage with a baroque orchestra and two sopranos singing arias about murder and abandonment, but it will, the Barbican's artistic director cheerfully suggests, be one of his personal highlights.
"It's a kind of 21st-century version of an 18th-century melodrama," said Graham Sheffield. "Absolutely brilliant and completely unique."
The Malkovich piece, The Infernal Comedy – part drama, part concert – is based on the true story of Jack Unterweger, who killed at least 11 prostitutes. "Probably not a thing to take a person on a first date," Sheffield conceded.
The show was announced today as part of the Barbican's plans for the coming year, along with the return of big-name regulars such as Peter Brook, with The Magic Flute; Michael Clark,...
It might not be the cheeriest night out, watching John Malkovich as a resurrected Austrian serial killer on stage with a baroque orchestra and two sopranos singing arias about murder and abandonment, but it will, the Barbican's artistic director cheerfully suggests, be one of his personal highlights.
"It's a kind of 21st-century version of an 18th-century melodrama," said Graham Sheffield. "Absolutely brilliant and completely unique."
The Malkovich piece, The Infernal Comedy – part drama, part concert – is based on the true story of Jack Unterweger, who killed at least 11 prostitutes. "Probably not a thing to take a person on a first date," Sheffield conceded.
The show was announced today as part of the Barbican's plans for the coming year, along with the return of big-name regulars such as Peter Brook, with The Magic Flute; Michael Clark,...
- 3/12/2010
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
Opera Boston announces the company's first commissioned work- the world premiere of Madame White Snake, a new opera based on a beloved ancient Chinese legend, by composer Zhou Long and librettist Cerise Lim Jacobs. Co-commissioned with the Beijing Music Festival (Bmf), it is the first world premiere by the Bmf and an American company. Madame White Snake will have three performances (Feb. 26, 28, and March 2, 2010) at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston and two performances in Beijing in October 2010. Planning has begun to bring Madame White Snake to several Chinese cities following the Chinese premiere in Beijing; the proposed tour is the first by an American Opera Company in China since San Francisco's Western Opera Company in 1987. The education and outreach program of Madame White Snake is presented by State Street Corporation.
Madame White Snake is one of just four world premieres by U.S. opera companies in the 2009-10 season.
Madame White Snake is one of just four world premieres by U.S. opera companies in the 2009-10 season.
- 11/12/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Gramophone Listening Room is officially launching with some of the greatest names in the world of classical music: Sir Simon Rattle, the great Berliner Philharmoniker and Emi, a company that has a long and distinguished tradition of recording the orchestra. To mark the release on 7 September on a new Brahms symphony cycle from Rattle and his Berlin orchestra on Emi, The Gramophone Listening Room will be offering its subscribers the opportunity to listen - ahead of release, and exclusively - to Rattle's performance of Brahms's Fourth Symphony. It is available to stream ahead of its ...
- 8/23/2009
- BusinessofCinema
Former Led Zeppelin star Robert Plant and his new performance partner Alison Krauss were the toast of the 51st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night after claiming a fistful of honours.The duo picked up awards for Album of The Year, Record of The Year, Best Pop Collaboration, Best Country Collaboration and Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.
Lil Wayne, who was the most nominated artist at this year's Grammys, took home three prizes and a share of the Best Rap Performance for a Duo or Group for Swagga Like Us with Jay-z, T.I. and Kanye West.
Coldplay were also triple winners, claiming Song of The Year, Best Rock Album and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.
Double winners included Metallica, Al Green, Daft Punk, gospel star Kirk Franklin, Brad Paisley and Peter Gabriel and composer Thomas Newman, who won honours for their work on the Wall-e soundtrack.
Neil Diamond, the Four Tops, Dean Martin and music mogul Clive Davis were among those honoured with special awards during the ceremony.
The night was a star-studded affair - with more performers than ever before hitting the stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the event.
Highlights included Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift's duet on the country star's 15, Jennifer Hudson's stirring rendition of Diane Warren's You Pulled Me Through - backed by a gospel choir, the Jonas Brothers' collaboration with Stevie Wonder, Coldplay's performance with rapper Jay-z and Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke's rousing tribute to New Orleans with Terence Blanchard and Allen Toussaint.
Rockers U2 kicked off the 51st Grammys with new song Get on Your Boots and heavily-pregnant M.I.A., who was due to give birth on Sunday, performed Paper Planes/Swagga Like Us with rappers Lil Wayne, Jay-z, T.I. and Kanye West.
Lil Wayne, who was the most nominated artist at this year's Grammys, took home three prizes and a share of the Best Rap Performance for a Duo or Group for Swagga Like Us with Jay-z, T.I. and Kanye West.
Coldplay were also triple winners, claiming Song of The Year, Best Rock Album and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.
Double winners included Metallica, Al Green, Daft Punk, gospel star Kirk Franklin, Brad Paisley and Peter Gabriel and composer Thomas Newman, who won honours for their work on the Wall-e soundtrack.
Neil Diamond, the Four Tops, Dean Martin and music mogul Clive Davis were among those honoured with special awards during the ceremony.
The night was a star-studded affair - with more performers than ever before hitting the stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the event.
Highlights included Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift's duet on the country star's 15, Jennifer Hudson's stirring rendition of Diane Warren's You Pulled Me Through - backed by a gospel choir, the Jonas Brothers' collaboration with Stevie Wonder, Coldplay's performance with rapper Jay-z and Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke's rousing tribute to New Orleans with Terence Blanchard and Allen Toussaint.
Rockers U2 kicked off the 51st Grammys with new song Get on Your Boots and heavily-pregnant M.I.A., who was due to give birth on Sunday, performed Paper Planes/Swagga Like Us with rappers Lil Wayne, Jay-z, T.I. and Kanye West.
- 2/9/2009
- WENN
CANNES -- Dutch investment group MediciArts has acquired German music production and sales company EuroArts Medien for an undisclosed sum, the companies said Monday. The deal gives MediciArts full control of the Berlin-based company, a leading producer and licenser of classical music programming. EuroArts has a massive library of music performances from such conductors as Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim and Claudio Abbado. In addition to classical music productions, EuroArts has produced a number of documentaries and feature films, including Julian Benedikt's Jazz Seen and Blue Note and Tomasz Wiszniewski's Where Eskimos Live.
- 10/5/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.