The "da Vinci" Stradivarius violin, made in 1714, is also called the "ex-Seidel" after former owner Toscha Seidel, who gave Albert Einstein lessons and played (in addition to concerts and recordings) on many film soundtracks, possibly including The Wizard of Oz. - Smithsonian Magazine
Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, Carousel, The Sound of Music — they can seem corny today. Yet they deal with loaded issues — persecution of outsiders, racism, exploitation and oppression of women, and escape from fascism — and a new generation of directors is bringing those themes out. - BBC
While authors can be colorful, book dealers are often notably cranky and eccentric. One conducting business in fashionable Cecil Court put up a sign that read, “Do not mistake courtesy on my part as an invitation to stay all day.” - Washington Post
Indeed, the work — full title Shot Sage Blue Marilyn and dating from 1964 — is also the highest-priced 20th-century artwork and the second-most expensive artwork of any kind ever sold, trailing only Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi ($450 million). - ARTnews
Fat Ham, which transmutes Hamlet from a tragedy in Denmark into a comedy at a Southern Black family's cookout, was produced for streaming last year by Philadelphia's Wilma Theater, where playwright James Ijames is one of several artistic co-directors. (Live performances start this week in New York.) - The New York Times
"Chacon, 44, a member of the Navajo Nation who lives in Albuquerque, set out to use the sounds of the organ, accompanied by winds, strings and percussion, to explore themes of power and oppression." - The New York Times
Fiction: The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen. History: Covered With Night by Nicole Eustace and Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer. Biography: Chasing Me to My Grave by Winfred Rembert. Poetry: frank: sonnets by Diane Seuss. General nonfiction: Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott. - The New York Times
Dozens of websites, with names like Poetry Ninja or Bored Human, can now generate poems with a click of a key. One tool is able to free-associate images and ideas from any word “donated” to it. - The Walrus
All told, an online auction of 150 of items owned by the late justice raised $803,650 for Washington National Opera, one of the late justice’s passions. - Toronto Star
The aim is for the orchestra to tour not only across Canada, but internationally, to show the world what Canadian jazz musicians, composers and arrangers have to offer. - CBC
Truss’s central idea is that the West has grown complacent since the end of the Cold War, because of a spiritual crisis in which it has forgotten what it stands for and how to defend its ideals, allowing its opponents to take advantage of its institutions and openness. - The Atlantic
The nominators spread out their admiration quite widely: Of the 34 shows eligible for nominations, 29 got at least one nod, including the critically scorned “Diana.” But five new plays were completely overlooked. - The New York Times
She spent 22 years dancing with ABT (1980-2002), 19 of them as principal, and became one of ballet's top stars. She went on to serve as dean of dance at the UNC School of the Arts and, through the pandemic, artistic director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. - The New York Times
The song is stealthily subversive: a traditional raga—the classical Indian framework for musical improvisation—has been laid over an infectious beat that sounds South Asian, Middle Eastern, and, improbably, reggaetón, all at once. - The New Yorker
The conspiracy theorist’s dogmatism often distracts from the objects of his skepticism, and it is the latter that I believe are more revealing. The ideas or events that provoke his strongest doubts show us what he flees, what he trades away so many mental comforts to avoid. - Guernica
