Spoletoblog

More New York coverage

[June 8th editor's note: A.L. Gordon is most certainly a woman (my apologies, A.L.), and a commenter also provides a link to a previous Gordon column about the festival. It includes this very to-the-point observation: "The Spoleto party scene tells a larger story about a new group of social movers and shakers who are transforming Charleston into the New York of the South, as it was known before the Civil War. The New Guard is made up of couples in their 30s and 40s with young children who attend the city’s most prestigious private schools together — about half the first-grade class at Charleston Day School was born outside Charleston."]  

(June 7, 4 p.m. editor's note: An anonymous commenter says A.L. Gordon may be a woman. I don't have a clue, and couldn't find out from surfing the Sun's website before I made the first post. Latent sexism? Perhaps. But I'm updating the post to reflect this tip. -- dc)

Here's A.L. Gordon's Sunday "Out and About" column from The New York Sun, written about his her Spoleto adventures in Charleston. Gordon got invited to a party at Neil Stevenson's place, which must have made him her feel right at home.

Be sure to scroll down to the photos at the bottom. There's a prominent local newspaper publisher in there...

By the way, I found this via the opera blog "An Unamplified Voice"...

NYT critic on 'Don Giovanni'

Critic James Oestreich of The New York Times dropped in for a review of Don Giovanni, the other operas, and the festival in general  this morning ("A Don Giovanni Close to the Edge, Like Everyone Else").

Oestreich joined the ranks of practically every critic here in praising Don Giovanni, but the ultimate significance of his review is that it will go farther than all the words written locally to establish the production's international reputation... not to mention the reputation of the 2005 festival.

His lead:

CHARLESTON, SC: In a wildly adventurous season of opera at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. here, the hottest topic of discussion is not "The Kingdom of Desire," a compelling Beijing opera version of "Macbeth." Nor is it "Die Vögel," a little-known, effusively tuneful work by Walter Braunfels, or "La Bella Dormente nel Bosco," a charming puppet opera by Respighi, as hot as all those have been.

Instead it is the most standard of operas, Mozart's "Don Giovanni," in a staging by Günter Krämer. And rightly so.

P&C Spoleto coverage today

For links to everything....SpoletoToday at Charleston.net...

Spoleto 2005 off and running...Star rising for violist-conductor ...Jazz musician fuses musical influences... Virtuoso performance opens chamber series...Collas take your breath...One-person shows offer edgier fare ...Tap dancing king Glover can sing, too ...McGarry jazz show dazzles ...Flights of fancy ...Say ciao to Italian rivalry...CALENDAR OF EVENTS ...Spoleto 2005 off and running ...'Die Voegel' thrills audience...Riveting 'Yellowman' about shades of black...

Blair Tindall

Meet Blair Tindall, the P&C's new Spoleto critic.

Blair fills a role originated by Bob Jones, who joined the P&C as festival critic in 1977 and eventually moved to Charleston full-time. Bob died in November at age 72.

Blair is a Chapel Hill native who lives near New York, but she has Charleston roots. Her grandparents, Hobson and Mabel McGarrity, lived in South Windermere from the 1920s to the 1980s, and her mother, Blossom McGarrity Tindall, graduated from Memminger High School in 1939.

Spoleto busting out all over...

Our first SpoletoToday section this morning means arts coverage all over the place in the A section.

Here's Dottie's overview, which should orient anyone just dropping in to what's happening today, etc. If you're in "From Off," there's a venue map on 9A, but here's another hint: If you can't find something in Charleston, just ask someone who isn't wearing shorts. They'll give you directions, and quite possibly a history lesson.

Inside we've got today's calendar; a first look at Die Vogel by Yvonne Wenger; Erin Holaday's piece on "Life with a Teenager;" Jack McCray on the CSU ensemble and jazz singer Kate McGarry; plus a useful listing of visual arts exhibitions.

The opening ceremonies aren't at the Four Corners of Law (City Hall) this year, so it will be interesting to see how things come off. If nothing else, our picture of the ceremony will have a different backdrop. And maybe being closer to the harbor will bring us more of a breeze...

See you there...

City Paper: "Spoleto Buzz-Blog"

Patrick Sharbaugh over at The City Paper is doing the blog-thing too: You'll find him at Spoleto Buzz-Blog.

Patrick posted his tentative event-attendance schedule for the entire 2005 festival back on May 20th, and it's ambitious. Where he's gonna find time to blog in the midst of all that, we don't know, but it should be interesting to watch.

Preview does parties

Our buddy Bryce Donovan (left, with lady-slaying 'stache) weighed in on Spoleto this morning with a Preview cover story about festival parties.

Bryce's coverage gets to the bottom line: Who is going to be there, and how much is it going to cost?

Not that the publicly announced festival parties are always the biggest, best or coolest, but, on the other hand, they're the ones we know about. A review of private parties ... ah, now there's some unplowed ground. But I digress...

 

Special section

The P&C's festival guide came out in today's edition: 36 pages of handy stuff that's particularly useful because it lists events from both festivals day by day. If you're in town and planning to make the most of festival season, you'll want it.

If you're not in Charleston at the moment, you can sort out your schedule here. Still useful, but not as easy to fold up and carry around.