Grace Jones in Lovebox, Gorilla Art, Domingo: London Weekend
Violinist Nicola Benedetti. Benedetti makes her debut at the annual BBC3 Proms concert series this year in London. Source: BBC Proms via Bloomberg
The Royal Albert Hall during the BBC3 Proms concert series. This year's programs runs from July 16 through Sept. 11. Source: BBC Proms via Bloomberg
Placido Domingo as Simon Boccanegra in the 1881 Verdi opera, at the Royal Opera House. Famed for his career as a tenor, Domingo turns baritone to sing this role. Photographer: Catherine Ashmore/Royal Opera via Bloomberg
Placido Domingo and Marina Poplavskaya in the Verdi opera "Simon Boccanegra" at the Royal Opera House. The Elijah Moshkinsky production keeps the action in the fourteenth century, the era of the real-life Simon Boccanegra. Photographer: Catherine Ashmore/Royal Opera via Bloomberg
Ferruccio Furlanetto, left, and Placido Domingo in the Verdi opera "Simon Boccanegra" at the Royal Opera House. It is only when Boccanegra (Domingo) is suffering from the effects of poison that his old enemy Fiesco (Furlanetto) can make peace with him. Photographer: Catherine Ashmore/Royal Opera via Bloomberg
Zoe Wanamaker and David Suchet in Arthur Miller's ''All My Sons." The play, directed by Howard Davies, is at London's Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, through Oct. 2. Photographer: Nobby Clark/Jo Allan PR via Bloomberg
"Silver Streak"
Ruder Finn Inc. via Bloomberg
"Silver Streak,'' a three-meter high gorilla by David Mach. The piece is made of wire coat hangers and took a central position at the first annual Abu Dhabi art fair.
"Silver Streak,'' a three-meter high gorilla by David Mach. The piece is made of wire coat hangers and took a central position at the first annual Abu Dhabi art fair. Source: Ruder Finn Inc. via Bloomberg
"Memories of Rain"
John Bodkin/Royal Academy via Bloomberg
"Memories of Rain" by John Hoyland. The work is on show at the Royal Academy summer exhibition through August 22.
"Memories of Rain" by John Hoyland. The work is on show at the Royal Academy summer exhibition through August 22. Photographer: John Bodkin/Royal Academy via Bloomberg
"High Summer" by Gillian Ayres. The work is displayed at the Royal Academy summer exhibition through August 22. Source: Royal Academy via Bloomberg
"Crash Willy" by Yinka Shonibare. The work is featured at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition through August 22. Source: Royal Academy via Bloomberg
Large Left-Handed Drummer
John Bodkin/Royal Academy via Bloomberg
"Large Left-Handed Drummer" by Barry Flanagan. The work is on show at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition through August 22.
"Large Left-Handed Drummer" by Barry Flanagan. The work is on show at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition through August 22. Photographer: John Bodkin/Royal Academy via Bloomberg
An undated handout photo, provided to the media on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 shows singer Grace Jones. Source: Lawrence Watson/The Outside Organisation via Bloomberg News
Dizzee Rascal opens the Lovebox Weekender festival, which has now grown to a three-day rock event in east London’s Victoria Park.
The rapper’s Friday night show has the Noisettes in support. Saturday’s lineup is led by 1970s rockers Roxy Music and Mark Ronson, the producer of Amy Winehouse. Scary diva Grace Jones brings the show to a close on Sunday after a set from electropop band Hot Chip.
Information: http://www.lovebox.net/
Saturday
Art’s answer to MySpace has taken over the Royal Academy.
Since 1768, any artist can make a submission to the RA’s annual Summer Exhibition. This year, some 1,200 works crowd the main galleries, and most are for sale (you’ll find the prices in the handy little booklet).
It’s an uneven lineup, and your eyes may be drawn to the older masters dotting the show (Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, David Hockney, Anthony Caro). Still, there’s something for all tastes and budgets in this apercu of the U.K. visual-arts scene.
A highlight: the hulking gorilla made of wire coat hangers by David Mach, which turned heads at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair in November. See also Mach’s collage “Babel Towers.”
Information: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ or call +44-844-209-1919.
Saturday Night
The play that convinced Arthur Miller to carry on writing for theater is now at the Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue.
“All My Sons” is based on a true story spotted in the Ohio press by Miller’s then mother-in-law. It’s about a family man whose sale of faulty plane parts to the U.S. military causes World War II deaths that come back to haunt him. The staging by Howard Davies stars David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker.
Information: http://www.apollo-theatre.co.uk or call +44-845-505-8500.
Those who prefer an evening of high-caliber Brazilian vocals can hear Maria Bethania at the Royal Festival Hall. Information: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk or call +44-844-875-0073.
Gauthier serves exquisite small plates of seasonal French cuisine in a Regency-style Soho townhouse. The lunch and pre- theater menu is 18 pounds for two courses, 25 pounds for three. Information: http://www.gauthiersoho.co.uk/ or call +44-20-7494-311.
Sunday
Few were lucky enough over the last month to hear star tenor Placido Domingo in a baritone role: Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” at the Royal Opera. Sunday is a chance to watch him do it all over again, for a costumed and semi-staged version in the gigantic Royal Albert Hall.
The Proms, that much-loved British concert series started 115 years ago, open Friday with a staggering 500-member chorus performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. Saturday comes Welsh singer Bryn Terfel in Wagner’s “The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.”
Also performing between now and Sept. 11 are soprano Renee Fleming, conductor Simon Rattle, and two musicians making Prom debuts: violinist Nicola Benedetti and jazzman Jamie Cullum.
Information: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms or +44-845-401-5040.
(Farah Nayeri writes for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on the story: Farah Nayeri in London at farahn@bloomberg.net.
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