The Greatest Musician of All Time?

The greatest musician of all time? Mozart. One of his finest operas is "Don Giovanni". A pity that you cannot hear the hysteria of the audience at its staging in the Estates Theatre in Prague. But, happily, in 1979 Joseph Losey filmed a screen version that follows the libretto to the letter, save for the setting: Venice has been chosen in place of Spain. Losey's film is the acknowledged benchmark for adapting an opera to the cinema. Why have you never seen it, or even heard of it? Questions, nothing but questions. We shall set this right!

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

The Greatest Musician of All Time?

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s