Soundbites
Painting with Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti’s love of painting is being celebrated with the one-off sale of ‘Life Art’, a new display case that comes complete with artists’ tools, paints and a digital music player. Aimed at the luxury end of the market – just ten are being made and each is selling for a tasty £84,000 – the case (above) is adorned with a picture of Venice painted by the great tenor himself.
Devon-sent opportunity
Sara Mohr-pietsch, with whom many of our readers will be familiar as a presenter on Radio 3, has been made the new artistic director of the Dartington International Summer School and Festival, taking over from pianist Joanna Macgregor. Rest assured, however, that when she begins her new job in Devon, Mohr-pietsch will not be disappearing entirely from the airwaves.
Appy listeners
And talking of radio, late October saw the launch of the new BBC Sounds app. Providing access to over 80,000 hours’ worth of audio material, BBC Sounds cleverly adapts itself to each user’s listening habits and provides a one-stop shop to the BBC’S live and on-demand radio plus podcasts. It can be downloaded from itunes, Google Play Store and Amazon App Store.
Donkey hooty
With rehearsals for Nativity looming on the horizon, one donkey in Ireland has already made her pitch for a starring role. Unable to bray like her asinine peers, Harriet, who lives in a field somewhere in Galway, instead sings with a high-pitched voice, complete with vibrato – a unique vocal talent that has made her an overnight internet sensation. All hail the Maria Call-ass of the farmyard!