feb 4, 2011 @ 6:00:00 pm - bookforum.com / paper trail

"Editor Hugo Lindgren continues to remake the Sunday Times Magazine, with Q and A maestro Deborah Solomon out (she’s planning to devote her time to writing a Norman Rockwell biography), and columnist Ariel Kaminer reportedly replacing Randy Cohen as the house Ethicist."

[From Bookforum]

Ah, I saved this for the announcement of Deborah Solomon's departure. I had a complicated relationship with her snarky charm--at once irritating and delightful--but I was sorry to see her go, and really, the 8 questions format. Her replacement I find to be super boring. I'm sure her Norman Rockwell biography will infuriate more than charm, but I'll have to check it out.

Remembering Joan Sutherland

'The greatest soprano of her time, Joan Sutherland was blessed with formidable technique, a voice that brought her the title La Stupenda, and an unspoiled Australian nature that kept vanity and pretension at bay.' 

In Italy to sing Alcina, Venetians went mad with delight, tore down La Fenice's flower decorations, threw them on to the stage and shouted "La Stupenda". In her autobiography A Prima Donna's Progress, Sutherland acknowledged with typical understatement the name that would accompany her for the rest of her life: "I was quite thrilled with my new title". 

In 1961, Sutherland and Bonynge leased a villa in Switzerland, a place by Lake Maggiore that allowed quick access to Milan and other European opera houses. And as a regular sufferer of sinusitis and throat ailments, the climate was far better than the damp airs of London. Switzerland was eventually to become their home. 

Also in 1961, she made her debut at the Metropolitan in New York where she sang Lucia and was mobbed afterwards on the street. In the opera house, the audience refused to cease their ovations. At the party in a hotel, an extra room had to be hired for the flowers.

[From the Australian]

This is old news, but La Stupenda was the best and this was the best obituary that came out at the time. The audio remembrance is worth listening to, too.

Pregnant women and families are sharing photos and more on Facebook, Web sites

Like many expectant mothers these days, Autumn Yates posted updates about her pregnancy on Facebook. 

“It’s nice for my extended family to see pictures from time to time of me getting bigger and little comments like, ‘34-week check-up went well!’ ” said Yates, 29, a Spanish teacher from Oakton. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. I think there is kind of a line sometimes, though.” 

For Yates, that line is somewhere around “creepy” 4-D ultrasound photos and cringe-inducing comments such as, “My cervix is now dilated [fill in the blank] inches! 

Read full article

[From Washington Post]

The culture of oversharing continues. Thanks, Facebook!

Violist Heckled Onstage - By Violist (There's A Joke in Here Somewhere)

"'About midway through a night of contemporary works, John Eichenseer, who goes by the name JHNO, was performing his Untitled, a new piece for viola and electronics, when he heard hissing, then an outburst of clapping intended to disrupt his playing, then another.' The heckler turned out to be 'Bernard M. Zaslav, a viola player with a pedigree as a champion of contemporary music.'

(Via ArtsJournal)