Anna Yuryevna Netrebko, born September 18, 1971 (age 38) in Krasnodar, Russia, is an operatic soprano. She now holds dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently resides in Vienna. [...]
In 2003, Netrebko released her first studio album, Opera Arias, which became one of the best selling classical recordings of the year. [...]
CD: Souvenirs When I hear Anna Netrebko sing, live, I don’t want her to stop...Netrebko, on a good night, offers intoxication…given a choice, or offered a ticket, I’d take Netrebko over anyone out there, any time. - Anne Midgette, Gramophone _____________________________________________
LA BOHEME La Boheme: Preview of the Film THE pairing of one of the most beloved operas of all time with a contemporary “dream team” of singers sets the stage for a silver screen romantic blockbuster. Released theatrically in October, the lush new film version of La Bohème makes its U.S. television debut on Great Performances during the holiday season – a perfect fit, given the first two acts of the plot unfold on Christmas Eve. [...]
A STELLAR review in Opera News raves: “It’s probably fair to say that this Bohème is one of the best filmic realizations of an opera since Francesco Rosi’s 1984 Carmen. Although the entire production was filmed within the confines of studio sound-stages, it is very much a movie, rather than an embalmed theater presentation. [The] camera sweeps the viewer right into the center of the action with decisive tracking shots and intimate close-ups; languid dissolves, superimpositions and subtle split-screen effects emphasize the sensuality of the plot, and of Puccini’s score.”
Discussing the differences between live performance and film, Netrebko remarks, “…the camera is very intimate. It’s coming really close to you. Your expressions…the eyes opening, the mouth, it’s reduced here to minimal. But instead of that, you have to put a lot inside your eyes, so you have the expression inside yourself.”
The theatrical film is helmed by director Robert Dornhelm, Oscar nominee for The Children of Theater Street and more recently Karajan, or Beauty as I See It, which aired on Great Performances in August 2009, offering a fascinating career retrospective of the great conductor Herbert von Karajan on the occasion of his 100th birthday. [...]
COMMENTS [PBS.org] I HAVE seen La Boheme many times , but this performance envelopes one into the soul of the story more than I dreamed possible. Anna Netrebko and Roland Villazon were so believable in their roles and their voices divine.
I WAS moved deeply, by this intimate version of La Boheme, beautifully done. The connection and passion between the two performers, is incredibly real, emotions exuding off the screen. Everyone should experience this .
I HAVE just watched this opera on Great Performances. La Boheme is one of my two favorite operas and I’ve seen it performed in Rome, Venice, New York and elsewhere but this is the most riveting performance I’ve ever seen. Anna Netrebko as Mimi and Rolando Villazón as Rodolfo sing superbly in a match made in heaven.
WHITE subtitles against white snow: Brilliant!
ALL I really waited for was ” Quando m’en vo” and then I never found out who sang Musetta. Poor show. Insulting to the other singers.
I TUNED in just as the overture was finishing. I came to your website to find the credits for the best realization of La Boheme that I have heard or seen. You have disappointed me. You can still fix this!
MANY people are wondering who was in the cast besides Netrebko and Villazon. It is almost an IMPOSSIBILITY to find them anywhere, but this is what I discovered after a tedious search: Nicole Cabell (Musetta), George Von Bergen (Marcello), Adrian Erod (Schaunard). Other cast members included Stephane Degout, Boaz Daniel, Tiziano Bracci. If any of these are in error, please correct me.
THANK you PBS for the broadcast of such a beautiful story with song. At least regular folk here in the country have a way of enjoying classical performances without going to the opera itself and paying through the nose for what may be some very bad performances!
FILMED opera sometime can be an oxymoron. You can do a lot of things otherwise impossible to be done in an opera stage. Sure all the dramatic effects are obvious in this production, but you can also tend to notice flaws, such as poor dubbing, overacted characters. I think the director just wanted to profit from one of most bankable opera couples at that time, dubbed with recording, and voila! a mediocre production. Poor Mr. Villazon, the camera seems not to love him during close ups…
"It's for your love that I stopped feeling lonely."
Anna Netrebko Graces the Silver Screen ANNA Netrebko is a reluctant movie star. She’s graced the big screen for the past three years in The Met: Live in HD Broadcasts, and now she’s about to star in a fully fledged feature—La Bohème, due to open at movie theaters around the United States on September 23. But still, Netrebko reminds me, she’s first and foremost a soprano. “Movie star? The words are too big.”
Well, we’ll see. The camera never lies and it happens to love her dark brown eyes, flowing tresses and undeniable charisma. (She’s presciently been called “Audrey Hepburn with a voice.”) Combine that with her celebrated soprano voice and surely it all adds up to something a little starry and sumptuous.
Still, the 38-year-old Russian admits there is something cinematic about La Bohème that lends itself to the fast-paced editing of a movie. “There are so many phrases, here, there and everywhere,” she says. “Only the camera can capture it.” [...]
The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues. -Elizabeth Taylor
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee. It stars Elizabeth Taylor as Martha and Richard Burton as George, with George Segal as Nick and Sandy Dennis as Honey.
Set on the campus of a small New England college, the film focuses on the violent and volatile relationship of associate history professor George and his hard-drinking and crudely boisterous wife Martha, the daughter of the college president. [...]
THE choice of Elizabeth Taylor — at the time regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world — to play the frumpy, fifty-ish Martha surprised many, but the actress gained thirty pounds for the role and her performance (along with those of Burton, Segal and Dennis) was ultimately praised. [...]
THE film was considered groundbreaking for having a level of profanity and sexual implication unheard of at that time...It is also said that Jack Warner chose to pay a fine of $5,000 in order to remain as faithful to the play (with its profanity) as possible. [...]
THE film was the only one to be nominated in every eligible category at the Academy Awards. Each of the four main actors was nominated for an Oscar but only Taylor and Sandy Dennis (Honey) won, for Best Actress and Supporting Actress, respectively. The film also won the Black and White Cinematography award for Haskell Wexler's stark, black-and-white camera work (it was the last film to win before the category was eliminated) and for Best Art Direction (Richard Sylbert, George James Hopkins). It was the first film to have its entire credited cast be nominated for acting Oscars, a feat only accomplished twice more with Sleuth in 1972 and Give 'em Hell, Harry! in 1975.
The film received the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source.
In AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ranked #67. END
MOVIE QUOTE Martha: Oh-ho, you pig. George: Oink, oink. Martha: Fix me another drink… lover. George: My God, you can swill it down, can't you? Martha: Well, I'm thirsty. George: Oh, Jesus. Martha: Look, sweetheart, I can drink you under any goddamn table you want, so don't worry about me. George: I gave you the prize years ago, Martha. There isn't an abomination award going that you haven't won. Martha: I swear to God George, if you even existed I'd divorce you.
Edward Albee interview Anybody involved in the Arts will admit they have many more questions than answers.
Cheyenne Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer.
- Early in his career, he worked as a back up singer for Vanessa Williams, Heather Headley, and Liza Minnelli.
- 2005: Originated his first Broadway leading role as Elvis Presley in All Shook Up earning him a Theatre World Award for "Outstanding Broadway Debut".
- Portrayed Mark Bingham in the 2006 Academy Award nominated United 93 which earned him the Boston Society of Film Critics 2006 award for "Best Ensemble Cast".
- Is a recurring series regular, portraying Jack/Danny Baker on NBC's 30 Rock; has also guest starred on several series including Lipstick Jungle, Life on Mars, and Ugly Betty.
- 2009: Starred in a sold out one man show, Back to the Start; later teamed up with Michael Feinstein to create nightclub act The Power of Two which was praised by the New York Times, Variety, and the New York Daily News among others. A CD of the show was released on November 3, 2009.
- 2008: Named Out magazine's "Entertainer of the Year".
- Is an international ambassador for amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research).
- Was born in Idaho and named by his father after a 1950s Western series; his father is a Native American and a Vietnam vet.
- His parents were evangelical born-again Christians and this caused tension when he came out to them as gay at 19; eventually they accepted his homosexuality.
- Jackson's partner, Monte, is a physicist; they have been together since 1999.
Cheyenne Jackson's Popeye Love The first time that I knew I was gay I think I was, like, 7. I was watching this Valentine's Day Popeye cartoon episode that would play every year. There was this scene where Popeye was captured by Brutus, tied up with no shoes or socks on, and Brutus starts tickling his feet. I remember getting a little boner.
Broadway's 'It' Boy Out Broadway Baby Cheyenne Jackson Lends His Talents and Chops to Metro-D.C. PFLAG
Last year, Out Magazine named budding actor Cheyenne Jackson its Entertainer of the Year. "It was a great honor," says Jackson, best known as the star of Broadway's Xanadu. "But in terms of what I have to offer, they ain't seen nothing yet."
From Broadway to television to film, Jackson is certainly one of today's hardest-working men in show business. The actor, who got his start in Washington state but who has called New York home for the past few years, is even preparing to launch a recording career.
"I want to stay challenged and I want to stay busy," he says. "I work really, really hard. My family would say too hard because I never seem to give myself a break. But I love it." [...]
Live Chat with Cheyenne Jackson Why do we never see your partner, is he real or imaginary? you never see my partner because he doesn't want to be seen. he says he is like the amish, that if you take his picture, you take part of his soul.
believe me, if i had my way, he would be on my arm at every bloody event, he's hunky and hilarious, but he is just private. but if you are really stealth, you can catch him sometimes. be on the lookout for the 6'4" scientist who ducks out of every photo op....
XANADU PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND PAGERS... [CheyenneJackson.com - EXCERPT] I’LL leave you with a funny Xanadu story. Now at this point, I am used to distractions at Xanadu. People sometimes shout things, some people stand up and dance, a couple weeks ago, the entire onstage seating was full of drag queens......you get the picture. So last week at a matinee, I am doing my monologue that starts the show and right as i get up from my chalk drawing and come down center stage, some ladys’ cell phone goes off. Not one ring, not two rings, but five long rings....and not normal cell phone rings, but strange sounding, high-pitched rings. I was annoyed. I saw the lady who I thought it was coming from and I decided to put her on the spot a bit. She saw me looking at her and tried to clumsily shut it off, but it continued to beep, beep......beep. Something came over me, my concentration was completely gone at this point, and I just stopped the show and said...."and now, we wait.”......and I just looked at her. The beeping finally stopped, she smiled up at me, I took a breath and went on with it.
Later, backstage we all were laughing and re-telling the story to others who hadn’t heard what I had done, and swapping other cell phone horror stories like how Nathan Lane would grab the phone and shout into it...."SHE CAN"T TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW SHE’S WATCHING A SHOW!”.....Or how Billy Crystal and Brian Dennehy would deal in similar and swift fashion. I was feeling very proud of myself to be included with these guys when the house manager came up to me and quietly said......."Just wanted you to know that that wasn’t a cell phone, it was feedback from a ladys’ hearing aide.”
So if by any chance that woman is reading this........I’m sorry, and would like to treat you to a nice dinner at Applebees, which apparently is my favorite restaurant, though I’ve never been there.
Jamie Burke: On Modelling, Music and Kate Moss JAMIE Burke is all about the hair. In 2005, when he was 20, he had a brief, precocious fling with Kate Moss, then 31, and they were pictured in Aspen together, with their hair flowing in the snow. Next, signing a modelling contract with Calvin Klein, he perfected the art of the soulful hair toss.
His macho-mermaid look makes him easily identifiable when he is photographed in a clinch with a troubled starlet (Sienna Miller, Lindsay Lohan). And when he rocks out on stage with his band burke., he throws his hair around a lot. Never mind that builders sometimes wolf-whistle at him, mistaking him for a girl. Never mind that he can only wash his hair once a month because of flyaway issues - 'When it's clean it goes fluffy and that's so not rock'n'roll, man.' The chicks, he assures me, love it.
'You know, most of the girls I know don't like clean guys. They like me when I've just come off stage, not just out of the shower.' He later tells me that when he comes off stage he sometimes lies on the ground hyperventilating, so I am not sure he is in a position to be much use to said ladies.
But Burke's self-confidence is boundless. 'I'm a big lover. I'm a very sexual being. I'm just off relationships right now because it gets too intense and you can't be without them - or more likely, they can't be without you...' [...]
BURKE only does modelling to subsidise his true love, music. 'I don't want to be photographed in underwear or some crop top, it's not how I roll.' But he likes working for Calvin Klein because they treat him not as a model but as 'a personality'. [...]
I ASK if he finds he often annoys people. 'There's always haters, for sure. The better you do, the more haters there are. It's jealousy. I don't want to blow my own horn but there it is.'
Finally, one last puppyish boast: 'You know, the worst are the girls you're not interested in. They can get really mean and nasty. They'll come up to you after a show and try it on and if you don't show them the right attention they're like, "Do you think you're some kind of superstar?" No, I just don't want to shag you!'
Oh, Jamie. I'd pat him on the head, if it had only seen a little more shampoo. He slides on his shades and heads off with a friendly wave. The Burke has left the building. END
YOUTUBE COMMENT To put it bluntly, this film sucks. A pretentious, gaudy art-house flick shot in cinéma vérité, not even worth downloading the Torrent for. I expected more from Abel Ferrara whose great works include the adaptation of William Gibson's novella "New Rose Hotel" the horrorific gorefest "Driller Killer" and the gritty, often brutal story of a good cop gone bad in "Bad Lieutenant," the latter which haunted me for years. As for "Chelsea on the Rocks," I'd rather fuck an Ape than watch this again.
Svetlana Zakharova (born 1979), principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and the Teatro alla Scala, is widely considered among the greatest living ballerinas today and reportedly commands among the highest fees of any ballet dancer, after Sylvie Guillem and Diana Vishneva...Today, Zakharova tours and guests with the world's great ballet companies. She is highly regarded for her technical expertise and for her exceptionally high extensions, which invite comparisons with gymnasts.
Zakharova was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation in 2006.
A Young Ballerina Learns to Walk Through Open Doors WHEN Svetlana Zakharova was 10, her mother took her to an audition at a Kiev ballet school. Ms. Zakharova wanted none of it. She had no taste for ballet, positive or negative; her dread had more to do with the prospect of leaving her family, who lived in Lutsk, a town in western Ukraine.
"I remember that there were so many kids; they were all nervous and so were their parents," she recalled through an interpreter at the Metropolitan Opera House. "I said to my mom: 'I don't want to live in a dormitory; I want to live with my family. That's why even if they will accept me in the school, I won't be studying here.' My mom said, 'Just try to get through the competition first.' "
By the time Ms. Zakharova reached the final round, she fell in love, if not with ballet itself, then at least with the idea of what it might be like to be a ballerina. "There were girls and boys who were already students there, and they were so beautiful," she said. "I decided that I really liked it very much. Finally, when I was accepted, my mom asked me, 'So would you stay and study there?' I told her, 'Yes!' " [...]
NATURALLY supple, with long legs and a luxurious line, Ms. Zakharova possesses the kind of onstage beauty that practically leaves you woozy. With waist-length dark hair framing an alabaster face, she's just as radiant in person, but she's also a bit of a clown. After a photographer reminded her to stand up straight, she giggled and slumped to a grotesque extreme, eerily resembling a drawing by the artist and balletomane Edward Gorey, who might have used one of his favorite words to describe her - "zippy." [...]
FOR all her innate ability, however, Ms. Zakharova has been criticized for doing too much; while her footwork is bracingly sharp, she is so flexible that when she unfolds her leg in a fluid extension to the side, she has been known to graze her ear. Yet Ms. Zakharova is not a vulgar dancer; there's something instinctively casual, even naïve about her performance style.
"People reject things that are new, especially in the ballet," she said. "Standards of beauty change through the ages. I try to push it out of my mind. Why should ballet be as it was 20 years ago? Of course you can lift your leg, but you can also put it up very, very beautifully. As people like to say in ballet jargon, 'make it tasty.' " [...]
MS. ZAKHAROVA has learned that in ballet, success is connected to power. "A very important moment in my professional career came when I was invited to the Paris Opera," she said. "I was 21 or 22. It is now my fourth season performing there. That was the moment when I became a world star. I became independent. It was like my name, my brand. Now, if I don't like something, I can reject it. I can choose a partner with whom I want to dance, I can choose the repertory. So this is like growing up inside myself and growing up with my parts as well." [...]
Svetlana Zakharova on Leaving the Kirov Svetlana Zakharova, the illustrious 24-year-old Kirov Ballet star who almost single handedly carried this London season by dancing in the first casts of "Le Corsaire", "Swan Lake", "Scheherezade" and "Etudes", has unexpectedly decided to join the Bolshoi Ballet at the end of August.
I spoke to Zakharova after one of her performances last weekend, to find out why she is leaving the Kirov Ballet. I would like to thank Coda for her kindness in translating for me during this interview. [EXCERPT] Can you describe about the negative aspects which you've experienced? IN THE theatre you always have to prove yourself. I constantly have to prove to everyone that I want to do something, and are capable of doing it. And I had to keep it to myself. The only people who knew about it was myself, my beloved teacher Olga Moiseeva (whom I'll greatly miss), and my mother. And I have this drive inside me telling me that you have to be the best, you have to be number 1. This drive was difficult. [...]
Photog: Platon
Alexander McQueen: A Life in Pictures
God Save McQueen - gallery
Long Live Alexander McQueen
McQueen on the Red Carpet: The Ladies Who Dared
Alexander McQueen: Pret-a-Porter or Haute Couture?
Element Labs Adds Glamour to Alexander McQueen Fashion Show
Alexander McQueen ft. on Miss Delite
[HarpersBazaar.com]
Anna Yuryevna Netrebko, born September 18, 1971 (age 38) in Krasnodar, Russia, is an operatic soprano. She now holds dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently resides in Vienna. [...]+CHOPARD.jpg)
Anna Netrebko and tenor Erwin Schrott (husband)
Anna Netrebko - official site
Good Morning America interview (vid)
Classical BRIT Awards - red carpet interview (vid)
Anna Netrebko - blog
CD: Souvenirs
La Boheme: Preview of the Film
Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
"Mimi is fatally ill."
"It's for your love that I stopped feeling lonely."
The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues. -Elizabeth Taylor
Cheyenne Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer.
Cheyenne Jackson - official site
Interview with Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson (vid)
Cheyenne Jackson's Popeye Love
Broadway's 'It' Boy
BACKSTAGE VLOG
PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND PAGERS...
Jamie Burke: On Modelling, Music and Kate Moss
Calvin Klein party for Gabriel Aubry__2008
with Kate Bosworth__21 after party__2008
burke. on MySpace Music
photog: David Sims__CK Jeans
photog: Terry Richardson__Interview Magazine
Svetlana Zakharova (born 1979), principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and the Teatro alla Scala, is widely considered among the greatest living ballerinas today and reportedly commands among the highest fees of any ballet dancer, after Sylvie Guillem and Diana Vishneva...Today, Zakharova tours and guests with the world's great ballet companies. She is highly regarded for her technical expertise and for her exceptionally high extensions, which invite comparisons with gymnasts.
Don Quixote
Revelation
A Young Ballerina Learns to Walk Through Open Doors
Svetlana Zakharova on Leaving the Kirov
Swan Lake
