Culture News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

Vocal acrobatics of "La Donna del Lago" an "Olympic" challenge

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:41:33 +0100

By Josie Cox LONDON (Reuters) - Even with one of the world's most athletic opera singers at her side and plenty of practice, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato reckons the latest London production of Gioachino Rossini's "La Donna Del Lago" is the challenge of a lifetime. DiDonato and Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez told Reuters at the Royal Opera House production's opening on Friday night that performing their technically demanding roles in the John Fulljames interpretation is almost like an elite sport. ...

Anish Kapoor Show: Wax And Mirrors In Berlin

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:56:34 +0100

Gallagher: I'll never co-write

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:24:04 +0100

Noel Gallagher has said he would never "stoop" to co-write a song with another artist.

Ora to front Madonna fashion line?

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:03:19 +0100

Rita Ora is set to front Madonna's new clothing line, Material Girl, according to reports.

Turks see art as good investment but also path to prestige

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:50:43 +0100

By Asli Kandemir ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's contemporary art scene is buzzing. Collectors pay millions for the hottest works at exclusive auctions, high-end galleries are springing up by the dozen, and more and more Turkish artists are holding exhibitions abroad. The clients are the usual family magnates and super-rich - Istanbul ranks fifth in the world on the Forbes list of billionaires. But they also include an expanding class of young professionals looking for investment opportunities and a touch of prestige. ...

Daylight shines on Tate Britain's 500-year gallop through art

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:38:36 +0100

By Paul Casciato LONDON (Reuters) - Out go the themed rooms and groupings of artists at London's Tate Britain gallery, and in comes a pure, sunlit, chronological walk through British art from 1540 to the present. The world's leading collection of British paintings and sculpture on Monday threw open a permanent gallery so radically refurbished and reorganised that every one of the 500-odd works on display had to be rehung. "What I wanted to try and do was to have a complete chronology that wouldn't be interrupted by exhibitions," said Director Penelope Curtis. ...

Director James Cameron to broadcast 3D 'Swan Lake' live from Russia

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:24:22 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - "Avatar" director James Cameron and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev will beam the world's first live 3D ballet broadcast to 50 countries from Russia's Mariinsky theatre in June. Cinema audiences across Europe, the United States, South America, Asia, Australia and elsewhere will be able to watch Ekaterina Kondaurova dance the role of Odette/Odile in Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" at the 19th century opera house on June 6, production company Omniverse Vision said in a statement. ...

Madonna honoured for MDNA tour

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:03:34 +0100

Madonna will receive Billboard's top touring artist award for the global success of her MDNA tour.

Chris Brown's 'Devil' Art Sparks Complaints

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:29:44 +0100

Grammy-winning musician Chris Brown's neighbours have complained about strange artwork painted along the fence of his Hollywood Hills home.

Chris Brown caught up in art row

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:45:50 +0100

Grammy-winning musician Chris Brown's neighbours are unhappy with the art he has chosen to have painted along the curb of his Hollywood Hills home.

Fashion's Betsey Johnson goes to therapy in made-for-TV comeback

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:32:15 +0100

By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mother-daughter therapy, nightly branzino dinners and pulls from a mimosa-filled water bottle at the gym. Welcome to just some of the life of Betsey Johnson, the eccentric and frenetic fashion designer whose personality goes on display in a reality television series beginning on Sunday on U.S. cable network Style. "XOX Betsey Johnson" casts an eye on Johnson, 70, best known for her bright, girly punk dresses, and her daughter Lulu as the inseparable duo look to relaunch their fashion careers after professional and personal setbacks. ...

Sick Jackson 'pushed to rehearse'

Fri, 10 May 2013 05:57:45 +0100

Michael Jackson's long-time make-up artist told a court she overhead an executive for concert promoter AEG Live insist that the singer rehearse, despite signs of his declining health.

Nazi-themed Wagner opera in Germany sickens audience, withdrawn

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:35:00 +0100

By Michelle Martin BERLIN (Reuters) - A Nazi-themed staging of a Wagner opera in Germany that caused some members of the audience to become sick with its scenes of murder and a gas chamber has been withdrawn, the opera company said on its website. After failing to get the director to agree to changes, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duesseldorf said that the production of "Tannhaeuser" would be given for the rest of its run in a concert version only. German director Burkhard C. ...

Founder of Italy's fashion house Missoni dies at 92

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:39:16 +0100

By Isla Binnie MILAN (Reuters) - Ottavio Missoni, founder of the global family fashion empire that spawned the no-bra look and revolutionised textile patterns with its trademark bold stripes and zig-zag patterns, died on Thursday aged 92. A company spokeswoman said Missoni, commonly known by his nickname "Tai," died during the night in the northern town of Sumirago, at the family home next to the company's factory. He had been recently hospitalised for heart problems. ...

Young And The Restless Star Jeanne Cooper Dies

Thu, 09 May 2013 07:29:33 +0100

Jeanne Cooper, the enduring soap opera star who played Katherine Chancellor for nearly four decades on The Young And The Restless, has died aged 84.

Jeanne Cooper, star of CBS' 'The Young and the Restless,' dies at 84

Wed, 08 May 2013 21:38:35 +0100

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - American actress Jeanne Cooper, who starred on the daytime television soap opera "The Young and the Restless" for four decades, died on Wednesday, her son, actor Corbin Bernsen, said. Cooper was 84. "My mother passed away this morning just a short time ago, peaceful with my sister by her side, in her sleep," Bernsen said in a post on Facebook. Bernsen had been updating the status of Cooper's health on Facebook and Twitter over the past few weeks. Neither the cause of Cooper's death nor what she had been suffering from has been disclosed. ...

Madonna to be honoured for top grossing tour at Billboard Awards

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:34:07 +0100

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Madonna will be honoured at the Billboard Music Awards show this month for her 2012 MDNA tour, the high grossing concert tour of the year, organizers of the awards show said on Wednesday. The singer will accept the Top Touring Artist award at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 19th for the tour that grossed more than $305 million from 88 sold-out shows and attracted an audience of 2.2 million people. ...

Abba Museum: Band Members At Stockholm Opening

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:24:34 +0100

Nearly four decades after they won the Eurovison Song Contest, Abba fever has returned to Stockholm as fans clamour to visit a new museum devoted to the Swedish pop legends.

Hip hop star Lauryn Hill gets three months for tax evasion

Tue, 07 May 2013 01:42:22 +0100

By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A U.S. magistrate judge sentenced Grammy-winning hip hop artist Lauryn Hill to three months in prison, three months in home confinement and a $60,000 (38,600 pounds) fine on Monday for federal tax evasion. Hill pleaded guilty last year to three counts of failing to file tax returns on more than $1.8 million of income between 2005 and 2007 and faced up to three years in prison. ...

Hip hop artist Lauryn Hill gets 3 months in jail for tax evasion

Mon, 06 May 2013 23:54:09 +0100

By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A U.S. judge sentenced Grammy-winning hip hop artist Lauryn Hill to three months in prison, three months in home confinement and a $60,000 (38,615 pounds) fine on Monday for federal tax evasion. Hill had pleaded guilty last year to three counts of failing to file tax returns on more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007 and could have been sentenced to three years in prison. On the eve of her scheduled sentencing, Hill paid at least $504,000 in federal back taxes plus state taxes and penalties, her attorney said on Sunday. In April, a U.S. ...

New York's Met Museum celebrates punk's influence on fashion

Mon, 06 May 2013 23:22:26 +0100

By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - With their black leather, studded jackets, ripped jeans, bondage trousers and messages of rebellion and anarchy, punks from the 1970s probably never envisioned that a major museum would be celebrating their influence on fashion 40 years later. But the Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is doing just that with a new exhibition, "Punk: Chaos to Couture," that opens on May 9 and runs through August 14. ...

Sweden's ABBA museum to open, but reunion rumours quashed

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:58:58 +0100

By Alistair Scrutton STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The catchy tunes, outlandish costumes and shimmering boots that made ABBA a global phenomenon all feature in a new museum dedicated to the band, but rumours the exhibition may presage a reunion by Sweden's most famous export were quickly quashed. The permanent exhibition within a hall of fame of Swedish pop music opens in Stockholm this week and organisers hope to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually on a pop nostalgia trip. ...

Brightman planning space journey

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:15:24 +0100

Sarah Brightman plans on becoming the first recording artist to venture into space en route to the International Space Station.

Mirren Storms Out Of Theatre Dressed As Queen

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:09:26 +0100

Dame Helen Mirren has stormed out of a theatre dressed as the Queen to angrily confront a group of street drummers who she accused of disrupting her West End show.

Apprentice winner's fashion plans

Mon, 06 May 2013 00:03:03 +0100

Apprentice winner Stella English said she is "ready to move on" after losing her high-profile constructive dismissal claim against Lord Sugar and plans to launch her own fashion label inspired by Victoria Beckham.

Lauryn Hill pays tax debt ahead of Monday sentencing, attorney says

Sun, 05 May 2013 23:01:49 +0100

By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - Hip hop artist Lauryn Hill, on the eve of her scheduled sentencing on federal tax evasion charges, has paid off the balance of more than $900,000 (578,034.68 pounds) she owed in back taxes and penalties, her attorney said on Sunday. The Grammy-winning musician is scheduled for sentencing on Monday in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey on three charges she failed to file tax returns on more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007. ...

Russia's new Mariinsky theatre woos the doubters

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:35:43 +0100

By Alexei Anishchuk and Liza Dobkina ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Enlisting the drama of Prokofiev and the elegance of Tchaikovsky, St Petersburg's new Mariinsky theatre staged a gala opening on Thursday designed to silence critics of the starkly modernist building erected in the heart of Russia's imperial capital. The $700-million (450.5 million pounds) glass and limestone building, which critics have dubbed the "Mariinsky mall", glowed in the night sky, its glass and metal walkways humming with excited voices as the select crowd of 2,000 found their seats. ...

Bollywood Carmen role for Chelsee

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:39:55 +0100

Strictly Come Dancing runner-up Chelsee Healey is to star in a spectacular Bollywood TV version of the classic opera Carmen live from Bradford.

Peter and Roy in green room theatre

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:03:53 +0100

Coronation Street's Chris Gascoyne and David Neilson have a secret penchant for acting out highbrow plays backstage at the soap.

Russia's new Mariinsky theatre divides St Petersburg

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:45:53 +0100

By Liza Dobkina ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - It has been variously described as a sleek piece of modernism or an ugly shopping centre, but whatever Russians think of the exterior of St Petersburg's new Mariinsky Theatre, they will finally get to see inside the much-debated building at its grand opening on Thursday. President Vladimir Putin will lead a select crowd of guests to the first performance at Mariinsky II, a 2,000-seat theatre, which, at a cost of $700 million (450 million pounds), ranks among the most expensive cultural projects ever built. ...

Alexander Graham Bell speaks, and 2013 hears his voice

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:23:01 +0100

By Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nine years after he placed the first telephone call, Alexander Graham Bell tried another experiment: he recorded his voice on a wax-covered cardboard disc on April 15, 1885, and gave it an audio signature: "Hear my voice - Alexander Graham Bell." The flimsy disc was silent for 128 years as part of the Smithsonian Museum's collection of early recorded sound, until digital imaging, computer science, a hand-written transcript and a bit of archival detective work confirmed it as the only known recording of Bell's voice. ...

Paul Allen gaining respect with sports, real estate moves

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:07:47 +0100

By Bill Rigby SEATTLE (Reuters) - Paul Allen, the lesser known co-founder of Microsoft Corp, has struggled for decades to make his mark as a business mogul beyond the software company he started with Bill Gates. Since he quit Microsoft in 1983, the quiet Seattle native has lost billions of dollars on ill-conceived or mistimed technology investments, and he has been mocked as a juvenile playboy manqué for spending lavishly on giant yachts and off-beat projects like a Frank Gehry-designed rock museum. ...

Factbox - Helen Mirren wins best actress at top UK theatre awards

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:41:29 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Actress Helen Mirren won the best actress award for her stage portrayal of the queen in "The Audience" at Britain's top theatre honours on Sunday that were handed out at London's Royal Opera House. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", an adaption of Mark Haddon's best-selling novel, was the evening's biggest winner taking home seven awards, equalling the record set by "Matilda the Musical" in 2012. Following is a list of winners in the main categories of the 37th Olivier Awards. ...

Helen Mirren crowned best actress at top UK theatre awards

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:31:52 +0100

By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Helen Mirren was crowned best actress at Britain's top theatre awards on Sunday for reprising her Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth, while a play about a boy with autism was the night's top winner, taking home seven Olivier prizes. Mirren, 67, has won stellar reviews for starring in "The Audience", Peter Morgan's play about the private weekly meetings between the queen and the 12 British prime ministers during the six decades of her reign. ...

Victoria Beckham plans UK store as juggles family and fashion

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:30:24 +0100

By Li-mei Hoang LONDON (Reuters) - British fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham said life as a working mother is a struggle but she relishes the challenge and plans to expand her empire with a retail store in London. As mother to three boys - Brooklyn, 14, Romeo, 10, and Cruz, 8 - and to 21-month-old daughter Harper, Beckham said balancing her family life and career was a constant juggle. "The children are my priority and always have been and always will be so it's a little bit of a juggling act," she told the Vogue Festival at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday. ...

Harris turns to art after arrest

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:42:50 +0100

Entertainer Rolf Harris has turned to his passion for art to deal with the trauma of being accused of sex abuse, his wife revealed.

African diva Angelique Kidjo wins Songlines Best Artist award

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:01:16 +0100

By Angus MacSwan LONDON (Reuters) - African diva Angelique Kidjo was named Best Artist in Songlines magazine's annual world music awards on Friday, lauded for her high-energy shows and her championing of social causes. French veterans Lo'jo, who mix French folk with African and Arabic sounds, picked up the Best Group award and the young Zimbabwean band Mokoomba was chosen as top Newcomer. The Best Cross Cultural-Collaboration went to Dub Colossus for the blend of Ethiopian roots, reggae and dub beats on their latest album "Dub Me Tender Vol. 1+2". ...

Artist Richard Prince didn't infringe photo copyrights - U.S. court

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:59:42 +0100

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a closely watched case in the art world, American artist Richard Prince won a federal appeals court order Thursday holding that he did not infringe the copyrights of a photographer by incorporating his images into 25 paintings and collages. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversed a lower court's finding that Prince must hand over artwork using the photos to Patrick Cariou, whose pictures of Rastafarians in Jamaica were incorporated into art, exhibited in 2007 and 2008. ...

Tate Britain releases shortlist for modern art's Turner prize

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:52:20 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - An artist who paints portraits of imaginary people joined a French-born filmmaker, a British-German performance artist and a British multimedia artist on the shortlist for modern art's most prestigious and controversial award on Thursday. The portraits of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, the first black woman to be named a finalist for the annual 25,000-pound Turner Prize, appear traditional but are of imaginary people with invented histories, the Tate Britain museum said. ...

Painter Mark Rothko's Latvian hometown opens centre for his art

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:14:27 +0100

DAUGAVPILS, Latvia (Reuters) - Modernist painter Mark Rothko's hometown in Latvia devoted a new centre to the late artist's work on Wednesday. The Mark Rothko Arts Centre opened in the eastern town of Daugavpils, the Baltic country's second biggest city, with six paintings from the private collection of the artist's daughter and son, who were present at the launch. The exhibition is the first permanent Rothko installation in eastern Europe. ...