Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:55:02 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london webmaster@nysun.com en-us Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/britain-life-sans-alcohol-would-be.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/britain-life-sans-alcohol-would-be.html Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:01:00 EST This country's dependence on alcohol has again made headlines. The Observer yesterday ran a story billed thus: "Britons can't imagine a life without booze." Good timing. It was Easter, but the pubs were all open. And crammed. "The fear of a life without alcohol is so endemic," ran paragraph two, "that most adults say they are scared by the idea of socialising, relaxing, taking part in any celebration or trying to have a good night's sleep without drinking." Eeek. But not off the mark. Last Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/ouch-and-awww-at-the-royal-opera.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/ouch-and-awww-at-the-royal-opera.html Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:17:00 EST In a move that combines a pained "ouch" with an admiring "awww," the Royal Opera House is to jack up the prices of its top-drawer seats to a whopping £210 ("ouch"). The rationale, according to the head of the ROH, Tony Hall, is to make other seats cheaper for those who would not otherwise be able to afford to the see best warbling in town ("awww"). The new top price — up from £190 — takes the ROH into an unprecedented range. Even at £190 per ticket, Glyndebourne (Britain's deluxe opera Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/jersey-boys-far-from-home.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/jersey-boys-far-from-home.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:20:17 EST "Jersey Boys," now in its third year on Broadway, has made the leap to London. It's always touch and go when it comes to how the British — and particularly British theater critics (the most British of them all) — will react to an onslaught of sheer Americana. This show, no doubt chosen to transfer only after the most careful commercial and cultural analysis, has done relatively well. The Times, somewhat loftily, said that it "has the character, the narrative interest and the sense of place ... Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/as-byatt-women-only-lit-prizes.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/as-byatt-women-only-lit-prizes.html Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:52:00 EST The intellectual's queen of women's literature, A.S. Byatt, has raised a storm by condemning the women-only Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, following yesterday's release of the long list. Ms. Byatt said that the Orange is sexist and that she has never allowed her publishers to submit her work for consideration. "Such a prize was never needed," she told the Times of London, maintaining that women have proved themselves perfectly capable of winning literary awards without positive Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/in-abu-dhabi-beauty-has-yet-to.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/in-abu-dhabi-beauty-has-yet-to.html Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:54:16 EST Just back from Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, the greener, more staid alternative to brash Dubai. The emirate is perched atop one of the planet's most extravagant oceans of oil, and it shows — but in the strangest way. There is no street life — no boutiques, stand-alone shops, or good independent restaurants. Instead, there are magnificent skyscrapers, dedicated to such ventures as the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, and the world's most shamelessly luxurious Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/kate-moss-pitiable-tabloid-target.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/kate-moss-pitiable-tabloid-target.html Sun, 9 Mar 2008 19:34:42 EST Not that she needs it, but it's hard to live in London just now and not feel some sympathy for Kate Moss. The tabloids have her in their teeth and won't let go. She lived down the cocaine pictures in 2005 with relative ease, in part because the press allowed her to. Rather than ultimately damaging her career, after breaking the story in the first place, the papers endowed her with mystique and a veneer of unprecedented resilience. Now, though, the tabloids are dogging her evenings out, which, Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/shades-of-white-wagner-on-the.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/shades-of-white-wagner-on-the.html Sun, 9 Mar 2008 19:07:24 EST The South Bank is such a dense complex of arts and culture that you could go crazy trying to decide what to see — or, indeed, do little else but camp out in that bit of riverside between Waterloo and Southwark for weeks on end and never get bored. Culture minister Margaret Hodge said last week that the Proms, a summer classical music festival, were elitist in part because their program is overwhelming and chaotic. By that token she might dismiss the entire South Bank cluster, which broadly Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/greek-art-the-next-big-thing.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/greek-art-the-next-big-thing.html Fri, 7 Mar 2008 17:19:40 EST For some time, the art market has been rumbling with hunger for all things Russian (old and new) and Chinese (mainly new). So it stands to reason that it's begun sniffing about for the next big thing. Could Greek art be it? Sotheby's has released a breathless press release preparing us for "its most important Greek sale to date" on April 17. We're meant to be very excited by the presence of 10 pieces by Constantinos Volanakis and seven by Georges Jakobides, two (apparent) stars of the 19th Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/jewish-book-week-gets-vigorous.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/jewish-book-week-gets-vigorous.html Tue, 4 Mar 2008 20:12:24 EST Jewish Book Week came to a fraught close on Sunday night in a Bloomsbury hotel conference room with a "discussion" called "The Last Word: Reporting the Middle East." It was a strange shift in atmosphere, as immediately preceding had been the presentation of the first-ever Chaim Bermant Prize to a journalist who best captured the spirit of the late commentator and wit. (It went to the established Times columnist and associate editor Danny Finkelstein.) Anyway, there we were in a packed hall, Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/uk-culture-minister-the-proms-are.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/uk-culture-minister-the-proms-are.html Tue, 4 Mar 2008 19:35:48 EST Britain's culture minister, Margaret Hodge, has caused an outcry by saying that the Proms, which are among London and the U.K.'s top cultural attractions, are elitist. The Proms are a lengthy summer series of mostly classical concerts held at London's Royal Albert Hall. Top conductors swan in and out of what is a truly breathtaking array of concerts. The BBC, the series' sponsor, says that the aim of the Proms is to make classical music more accessible, not less. Still, Ms. Hodge said that Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/cowards-brief-encounter-a-lively.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/03/cowards-brief-encounter-a-lively.html Sun, 2 Mar 2008 14:23:29 EST It is easy to forget that "Brief Encounter" — the classic 1945 film about a love affair between two married people who meet at a train station — was an adaptation of a one-act play, written by Noël Coward in 1936. What better reminder, then, than the new production at Cinema on the Haymarket, off Piccadilly? The Cinema is a big hall, with old-fashioned seating and balconies, and tea sets scattered about the foyer and bars as decoration. Converted to theatrical purpose (and thus returned to its Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/contemporary-art-pulls-in-the.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/contemporary-art-pulls-in-the.html Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:20:00 EST Last night's sale of Contemporary art at Sotheby's was a good indicator that this most volatile sector of the art market is in more robust health than ever. The auction raised $189,423,299, soundly beating the estimate of $102,855,000, making it the highest total for any European Contemporary art sale to date. Francis Bacon, who has been the darling of the Contemporary auctions for several seasons, commanded the highest bid. His "Study of Nude with Figure in a Mirror," an enigmatic full-length Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/a-blockbuster-ban-at-the-national.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/a-blockbuster-ban-at-the-national.html Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:51:07 EST An austere but blissfully refreshing message from the new director of the National Gallery, Nicholas Penny: Culture is not all about blockbuster exhibitions of superstar artists. And from now on, neither will be the National Gallery. Mr. Penny said on Tuesday that museums have lost sight of their true purpose, to show people new things and so to educate. He said that too many institutions in London are simply showing images, or objects, that people are already familiar with. "The Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/a-lot-of-banksy-some-unseen.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/a-lot-of-banksy-some-unseen.html Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:48:24 EST Sixty pieces by the beloved graffiti artist Banksy will go on show this Friday in what will be one of the biggest exhibitions of his works so far, and will include six pieces that have never been shown before. Among the offerings at the Andipa Gallery in Knightsbridge will be a drawing Banksy made for a band called Onecut in his native Bristol in 1999/2000: a black-and-white picture of something resembling a gramophone. Apparently, he didn't have time to make a stencil for the piece, called Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/kureishi-has-something-to-tell-us.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/kureishi-has-something-to-tell-us.html Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:35:19 EST London is basking in the pre-release droplets of what will surely be its biggest literary splash in months: Hanif Kureishi's "Something to Tell You" on March 6, a book which critics are calling his best since 1990's "The Buddha of Suburbia." The Telegraph calls it "a big book in every way" and "hugely enjoyable," while Time Out calls it "a vital, teeming, panoramic, immersive novel." The book centers on Jamal, a fifty-something psychoanalyst, and his teenage son, Rafi. Despite the upright Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/from-russia-modernist-surprises-at.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/from-russia-modernist-surprises-at.html Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:38:00 EST When I saw the line outside the Royal Academy on Thursday morning for the "From Russia" exhibition, I nearly fainted. Well, that might be something of an exaggeration, but suffice it to say I was really, really glad I'd remembered my press ID. As a result, I got to skip the queue, but my companion (who had already seen it once) could not. We parted ways, and as I overtook the long, curving tail of visitors, I swore the exhibit had better be as good as all that. Otherwise, what were these people Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/the-wily-pinter-woman.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/the-wily-pinter-woman.html Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:47:10 EST Maybe it was because it was the same night as the Brit Awards. But the Comedy Theatre was strangely empty last night, which was odd given the delectable nature of the show and London's voracious appetite for well-reviewed theater. We were there to see the Harold Pinter double bill of "The Lover" and "The Collection," each first seen on TV — in 1963 and 1961, respectively. (There has been a Pinter extravaganza in town for a while now, with "The Hothouse" recently finishing up at the National and Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/tate-modern-goes-dada.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/tate-modern-goes-dada.html Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:03:31 EST Today the curtain rose on the Tate Modern's big spring show: a Modernist extravaganza of works by Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Francis Picabia, the founding fathers of Dadaism. Critics have been delighted by the enormous show (more than 300 works), which spans the 20th century from the 1910s until 1976, when Man Ray, the last surviving of the three, died. The friendship among the artists is the exhibition's thematic glue — for although their work is different, Man Ray, Duchamp, and Picabia Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/a-sumptuous-sylvia-from-the-royal.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/a-sumptuous-sylvia-from-the-royal.html Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:35:41 EST And so to the Royal Opera House last night to see Torquato Tasso's "Sylvia," which the Royal Ballet is performing only sporadically this season. (It is competing with, among others, "La Traviata," "Die Zauberflöte," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the ROH this month and next.) It was certainly worth the wait. This ballet of gods and nymphs and other mythological creatures (music by Léo Delibes, choreography by Frederick Ashton, staging by Christopher Newton) was rendered in a style so Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/vanity-fair-icons-are-portrait.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/02/vanity-fair-icons-are-portrait.html Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:07:02 EST It's the tastiest exhibit the National Portrait Gallery has hosted in some time. Who wouldn't get absorbed in a gallery of Vanity Fair's most iconic photographs? Annie Leibovitz's naked, pregnant Demi Moore here; Julianne Moore as an Ingres nude there — nothing could be more delicious. So the exhibition, simply called "Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913–2008," will be a crowd-pleaser. But it is also an elegant and nostalgic reminder of how our obsession with celebrity can lead to art of