To the Mortlock Chamber in the State Library of SA, to hear L’Arianna abbandonata e gloriosa and Lamento d’Arianna (1608), works reconstructed from Monteverdi’s fragmented scores, with solo voice and harpsichord, accompanied by the odd stage effect to evoke waves crashing on lonely Naxos, where (failed Argonaut) Theseus has parked Ariadne to show his gratitude for her help surviving the labyrinth on Minos. This paring away eschews the go-for-baroque approach that could overwhelm the purity of the harmonics, which are quite reminiscent of Purcell’s Dido pieces…
Continue Reading →Walk into any Chinatown in the world and you will struggle to find these. You can buy them online but they are not cheap. Yet they seem to show up, unbilled, in every other film and television show. Our list is below, suggested additions are welcome: Affliction AGL gas advertisement Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy The Bank Bewitched Big Bang Theory Bobby Borgen (Danish TV) Bugsy The Caretaker Catch Me if you Can Columbo Curb Your Enthusiasm Decoding Annie Parker Deconstructing Harry Dexter Election End of Days Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Family Guy A Few Good Men…
Continue Reading →NOVEMBER 19, 2014 VALE Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky (Mike Nichols) November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014 Nicholls was multifaceted, building a career in live comedy, theatre, films and television. Though he had a reputation as a golden boy (making his film debut Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? directing Burton and Taylor, cleverly innovating techniques to enhance the claustrophobic intimacy of that night from hell, and winning a best director gong the next year by casting against stereotype in The Graduate) he had as many flops as hits but they remained interesting. His routines with Elaine May in the 1950s and…
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