Opera News - "Not so long ago, making a fanfare about big frocks and fancy sets in opera was the preserve of that crowd-pleasing impresario Raymond Gubbay," wrote Emma Pomfret in The Times. "Heaven forbid that you uttered the words "authentic" or "spectacular" inside a "serious" opera house . . . But take a look around . . . Welsh National Opera's new production of Verdi's Otello comes "with opulent, traditional costumes". Scottish Opera is promising "an authentic take" on La traviata from David McVicar next month. And this week Zandra Rhodes's so-flashy-it's-trashy Aida - a "lavish theatrical spectacle" - returns to ENO. Trad is back."
Digital News - Cinema-going is under threat in many towns and rural areas, with almost half of Britain's venues facing possible closure in the next five years. The cost of the switchover from celluloid film to digital technology will mean the survival of the fittest, imperilling local cinemas that lack the financial muscle of the multiplexes.
The UK Film Council estimates that it would cost more than £50 million for the vulnerable cinemas to convert to digital. Hollywood is impatient for the transition because it will cut distribution costs and help to combat piracy. The pace is about to be stepped up. This month the three largest American chains signed a deal to convert all their cinemas to digital.
Thanks for the Memory - Levi Stubbs, lead singer of legendary Motown band The Four Tops, has died aged 72. The Detroit band became one of Motown Records' biggest successes, scoring hits including Bernadette and Reach Out (I'll Be There).
And a fond farewell to Britain's leading rock'n'roll cartoonist, Ray Lowry, whose stylish and witty illustrations, satirical drawings and strips enlivened New Musical Express for much of the 1970s and 1980s . . . There was a fine Lowry cartoon published many years back: A coffin with a guitar on it and a thought bubble: "Apparently I didn't wake up this morning".(Jim Evans)
