Vissi d’arte
Few are the art forms as linked to tradition as opera. Embedded within a rich history of conventions and techniques, opera’s life spans over five centuries and spreads across Europe.
An Ode to MGM
‘Frothy confections’ is a term that’s often heard to describe early movie musicals of the 1930s. True, if one considers them from such a perspective, that’s all they’re bound to see.
So beautiful and so lost: “Va Pensiero”
As Verdi lay down the quill with which he had just penned the famous notes to “Va Pensiero,” he could hardly imagine the song would still resonate with his nation over a hundred years later.
Food, Glorious Food
Food, Glorious Food:Denis Villeneuve's Next Floor by: Matteo Carazza The maître d' (Jean Marchand) peers at the audience as the devil himself. A hard cut…
Nightmare Alley turns at a predictable corner
Littered with weak character construction, plot holes and a predictable story arch, the only ominous alley that Nightmare Alley encounters is that of its directorial origins.
A Bird of Beauty
At first glance, it appears true beauty always eluded Edith Piaf. At just one and a half metres in height, with the slight figure of a waif, the French chanteuse was never acclaimed for her looks, and her 28 year career never rested on visual glamour.
Deensel (https://www.flickr.com/photos/deensel/24566825018/)
Reminiscences of artisanal Christmases in Italy
At the foot of the Alps, in the region that is called Piedmont, lived a little old lady… No, she was not the befana. The befana is the lady who, on Epiphany Eve, on January 5, delivers little presents to the children of Italy.
Koos Raucamp (ANEFO); GaHetNa (Natiionaal Archief NL)
One Touch of Genius: The masterpiece, or forgery, behind the frame
The art world: where paintings are sold and bought for fortunes. The cynical eye and mind of a purist art lover may see in this statement the sad state art is reduced to – serving as a form of currency – despite this having been the inescapable case since time immemorial.