Let's take a breather, shall we? I mean, the world of opera isn't comprised solely of pole-dancing, b1tchy, flakey divas // oh gawd. wait...is it?! I promise we'll get back to Angela in a sec...you're not going to believe what she's gone on the record with...but for now:
As earlier reported here, Young Maestro (/and Man Utd fan go utd go) Daniel Harding is currently on tour throughout Asia as Principal Guest Conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra, and shuttling between Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur. One of the benevolent endeavors of the tour was the implementation of a Masterclass with Beijing's behemoth Central Conservatory of Music, where as of a few days ago, Harding guided three lucky students (a selection of promising young talent) around the nuances of conducting an orchestra.
China Central Television carries the story, as well as a two-minute segment film (direct media link here). Everything seems copacetic enough, so here's hoping that Harding doesn't pull a Celibidache /// anyone ever seen "Sergiu Celibidache's Garden"?! omg omg i had nightmares for weeks!
(for those of you who haven't seen it yet, you should: you see 'The Good Celi' sweetly feeding the ducks in his Zen garden, and then it cuts to 'The Bad Celi' sadistically eviscerating his horrified masterclass students right in front of a roomful of their peers, using his baton the way Uma Thurman used her katana in the tarantino movies).