The debate over Netrebko has been part of a broader discussion in arts, culture and sport over how much individual Russians should bear responsibility for the actions of their government. - The Guardian
"His use of long takes, jump-cuts and actors’ asides to the camera all changed the filmmaking vocabulary. He once famously stated that every film needs a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order." - MSN (The Washington Post)
When she took the position in 1989, she was only the second woman ever appointed concertmaster at a major US orchestra, and she served for 20 years. "She was, by a long shot," said former orchestra general manager Bob Neu, "the finest concertmaster I have ever known." - The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
The actress spent the seven decades after her Hollywood career ended as a result of the 1950s-era hysterical anti-Communism as an impassioned activist for human rights. - Washington Post
The dancer and choreographer, who built the ballet from that tiny beginning to "the country’s leading Hispanic dance performance and education troupe," has died at 92. - The New York Times
Polshek was the opposite of a starchitect. He "went the other way, embracing a modest approach to architecture that prioritized a design’s social value over its aesthetic worth." He designed buildings like the Santa Fe Opera, the Bill Clinton library and museum, and more. - The New York Times
Vogt brought people together in many places and on many levels: at his Spannungen festival in Heimbach, Germany, which became a musical home for a generation of musicians and listeners; for children with his Rhapsody in School project; with his two orchestras; and with audiences from the stage. - Van
She snuck into war-torn Chechnya, witnessed the Tienanmen Square protests, covered the Taliban's retreat from Kabul in 2001, and did extraordinary reporting from the Iraq War. Yet, she once told Susan Stamberg, "I didn't set out to be a war correspondent. The wars kept happening." - MSN (The Washington Post)
At 85, he retains, as Daphne Merkin once wrote in The New York Times, a louche glamour, “like a lounge lizard who reads Flaubert.” The house Stoppard shares with his third wife, the charming Sabrina Guinness, is exactly what you would expect: elegant, erudite, fey and library-quiet. - The New York Times
"One of the most celebrated writers of tales of horror, psychological thrillers and stories, ... he was the winner of numerous prizes, including the Bram Stoker Award for lifetime achievement in 2006, and was named an International Horror Guild 'living legend' in 2008." - MSN (The Washington Post)
"(He) was the cable news channel's lead anchor for two decades until his retirement in 2001. During his tenure, Shaw anchored major breaking news events, like the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981, the Tiananmen Square student revolt in 1989 and every presidential election." - The Hollywood Reporter
He wrote on whether Black art had grown “kitschy” and whether Cy Twombly was a “fraud.” He defended Jeff Koons, whom he once called a “prophet,” and he labeled the New Museum “the Mr. Potato Head of contemporary art museums.” When the critic Hilton Kramer died, he ran a column called “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead.” - ARTnews
Plácido Domingo has issued a statement apologizing to the Arena di Verona for his recent performances, which resulted in an onstage protest from the orchestra and a subsequent letter from the local union lambasting the showcases as “humiliating.” - OperaWire
After taking second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition, he performed concertos, recitals, and chamber music at leading venues for years. In the 2010s he took up conducting and became music director of England's Royal Northern Sinfonia and, subsequently, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris. - BBC Music Magazine
"In more than 20 books, (she) explored a sweep of topics that echoed her varied background as a feminist political activist and scientist with a doctorate in cellular immunology. She returned over and over, though, to cast a critical eye on chronic inequities in U.S. society." - The Washington Post
