Arty Choke
By @mabjones
Autumn is a great time for classical music, and I’m looking forward to The Metropolitan Opera, which continues its series on Sat 10 Nov with The Tempest – A rare chance to see some Emmy award-winning music in Newport’s Riverfront. Elgar’s Dream Of Gerontius is a stark and powerful piece, and this will be at Llandaff Cathedral on Sat 17. The BBC National Orchestra Of Wales will share the rich, late romantic splendour of Zemlinsky’s music at St David’s Hall on Fri 2.
I’m also looking forward to some flamenco jazz at the Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama on Fri 2 (same night! Oops). The Soundtrack Film And Music Festival runs from Wed 14-Sun 18 and features a tonne of fab films and music, including features about David Bowie and A Tribe Called Quest. This takes place in Cineworld and Chapter among other venues.
In Cardiff’s Weston Studio at the Wales Millennium Centre, there are plenty of pert goings-on, in particular in the world of dance. Vincent Dance Theatre’s Motherland will be showing a piece that “inches its way through airbrushed beauty, Botox and victim-blaming” on Mon 19, and there’s a Ballet Cymru double bill on Fri 9. Then we have award-winning choreographer and associate artist of Sadler’s Wells at the Riverfront on Tues 20. “Exploring notions of what keeps our imagination free,” Freedom promises a breathtaking physicality and beguiling theatricality.
In literature, there will be a poetry recital in Urdu on Fri 2 at the Cardiff Muslim School in Cathays, followed by Arabic Short Fictions on Sat 3 at the Wales Millennium Centre. Ace performance poet Luke Wright will be performing at Neath Library on Tues 13, with tickets at a mere £1.50! In Merthyr, the Imperial Hotel hosts its regular monthly open mic night, with special guest John Freeman. As usual, it is free to attend and comes highly recommended.
Ending with art, we can reveal that Carol Houtman will be showing an Ovid-inspired video installation piece at the Riverfront from Thurs 1, while Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum will host the Richard and Rosemary Wakelin Purchase Award 2012, which is given annually to a Welsh artist purchased from the collection. Following on from Africa and Afrovibes, Cardiff’s Norwegian Church will host an exhibition of over 50 works in support of Mothers Of Africa. Including painting, sculpture, prints and illustrated books, this looks to be a very vibrant and colourful exhibition indeed.
Enjoy, art lovers! x