Free Republic

It started with soprano Anna Netrebko. In March, the superstar failed to condemn the war in Ukraine in terms explicit enough to satisfy Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb. It did not matter that reciting the Met’s required denunciation in coercive conditions would likely be false and worthless. It did not matter that critics within Russia, where Ms. Netrebko remains a citizen, can now be punished with up to 15 years imprisonment for criticizing the government. It did not matter that her family members in Russia could be made to suffer if she complied with the Met’s diktat. It did...

A musical giant, a most controversial major figure, a leading musical theater composer in modern American music, and the man who is said to have reinvented the American musical died on November 26, 2021, aged 91. With his fifteen musicals for the stage, Stephen Sondheim was a sophisticated figure and product of Broadway, though not the most commercially successful one. On his death, lights on Broadway were dimmed for one minute in his honor. Sondheim, born of Jewish parents, who manufactured dresses, in New York City, was an aficionado of puzzles. His original ambition was to become a mathematician. He...

In Northampton, artists’ feud over Mayflower print leads to fallout after biennial is canceled When members of the arts council logged into a meeting in late September, few could have imagined a retired librarian’s artwork was about to torpedo their upcoming biennial, a popular juried show at the local library. Continue reading →

This work is a collaboration between the University of Huddersfield, Delphian Records and EMAP (European Music Archaeologic Project). The information contained in the booklet is extremely detailed: from the musical history of Scandinavia through the centuries to the explanation of the musical instruments used for this recording, all reconstructed on the basis of archaeological sources. For space problems I limit myself to reporting only the first part of the booklet, the link to purchase the disc is at the bottom of the information.

Perhaps worse than trite politicization of classic tunes is failing to pass on the wealth of a child's musical heritage. Here are some ways to start offering that audible feast to your child.Just as what you feed your baby (and eat while pregnant) trains her palate toward good food or junk food for life, what your baby sees and hears does the same for her artistic tastes. Kids raised on mental junk food have a harder time developing an understanding of and affinity for more complex, subtle, and nourishing brain foods later in life.Many parents nowadays pay immense attention to...

Tamara Wilhite: What led you to create Stage Right? Robert Cooperman: I became a little tired of seeing characters with conservative points of view depicted as bumpkins and ignorant slobs (you know, the “clingers” that our former president referred to). What’s more, I saw a very obvious worldview in the arts that was leftist in nature and omnipresent in many plays. ... I’ve read play after play where the characters are miserable, crazy, or both, and we the audience are supposed to find something appealing about them and sympathize. I’m looking for a theatre universe where we have real heroes...

Robert Cooperman is the founder and president of Stage Right Theatrics. Stage Right Theatrics is a non-profit theater dedicated to promoting conservative-themed plays and artists. They present the annual Conservative Theatre Festival®, as well as produce original plays with conservative/traditional points of view.

Because he was deaf when he wrote them, Beethoven never heard his “late quartets”. This is a remarkable anecdote; an inhuman feat of human creativity. I was reminded of a resonant anecdote while reading in the Spectator US of a meeting between British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his wife and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—bear with me. The article described that the Laborite couple later sent the laborious couple a book of poems by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a 17th century Mexican nun and poet. The Spectator describes her as “a poet known for her proto-feminism and...

In the wake of the coronavirus, the performing arts have the chance to come back stronger than ever. Here's how. Amid the furor over the $25 million bailout of the Kennedy Center and their subsequent mass firings, one thing has become abundantly clear. The Wuhan virus is going to devastate performing arts organizations all over the country. Between the lack of ticket sales during the shut down, and lower sales and donations in the woeful economic aftermath, it is likely that many wonÂ’t survive.Non-profit performing arts organizations, which is pretty much all of them, operate on razor-thin budgets as it...

Eight out of 10 employees working in the arts or culture fields said that sharing controversial opinions could mean 'being professionally ostracized' or bullied. The survey conducted by ArtsProfessionals, a UK arts publication, received responses from more than 500 individuals in the field. 'Our arts, culture, and indeed education sectors are supposed to be fearlessly free-thinking and open to a wide range of challenging views. 'However, they are now dominated by a monolithic politically correct class (mostly of privileged white middle class people, by the way), who impose their intolerant views across those sectors.' Showing sympathy for movement likes Brexit...

Luca Bracali, a wildlife photographer captured a hilarious moment in Madagascar Andasibe National Park when a black-and-white ruffed lemur tried to drop down from a tree to grab the photographer's camera. The funny photo shows the animal staring directly down the lens while hanging upside down from a tree. "I used a super wide-angle and I remained pretty close to the ground with the lens all the way up waiting for the lemur to come down," Bracali said.

A huge Humpback whale was captured on camera jumping out of the sea and narrowly missing a fishing boat. From time to time, nature shows itself in full splendor to remind us how small we really are. Recently, a picture was captured in the Californian waters, Monterey Bay, which left viewers with goosebumps. The footage shows a giant humpback whale shooting out of the water to the sky, and the scene is incredibly amazing. Luckily, someone was close enough to capture the video of this breath-taking moment, which seemed like a planned action scene in a movie.

‘Devil’s horns’ sunrise photos went viral and it’s 100% real!!! Photography enthusiast Elias Chasiotis had spent the last days of 2019 in Qatar and they were definitely worth the trip. You see, during one of these days, a solar eclipse was underway as the Sun began rising above the horizon, making it look like a devil rising from the waters. And Chasiotis captured it all.

Watching the majestic osprey soar through the sky is a sight to behold. It takes a skilled photographer to shoot pictures of them when they’re flying. And an even better artist to get photos of them when they’re in the middle of hunting

Most people prefer their art on their walls not as a permanent fixture of their bodies. But Eli Ink, a 27-year-old tattoo artist from Brighton, England, sees his body as a walking exhibition of his finest work. He has spent the last ten years transforming himself. Tattooing most of his skin black with several coats of ink, dying his eyes and implanting stretchers in his nose and under his bottom lip. The process is far from finished, but the result is striking

This year marks the first time that President Trump will honor members of the creative community with the National Medal of Arts recognition. Trump declined to do so in 2017 and 2018. Legendary movie star, Jon Voight, is slated to be honored this year. Cue The Resistance. There are two pieces online about this – one written by Sonny Bunch in the Washington Post presents a logical reaction to this story. Bunch says that it doesn’t matter if Voight is a MAGA fan and a huge Trump supporter. He certainly deserves the award after a lifetime career in the...

https://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-discovery/ TV show-

A painting depicting Donald Trump sitting with former presidents – including Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt – while drinking a Diet Coke is hanging in the White House. The painting was spotted during Trump’s long-ranging interview with “60 Minutes," which aired Sunday night. Called “The Republican Club,” the painting was done by Andy Thomas from southwestern Missouri.

Someone recently posted a link to a YouTube video of film from 1940s Los Angeles - it was a night time drive through the city, in color, featuring music from the composers who did the soundtrack to LA Noire. I've tried my best to find this again - even bookmarked what I thought was the video, but it's not. Does anyone recall this and have a link?

Mel’s Diner may be reopening its doors: An Alice reboot is in-the-works at Fox, TVLine has learned. The network has placed a script order for a modern-day version of the classic CBS workplace sitcom starring Linda Lavin. Diablo Cody (United States of Tara) and Liz Astrof (2 Broke Girls) are penning the script for the multi-cam pilot and will serve as EPs. The Fox revolves around Long Island housewife Alice Hyatt, who has finally worked up the courage to leave her cheating husband. She drives cross-country to Arizona with her teenage son Tommy, and gets a job as a waitress...