Oreos for the opera
Plus, Rosalía's operatic turn.
Hello. Free letter today!
Last night I saw Ballet Collective. Tonight I see Oh Mary.
Everyone* loves a heist. So much so that when a Picasso seemed to go missing in a small Spanish town outside of Grenada, locals jumped to play investigator. But lo, after a week, the authorities uncovered Still Life With Guitar—in its owner’s building, the New York Times reported. All that excitement for nothing!
*Well not everyone.
“Leave Laurence alone!” —the 50-some museum directors who signed a letter of support for Laurence des Cars, president of the Louvre, in light of the museum’s theft. Le Monde published the op-ed, which reads, in part:
Museums are places of transmission and wonder. They offer all visitors opportunities for contemplation and moments of joy. They allow us to learn from the past, to deepen our understanding of the present and to weave meaningful dialogues with the masterpieces they show. Museums allow us to see the world differently.
Le Figaro reported that des Cars tried to submit her resignation after the break-in, but the institution refused to accept it.
O mio Motomami. Will Rosalía get into opera on her forthcoming album? If her latest single, featuring Björk, Yves Tumor, a German-singing choir, and the London Symphony Orchestra, is any proof…maybe! “Berghain,” at the very least, is refreshingly original. (Rosalía is also a classically trained Flamenco singer).
Modern dance choreographer and founder of his eponymous company Mark Morris has been accused of discrimination—specifically mistreating Black dancers—in a new lawsuit, the New York Times reported. The plaintiff, Taína Lyon, started at the company in 2022, and in 2024, her contract was terminated. The suit also contains the account of another Black dancer Charlton Boyd, who danced with Morris’s company in the 1990s and early 2000s; Boyd says that Morris called him by a racial slur on a “regular” basis. Morris and the company deny all allegations.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration has donated more than 400 works of art by Indigenous women to Spain, where it will appear in multiple museums and institutions across Madrid. This move is part of the countries’ efforts to reckon with their shared history (of Spain colonizing Mexico) and to uplight the Indigenous women artists that have been far too often ignored or silenced, El País reports.
Why did Akram Khan, the choreographer perhaps most known for his rather progressive take on the ballet Giselle, choreograph a piece in Saudi Arabia? He tells The Times: “Every country has its issues. I have qualms about working in America with Trump but if you take a political stance does that mean you don’t go to America? For me it’s very much about wanting to make work that hopefully will be part of change. And the Saudis agreed to all my conditions. I mean, the fact that I asked for 14 women to dance on stage was a big ask.”
The piece, Thikra: Night of Remembering, which had a site-specific premiere in AlUla this year, debuted in London this week. Another nugget from this interview: Khan has delayed his Royal Ballet commission, Carnage and the Divine, which was set to go up over the summer. Instead, he’s developing a duet for principal Francesca Hayward and guest artist Jeffrey Cirio (who also performed in Tiler Peck’s show at New York City Center).
King Tut’s tomb is at risk of collapse, according ArtNews. Luckily, a study published earlier this year in Nature outlines some ways that researchers can safely reinforce it, which could help preservation efforts at other sites.
Which museum do you think will scoop up Hokusai’s “Great Wave?” The famous Japanese woodblock print will go up for auction at Sotheby’s next month along with other treasures from the Okada Museum of Art, as owner Kazuo Okada has a $50 million legal bill to pay off from a business dispute, the New York Times reported.
Composer John Adams, who is known for his 1987 opera Nixon in China, will not be creating a Trump opera. “Nixon may have had very dark parts to his personality, but he also had idealism and was capable of empathy. Trump has zero empathy,” he told The Times.
Art world films kind of feel like they are trending right now. Auction, which came out last year in France, depicts the discovery of a Nazi-looted artwork by Egon Schiele; it comes to New York City’s Film Forum today, ArtNews reported. Mubi’s timely (yet 1970s-set) art heist movie, The Mastermind—which stars Josh O’Connor—also seems to be doing well.
Are we all planning to dress as the Louvre thieves for Halloween?
I absolutely love this NYT story about the food props of La Bohème (which include Oreos, fried chicken, and bagels). In fact it is compelling me to go see La Bohème.
I’m curious to see what Opera Colorado has planned for its next season. Its new CEO Barbara Lynne Jamison just took the helm, and she’ll have to manage with a tightened budget of $5.5 million. She needs to invigorate both attendees and donors, and it seems like stepping into some new repertoire might be the path forward, The Denver Gazette reported.
For those in Philly: Opera Philadelphia’s December production of The Seasons at the Kimmel Center for the Arts sounds like it will be good. Per OperaWire: “This bold reimagining of Antonio Vivaldi’s string masterpiece The Four Seasons received its world premiere performances in March 2025 with Boston Lyric Opera and features additional arias and ensembles by the composer, woven into a new libretto by Tony-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl.”
There are some high-fashion collabs going on at the Royal Opera. British designer Paul Smith is designing Covent Garden’s Christmas Tree, WWD reported. Meanwhile, a few weeks ago, the Royal Ballet unveiled a collab with British label Reiss. And now I am bummed I will not be in London during the holiday season.
For a very different tone, UK readers may want to check out the Royal Birmingham Ballet’s Black Sabbath: The Ballet, which goes this week to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre after a run in London, Semafor reports. The full-evening work features the creations of three composers and three choreographers; Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath guitarist, was also involved in the production.
Art is good for your health, according to the medical journal The Lancet, which just published a photo essay showcasing the impact of the arts on wellbeing. “Engaging with the arts is not an indulgence or an afterthought—it is part of the infrastructure of health. Just as we invest in clean water, nutrition and safe housing, we must invest in cultural participation as a determinant of wellbeing,” Nisha Sajnani, the co-director of Jameel Arts & Health Lab, told The Art Newspaper.
Another recent study led by King’s College London also found that visiting art galleries or art museums can “relieve stress, reduce the risk of heart disease and boost your immune system,” The Guardian reported.
Museum workers, however, are still struggling. The New York Times reported that more than half (54 percent) of museum employees have considered quitting in the last five years, according to a new survey by the nonprofit Museums Moving Forward. More than a quarter earn less than a living wage, working full-time jobs. This research found that employee satisfaction and sentiment has improved in the past two years, but still: this isn’t a good situation.
Alessandra Ferri, the prima ballerina now in charge of the Vienna State Ballet, spoke to Io Donna magazine about her role and stance on ballet today:
First of all, technique is not about performing 15 pirouettes, but to become such a master of it that, as you dance, you no longer have to worry about it and you are free. However, my approach is to go beyond preparation for the performance – I try to get the dancers to open the window to their heart, to their soul, and I try to give them the courage to go there. When I see someone get to that place (and I notice this because their facial features change), it is an incredible feeling. Priceless.
The New York City Ballet is still asking folks to send letters to their management as they continue to fight for a fair wage increase.
Misty Copeland spoke to the NYT after her final performance last week. She opened up about struggling to walk the following day and how she got back in shape after a five-year break from ballet. When asked about the pipeline for Black talent at ABT, she called out corps member Madison Brown, who, back in August, I predicted would become a soloist no later than 2027. We will continue to cheer her on! ▲