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Los Angeles Times - The Arts
July 8th, 2009
Culture Monster blog: All the arts. All the time.


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July 12th, 2009
Roberto Bolle, ABT's latest leading man
The Italian dancer, well-known in Europe, makes his Los Angeles debut in 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
In his native Italy, Roberto Bolle has achieved a degree of popularity unknown to ballet dancers in this country. His chiseled, handsome features -- not to mention his hunky torso -- are featured in magazine spreads and advertising campaigns. But he is also the real deal: a tall, supremely elegant dancer with exceptional line, harmonious plastique and partnering skills that have kept him in demand among leading ballerinas worldwide.


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July 12th, 2009
Paul Lewis gets to the heart of the matter
The British pianist's main focus is Beethoven, but he also tackles other masters of the Austro-German classical repertoire.
Some pianists launch their career by challenging the work of the composers they play -- making a piece their own with a radical re-interpretation. The young Glenn Gould took J.S. Bach at an unheard-of speed, while Vladimir Horowitz found an unplumbed neurotic intensity in Robert Schumann.


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July 12th, 2009
Royal armor and portraits at the National Gallery of Art
A second Spanish-accented exhibition, on painter Luis Meléndez, is bound for Los Angeles.
Suits of armor were once so finely wrought that an attacking lance would glance off their smooth metal harmlessly. But then, as the Middle Ages moved into the Renaissance, European kings demanded that the craftsmen finish the armor with elaborate decoration. All the engraving and embossing upset the surface of the armor. A lance would no longer slip away. But that did not matter.


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July 12th, 2009
Stratford festival gets musical
The financially ailing Canadian festival's program this year -- more singing, less Shakespeare -- is paying off at the box office.
Antoni Cimolino and Des McAnuff, the duopoly in charge of the beloved Stratford Shakespeare Festival, began their annual letter to patrons with a fervent declaration: "Shakespeare is at the center of our dramatic universe." True, this charming and hospitable Ontario town has hosted North America's most prominent, classically based theater for more than half a century. But like all savvy administrators, Cimolino and McAnuff are also doing some get-ahead-of-the-story damage control.


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