Set in Egypt in 48BC, Handel’s ‘Giulio Cesare’ tells the tale of the period in Julius Caesar’s reign where he meets the seductive Cleopatra and her psychopathic brother Tolomeo. Handel is best known for his concertos and oratorios but operas were his passion. Here his gorgeous arias are performed by renowned counter-tenors David Daniels (Cesare) and Bejun Mehta (Tolomeo), with soprano and Operalia winner Elizabeth Futral as Cleopatra. The staging is directed by Francisco Negrin, with Harry Bicket making his company début conducting this production. In Italian with English supertitles.
New Year’s Day
Barcelona’s most refreshing alternative cinema venture offers this indie British flick to wind up its 2000 season. ‘New Year’s Day’ from director Suri Krishnamma is the story of two 17-year-olds who, after narrowly surviving a mountain tragedy, decide they want to really live – but only for another year. Like other films presented by Cine Ambigú, it is one that local distributors have no plans to release. The one-off showings have a decidedly civilised ambience, complete with candlelit tables and bar service.
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill’s B-Real, Sen Dog and DJ Muggs are back with a vengeance. They took a break after their first three albums chockfull of menacing rhymes over hemp-heavy hip hop beats, then shot back in 1998 with Cypress Hill IV. They followed that up in 1999 with a long overdue album in Spanish, before releasing the new double ‘Skull and Bones’ this year, filled with those blunted beats and gangster boasts that made them the West Coast’s most consistent players.
42nd Street
The Hong Kong Singers stage the hit Broadway musical ‘42nd Street’ in conjunction with musical theatre students from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Everyone knows the story about an understudy who emerges from the wings to saves the show. The original show scooped a Tony award in 1981 and is one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway. A cast of 50 will be belting out such classic songs as ‘Lullaby On Broadway’ and, of course, ‘42nd Street’. In English.
Attraction
10 young international artists explore the theme of ‘attraction’ using a variety of different media. In Werner Amann’s photos it is a definition of attraction set by the media and the glamour industries, while work such as Annika Strom’s intimate video-diary entitled ‘Ten New Love Songs’ deals with the more personal attraction that is the beginning of a passionate or creative urge. Sculpture and installation also figure in this exhibition at one of the city’s most innovative galleries.
My trip to the Native Inuit Communities of Canada
there were more travelers going to the Canadian Arctic area in recent times for both business and tourism. Getting to the Arctic has long been an issue for travelers as there are no roads that go up there from southern Canadian cities.
The Arctic communities are extremely insulated from the remainder of Canada as well as from one another. Flying in has been the sole option though many coastal Arctic areas are serviced by load ship in the summers too. For the average traveler, the air option is the sole way to go. Though travel to the Canadian Arctic has increased, the quantity of travelers going up north is extremely little in comparison to number of travelers between southern Canadian towns. The sole commercial airlines which service the Arctic ( Nunavut and Northwest Territories ) for the average traveler are First Air and Canadian North. First Air also flies out of Montreal while Canadian North also has flights leaving from Edmonton and Calgary. These Canadian North flights will stop in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories before continuing to Nunavut. So travelers will need to get to one of these Canadian towns from their points of origin to hook up with an Arctic carrier. The expansion of Arctic tourism will continue to be limited thanks to the costly travel concerned.
if you are prepared to pay for it, a visit to the Canadian Arctic is one that may definitely be unusual and gratifying.
