thu 26/12/2024

Switzerland

Guillaume Tell, Chelsea Opera Group, QEH

Swiss artist Fuseli's depiction of the oath on the Rütli, grand finale to Rossini's Act Two

Was Rossini, credited with the unsinkable comment that Wagner had "beautiful moments but bad quarters of an hour", hoist by his own petard in his last and grandest opera? For while Wagner, at least in performances as well-paced as the one I heard of...

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theartsdesk in Lucerne: Simón Bolívar Meets William Tell

Glaciers melted early this year when a Venezuelan army of well over 100 generals arrived in central Switzerland. The Swiss spring coincided with their visit, a gentle thaw with bees buzzing confusedly around the primroses, snowdrops and winter...

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Mama Rosin, St Moritz Club

What do you imagine a Swiss Cajun/Zydeco trio would sound like? It’s not a question that’s easy to navigate without slipping into the politically incorrect quicksand of racial or cultural stereotyping. So it gives me great pleasure to report that...

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Interview: Opera and Theatre Director Luc Bondy

Last September Luc Bondy watched his name speed around the world, if not for the most desirable reasons. His Tosca opened the season at the Met, a more grounded, less opulent replacement for one of the opera house’s many much loved productions by...

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The Virtual Revolution, BBC Two

The Virtual Revolution: Dr Aleks Krotoski provides a lucid and thought-provoking overview of the internet

If I wanted to be solipsistic about this, I could say that the opening episode of The Virtual Revolution, the new BBC Two series about the changes wrought by the internet, is also the story of theartsdesk.com. It certainly felt personal at times....

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