News, comment, links and observations
The accepted wisdom that Americans screw up every British comedy they buy the rights to is to be given a post-modern twist. Shooting was announced this week for a new sitcom called Episodes. It features a pair of British comedy writers – they also happen to be a married couple - whose idea for a new sitcom is purchased by a US broadcaster. The twist? That they must replace their lead actor, a distinguished RSC veteran played by Richard Griffiths, with the notably one-dimensional Matt LeBlanc.
Having trailblazed in the Choral category at the 2010 BBC Music Magazine Awards, Antonio Pappano's EMI recording of the Verdi's Requiem with stylish Italian forces and a top-notch quartet of soloists has just been awarded the Critics' Prize at the tawdry but compelling mix of the sublime and the ridiculous that is the Classical Brits.
And well deserved it is, too. When did you last hear a Verdi Requiem with a truly operatic, 80-strong Italian chorus? That makes all the difference. And the fact that the finest Verdian soprano of our day, Anja Harteros, crowns it all with a "'Libera me" of blistering intensity sets the seal. Pappano's comment was telling: "Recording the Verdi Requiem was a labour of love, and fear!... This is a great honour for both the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. It comes at a very critical moment when Santa Cecilia is faced with proposed drastic cuts to its funding from the government in Italy."
The tireless and endlessly curious Pappano has been doing well all round with his Rome team. Their delicately-coloured recording of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, another top recommendation in a crowded field, claims another Classical Brit award: "Best Female Artist of the Year" goes to Angela Gheorghiu for her luminous Cio-Cio San. How well I remember Gheorghiu at a previous Classical Brits evening following Russell Watson on to the platform and talking, with a no doubt purposeful slip of her English, about "performers who try hardly to sing this music". Well, she may be a bit of a diva, but she deserves to be.
Who cares about the Classical Brits? Should we be carrying you the news? Should the seriously serious conductor Antonio Pappano and his Accademia di Santa Cecilia be trumpeting their double win yesterday for his Verdi Requiem (Critics' Choice - the top "serious" award) and his Madama Butterfly, for which the soprano Angela Gheorghiu won Female Artist of the Year?
Brian Eno’s on the phone. He’s been up all night.
It's an axiom trotted out in the acting profession that a young male actor measures himself against the role of Hamlet, much as an older one does with Lear. It's been announced this week that a couple more are having a stab at the Prince of Denmark. Michael Sheen will be the Young Vic's Dane in winter 2011, while Sheffield will see John Simm's this autumn. And we already know that the next tranche of Hamlets will also include Rory Kinnear at the National later this year