Yesterday, some privileged ones, attended at the Liceu a perfect performance of Andrea Chenier. When opera reaches that degree of perfection, very rare on the other hand, and the audience surrenders like yesterday's at the Liceu, opera lovers understand what Riccardo Muti means about the difficulty of the art of conducting: "... I believe that I am halfway along the road, and I am sure that I will never reach the other shore of the river, because behind the notes dwells the infinite, which means God, and we are too small before God". The great attraction was the debut in Spain! of Jonas Kaufmann (48!) singing staged opera, so the house was completely full and the expectation indescribable.
Alfonso Cortina
Woody Allen never ceases to surprise. In his latest film, Blue Jasmine presents a completely new approach to the economic crisis about which cinema has also spoken so much in recent years. Inside Job, Margin Call, The Company…
Maira Herrero
I saw your eyes fixing on my answer. “YES”. It came out of a dark and unsuspected part inside me. I remembered exactly that sensation and the need to breathe pure air. To sweat and feel the…
Marina Valcárcel
To read such surprising literature in Spanish at this stage of my life fills me with satisfaction. Chirbes has devoted his life to this craft, but through sheer ignorance I have only just discovered him in this novel of…
Maira Herrero
Guest author: Pedro Oriol. Painter Once again I recall the words of Miltos: “If I leave it, it leaves me” This morning, walking along Calle Mayor amid the crowd, my eye fell…
Pedro Oriol
Guest author: Pedro Oriol. Painter The old prodigies, Miguel Angel, Leonardo, (perhaps those two were everything in their time, youth, maturity, old age), Goya and his last black painting, Velazquez and his jesters,…
Pedro Oriol
Guest contributor: Pedro Oriol. Painter Why reproach a sorrowful person for their sorrow, and a joyful one for their joy? Each time a flash of light illuminates one part, the other is cast…
Pedro Oriol
On some early mornings, when everything is still dark, I go down to the studio and sit before the great window. There I wait, motionless, to watch how the light gradually restores to things their weight. It is…
Pedro Oriol
Many are the creators who, throughout history, have believed they saw the origins of creativity, or at least some of its requirements, in good health and a feeling of wholeness. But neither are they few those who found the best stimuli for their creations to be suffering and sickness. Some seem to heed Horace’s advice to "delight and instruct"
José Lázaro
Jean-Paul Sartre, the father of existentialism, argued that man lacks essence and is condemned to be free. Jean-Paul Sartre was a man of many parts: philosopher, novelist, playwright, literary critic and political agitator. But he was, above all else, someone who made the absolute most of a life that was intense.
Pedro García Cuartango
