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The Netrebko Problem

With a larger-than-life personality and a taste for extravagance, she built a loyal fan base and was sometimes called classical music’s answer to Beyoncé. Now she hopes to persuade the cultural world to look beyond her ties to Putin. - The New York Times

So Alexa Can Now Read In The Voice Of Your Loved One. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

So your Alexa may soon be able to mimic your departed nan, long-lost friend or, presumably, someone off the TV. The goal is to "make the memories last" after "so many of us have lost someone we love" during the pandemic, said Rohit Prasad, an Amazon senior vice president. - Sky News

James Rado, Co-Creator Of The Musical “Hair”, Dead At 90

Contrary to popular lore, Rado and collaborator (and then-lover) Gerome Ragni weren't out-of-work actors writing themselves roles (they played Claude and Berger), they were actors with a growing career. And they had no idea of what Hair would become. - The New York Times

The Meteoric Rise Of Art Star Anna Weyant

It has been a rocket-fueled rise to the top of the contemporary art world for Ms. Weyant—and far from her unassuming start in Calgary, Canada. Spotted on Instagram three years ago and quickly vouched for by a savvy handful of artists, dealers and advisers, Ms. Weyant is now internationally coveted. - The Wall Street Journal

The Enlightenment Libertine: Making Sense Of Casanova

"Giacomo Casanova practiced many trades — violinist, gambler, spy, Kabbalist, soldier, man of letters — but his main line of work was deceiving fools. ... His conquests in the boudoir, not to mention those in carriages, in bathhouses, or behind park shrubbery, have eclipsed his accomplishments while fully dressed." - The New Yorker

George Lamming, Giant Of Caribbean And Post-Colonial Literature, Dead At 94

Returning to Barbados after university in England, "(he) became a moral, political and intellectual force for a newly independent country seeking to tell its own story. ... His calling was to address the crimes of history, unearth and preserve his native culture and forge a 'collective sense' of the future." - AP

Director Of Crash Arrested On Sexual Assault Charges In Italy

Paul Haggis "is accused of sexually assaulting the woman over the course of two days while in for an entertainment industry event." - Los Angeles Times

The Man Who Gave Us The De Facto History Of Recorded Music Has Died At 82

Joel Whitburn, who published nearly 300 books, "was a music lover whose personal collection — meticulously curated in his basement and, later, in a vault — totals more than 200,000 records, including every single ever to make a Billboard chart." - The New York Times

Acclaimed French Actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, 91

Trintignant received a number of accolades throughout his 60-plus-year career, including the best actor prize from Cannes in 1969 for Costa-Gavras’ political thriller Z and a Cesar Award in 2013 for Michael Haneke’s Amour, which also won the Oscar for best foreign-language film. - The Hollywood Reporter

Stewart Brand, The Super Salesman

Brand, 83, is a huckster—one of the great hucksters in a time and place full of them. Over the course of his long life, Brand’s salesmanship has been so outstanding that scholars of the American 20th century have secured his place as a historical figure. - The Nation

Did Yoko Ono’s Celebrity Doom Her Art?

Like any artist, Ono wanted recognition, but she was never driven by a desire for wealth and fame. Whether she sought them or not, though, she has both. - The New Yorker

Kevin Spacey Arraigned In UK On Four Charges Of Sexual Assault

"The 62-year-old is also facing a fifth charge of causing a man to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. He was not asked to enter pleas for the alleged offences from 2005 to 2013 ... (and was) given unconditional bail."  (Pleas will be entered on July 14.) - BBC

A Fluxus Pioneer Explains It All

On June 21, Nye Ffarrabas turns 90. She is "in the midst of several new Fluxus projects". When asked whether she had any advice for her 20-year-old self, without hesitating she smiled and said, "Forget the 1950s."

Renee Fleming – Keepin’ On Keepin’ On

A good run indeed. At 63, an age when many if not most opera singers have retired, Fleming is still keeping extremely busy — and her projects have nothing to do with nostalgia. - San Francisco Classical Voice

James Baldwin On Fire Island

He had two stays in the gay community of Cherry Grove, neither during high season, during which he worked on Another Country (May 1959) and Blues for Mister Charlie (September 1963).  It wasn't a comfortable place for him, and not only because the Grove was, back then, very white. - Literary Hub

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