STAGE NOTES
The WICA Blog
ARTICLE | Handel: 15 facts about the great composer
George Frideric Handel, one of the Baroque era's greatest composers, led a passionate, eventful and occasionally tragic life - but how much do you really know?
1. When and where was Handel born?
George Frideric Handel was born on the 23rd of February 1685, the same year as Bach, in Halle. Germany.
2. Played the clavichord in secret
Handel's lawyer father was not a huge fan of his son's musical ambitions. In fact, when he was a boy, Handel had to sneak to the attic to play a clavichord that had been hidden up there.
3. Duel with Mattheson
A bizarre incident in 1704 might have seen Handel's composing career cut tragically short after a set-to with fellow composer Johann Mattheson. For reasons apparently unknown, the two had a fierce quarrel in which Mattheson almost killed Handel with his sword, which fortunately struck a button on Handel's chest rather than the chest itself.
4. London calling
Handel was a hit in London, as evidenced by the very generous salary of £200 he received from Queen Anne when he moved there in 1712.
5. Musical director of RAM
Handel's successes in London continued, and he was eventually made the musical director of The Royal Academy of Music.
6. Rinaldo - his first London success
In 1711 the London stage was treated to its first ever opera composed specifically for it. The premiere performance of Handel's Rinaldo took place at the Queen's Theatre in Haymarket.
7. Acis and Galatea
His first work in the English language might not be his most well-known, but during his lifetime it was Handel's most popular work by some distance. It even received the honor of a little re-write by none other than Mozart in 1788. Well, if someone has to tinker with it, it may as well be Mozart.
8. Where did Handel live in London?
Even though he was German-born and educated, the Brits like to claim Handel for their own. He was fond of his home in 25 Brook Street, London, and Londoners were equally fond of him, as evidenced by...
9. Handel House Museum
Slap-bang in the middle of Mayfair is a permanent monument to Handel's life and music - his house. It has been lovingly restored to look exactly how Handel would've kept when he lived there from 1723 until his death in 1759.
10. Diva strops at the opera
Handel was such a popular opera composer that he was allowed to pick his own leading ladies. However, this perk led to an almighty bust-up between sopranos Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, two rival singers of the day, who ended up having a scrap on stage during a performance of Bononcini's Astianatte. They both had to be dragged off stage to stop them pulling bits off each other's costumes.
11. Health problems
Some of Handel's biggest and best works were composed in the latter stages of his life. That might not sound too impressive, but then again he did suffer from a stroke in 1737, was involved in a coach crash in 1750 and had cataracts and eventually went blind after a botched eye operation 1751.
12. Standing to attention
During the first London performance of Handel's Messiah, King George II stood up as soon as the Hallelujah chorus kicked in - after that, it became traditional for audiences to stand for this famous chorus.
13. His final oratorio
Handel's final oratorio, Jephtha, was a heartbreaking experience for the composer. He was going rapidly blind as he wrote it, eventually leading him to write on the score: "Reached here on 13 February 1751, unable to go on owing to weakening of the sight of my left eye."
14. 3,000 people attend his funeral
When, after a life of tumult and incredible music, Handel succumbed to his afflictions in 1759, his funeral was attended by 3,000 people and was a huge state affair.
15. Beethoven's tribute to Handel
Praise doesn't come much higher than from Ludwig Van Beethoven, who said of Handel's works: "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means."
RELATED PROGRAMMING: MUSIC TALKS: REALLY HEARING HANDEL'S MESSIAH | DEC 04, 2019
ARTICLE | Mark Rothko on How to Be an Artist
Famed Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko believed that art was a powerful form of communication. “The fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions,” he said in an interview in 1956. “The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them.”
Through canvases of floating forms and glowing, suspended rectangles, Rothko sought to create a profound connection between artist, canvas, and viewer. What’s more, he asserted that his works not only expressed human emotion, but also stimulated psychological and emotional experiences in those who witnessed them. “Painting is not about an experience,” he told LIFE magazine in 1959. “It is an experience.”
While Rothko believed his paintings spoke for themselves—and routinely derided art critics who attempted to explain his practice with words—that didn’t stop him from developing his own theories about the power of art and the creative process. Throughout his career, from the late 1920s until his death in 1970, the New York–based painter amassed a body of writing and gave a number of interviews that reveal his views on how creativity can be unlocked and encouraged. Below, we highlight several of Rothko’s words of wisdom… read more.
SOURCE: Artsy
ARTICLE | The #MeToo Moment: Art Inspired by the Reckoning
The first known feminist-art program in the United States was established in the fall of 1970 at the California Institute of the Arts. Judy Chicago (artist and educator) formed the art collective known as “Womanhouse” because, as she put it, “women artists were simply not taken seriously.”
Two decades later, the Guerrilla Girls forced attention to the fine art world’s gender and racial disparity with their gorilla masks and guerrilla-style stunts. (“Guerrilla Girls’ definition of a hypocrite?” read one poster. “An art collector who buys white male art at benefits for liberal causes, but never buys art by women or artists of color.”)
From Picasso’s Guernica — observed as a cry against the atrocities of the Spanish War — to the graffiti of the Arab Spring, social movements and injustice have long inspired art of all forms. The #MeToo Moment is no exception.
Explore works inspired by the #MeToo movement here.
SOURCE: The New York Times
RELATED PROGRAMMING
TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES: #METOO AND THE NEW SEXUAL LANDSCAPE | JUL 27, 2019
ARTICLE | How the #MeToo Movement Helped Make New Charges Against Jeffrey Epstein Possible
Federal prosecutors unveiled sex-trafficking charges against wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein on Monday (July 8, 2019), revisiting years-old allegations. But their announcement was quickly followed by questions about why prosecutors (led by then-U.S. Attorney, former-Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta) had treated Epstein leniently in the past and why it had taken so long to meaningfully target allegations of sexual misconduct that were long an open secret.
Victims’ advocates and legal experts say the #MeToo movement in the past two years has fueled cultural change, putting pressure on prosecutors to take action and creating public support for the sexual misconduct cases they pursue.
“While the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims, now young women,” Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a press conference announcing the charges on Monday. “They deserve their day in court, and we are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment.”
Berman declined to comment on what led his office to revisit the allegations now, but he said prosecutors were “assisted by some excellent investigative journalism” — an apparent reference to a November 2018 story by the Miami Herald that found 80 women who said they were sexually abused by Epstein from 2001 to 2006. It sparked a public outcry over Epstein’s lenient 2007 plea deal from Florida prosecutors, who allowed the billionaire to avoid federal criminal charges, plead guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, register as a sex offender and serve 13 months in jail while being allowed to work in his office six days per week… more.
SOURCE: TIME
RELATED PROGRAMMING
Truth and Consequences: #MeToo and the New Sexual Landscape | JUL 27
ARTICLE | New Jeffrey Epstein case: A crucial test of #MeToo's staying power
The surprise arrest of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday — and the revival of a decade-old case against him for sex trafficking — is a big story in its own right. That's both because of Epstein's own unbelievably sleazy profile, but also because it's possible that other men who have been shielded from justice may be exposed for participating in the sexual abuse of minors. But the social implications may be even larger.
The Epstein case is a real test over whether the #MeToo movement, an explosive period in which thousands of women stepped forward with stories of sexual harassment and abuse, was just a flash in the pan. Will we see long-term changes in how our society deals with powerful men who commit sexual abuse with little or fear of consequences? Or are we moving back toward business as usual and sweeping such things under the rug?
Read more here.
SOURCE: Salon
RELATED PROGRAMMING
Truth and Consequences: #MeToo and the New Sexual Landscape | JUL 27