Big-screen composer
Composer Joseph Boulogne is to be the subject of a new Hollywood film. The Searchlight Pictures movie, which is being written by Stefani Robinson and directed by Stephen Williams, will tell of the remarkable life of the ferociously talented Boulogne who, also known as Chevalier de Saint-georges, was the toast of Paris towards the end of 18th century, earning himself the nickname ‘the Black Mozart’ and hobnobbing with royalty.
Doctor Poster
Kings Place is to stage a unique new series of one-to-one concerts over August and September. The Kings Place Culture Clinics will involve visitors to the London venue enjoying a 15-minute consultation in which they tell a musician about their lockdown experiences before having a piece of music prescribed to them in return. Artists involved include pianist Tom Poster and violinist Elena Urioste.
Organ blaze
A man has been arrested after fire broke out in Nantes Cathedral in France, destroying the building’s 400-year-old main organ.
The instrument, which has undergone major alterations over the centuries that reflect the demands of various eras, was the only large casualty of the blaze, which was brought under control before it could cause structural damage to the cathedral itself. The lack of evidence of a break-in led police to believe a cathedral employee was responsible.
Melodious melons
A Greek farmer says that classical music has helped him grow a bumper crop of watermelons. Since sowing the seeds in midmarch, Panagiotis Giltidis has stood in his fields on a daily basis, serenading his plants with his singing. The result, it seems, was a bumper harvest, despite less-than-ideal weather conditions this year.