The volatile and complex character of Ben Jonson, poet and playwright of comic genius is the subject of an excellent new biography by Ian Donaldson. Friend and rival of Shakespeare, “Rare Ben Jonson”, renowned for his wit and appetite, was the stepson of a bricklayer who became the court poet under Elizabeth I and James I and England’s first literary celebrity.
Faradzh Karaev is one of the leading composers of the post Soviet era – composing, teaching and conducting between his native Azerbaijan and Moscow where he currently lives. He discusses his own musical career, modernism, the musical avant garde and new developments in teaching.
Following a sellout exhibition at the Bode Museum in Berlin, “Renaissance Portraits” has moved to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Alessandra Quattrocchi survived the queues to take in an amazing collection. Here she explores the glorious origins of Italian portraiture.
Updated for January 2012. Every month we recommend a few music CDs. This time we have a distinctly Eastern European flavour: Besh o Drom, Kálmán Balogh and the Gipsy Cimbalom Band, Csik Zenekar, the Hungarian folk group get main billing.
Political Tours
