October 15th, 2009
This week, more than 400 exhibitors are in Paris, France for the 2009 Paris Chocolate Festival. The theme this year is opera.
The event kicked off last night with a chocolate fashion show where dresses are created by a combination of top fashion designers and chocolatiers.
Walking the runway wearing the chocolate fashions were models, actresses, television personalities and opera singers.
February 23rd, 2009
Spanish tenor Placido Domingo was named the first winner of the Birgit Nilsson Prize, worth $1million, for his unrivaled contributions to the world of opera.
The Swedish Birgit Nilsson, considered as one of the world’s best dramatic sopranos, created the price and selected Placido Domingo herself before her death at age 87 in December 2005.
Her choice was announced last Friday 20. Subsequent winners will be decided by the foundation’s council, with the help of a jury of prominent figures in classical music.
June 9th, 2008
Zaha Hadid Architects have developed designs for a new opera house and cultural centre for Dubai.
The fluid, dune-shaped will accommodate an opera house, playhouse, arts gallery, performing arts school and themed hotel on an island in Dubai Creek, just off the mainland part of the district.
All of these facilities will be state of the art to host world class performances and exhibitions. The opera house will have a seating capacity of 2,500 while the playhouse will have a seating capacity of 800.
The arts gallery with 5000m2 of exhibition space is indeed a full size exhibition facility comparable to the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The hotel will accommodate guests in a 6 star setting.
Sited on an island in Dubai Creek, the development will be connected to Greater Dubai by a road connection to the mainland.
The proposal houses all of the facilities within a single striking structure,” Zaha Hadid Architects describe the project. “The gentle winding form evokes images of mountains or sand dunes. Rising out of the ground, this form is both a part of the landscape yet very much a distinct element in the skyline. The surrounding landscape forms build up to the main building. These constitute open park spaces as well as ancillary functions such as the parking facilities and the monorail station, which are either tucked under or integrated into the landscape forms.
