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| Kathleen Winsor, author of the novel Forever Amber, died in New York last Monday, reports a Washington Post article in the Boston Globe of May 30, 2003. Forever Amber, an historical novel about a woman who becomes mistress of King Charles II, was one of my favorite novels when I was a teenager. When it was first published in 1946, sale of the book was forbidden in Massachusetts. According to the newspaper article, "the [Massachusetts] attorney general said he counted 70 references to sexual intercourse, 39 illegitimate pregnancies, seven abortions, and 10 descriptions of women undressing in front of men." |
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| Maggie Needs an Alibi by Kasey Michaels is a novel about a novelist, a single woman living in New York, who discovers that two of her fictional characters have come to life. They are a handsome and dashing viscount, who solves mysteries in her novels set in Regency England, and his portly sidekick. Like Leopold in Kate and Leopold, the viscount demonstrates his skill with horses by heroic behavior with a horse who draws a carriage around Central Park. The plot is a mystery, not a romance. Maggie’s publisher and ex-boyfriend dies in her apartment after eating a dinner that she had prepared. There are several suspects, most of whom are associated in some way with the publishing house. The viscount set outs to find the killer. A police lieutenant, who takes an interest in Maggie, is also involved in the investigation. Strangely enough, the question of Maggie’s need for an alibi never arises in the book. Was the title made up by somebody who had not read the book? The book is pleasant and humorous, but not especially strong as a mystery story. I had trouble finding something new to read at a bookstore recently, and this book was the only thing that I was able to find that looked interesting. I enjoyed it very much, and have no regrets about reading it. |
| "The New York Philharmonic, the nation's oldest symphony orchestra, will leave Lincoln Center for Carnegie Hall in a merger of renowned U.S. cultural institutions, the New York Times reported on Monday."--from a Reuters article at forbes.com. The move could come as soon as 2006. |
| "Essentially a dramatic tenor, [Ben] Heppner seemed uncomfortable, however, in the lyric role. In a program of Schumann, Henri Duparc and Paolo Tosti, his singing was intelligent and genial but marred by patches of forced or uneven tone, wide vibrato and occasional breaks in the voice."--from a review by Andrew L. Pincus for the Berkshire Eagle of a recital May 31 at New Lebanon, New York. |
| "[V]eteran tenor Neil Shicoff took . . . hammy liberties with the role of Mario Cavaradossi. Mr. Shicoff's voice still has burnished colorings and ringing presence, but at 54 he seems to be struggling to sing subtly and softly. On Saturday he often substituted raw power for supple lyricism. It was almost amusing to hear Cavaradossi bellowing at Tosca in Act III about her sweet hands . . .."--from a review by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times of June 4, 2003, of a recent Vienna Tosca performance. Burnished colorings and ringing presence may be effective when Shicoff sings in La Juive at the Met next season. |
| Katia Ricciarelli has undergone neurosurgery because of a facial spasm, reports Yahoo! Italia Notizie. |
| Aled Jones has been recording a new compact disc, to be released in September 2003. "There will be 14 tracks on the new album but it doesn't have a title yet. The last one was called Aled so maybe the next one should be Jones," said the singer, as quoted in an article at Tees Pride. |
| Charlotte Church "said Britney Spears wore too much makeup[,] and labeled Christina Aguilera a 'slag,'" reports the Denver Post. |
| A "new 183,000-square-foot building [to be built at the University of Connecticut, Storrs] will . . . include an opera hall, a new recital hall, a concert hall, photo and video production labs, galleries, studios, and even an animatronics lab and a foam rubber oven room for the puppetry program. "The building will cost $60 million to $70 million, most of which will come from private donations."--from an article at ctnow.com. |
| Ian Bostridge and Bo Skovhus are among the singers scheduled to appear at the Aldeburgh Festival this month. "The world-famous cultural feast, the 56th of its kind, kicks off on June 6 and runs through to June 22," reports the East Anglian Daily Times. |
| June 6, 2003 Around 1:15 this afternoon I noticed a small crowd gathering outside One Boston Place in Boston, an office building at the corner of Washington and Court Streets. Somebody said that Bill Clinton had gone into the building and that people were waiting to see him come back out. |
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| "[I]t is remarkable to discover obscure music that can measure up to the greatest," writes Ian Bostridge in an article about French baroque music at guardian.co.uk. |