Saturday Review - 11/07/2009

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by comedian Natalie Haynes, writer David Benedict and writer and comedian Danny Robins to discuss the cultural highlights of the week - featuring a reclusive soprano, Austria's top fashionista and a profusion of Union Jacks. Bruno is Sasha Baron Cohen's latest comedy incarnation. When this gay, Austrian fashionista gets the push as host of Funkyzeit mit Bruno, he heads to the US with the aim of becoming a global celebrity. Cue Baron Cohen's stock in trade of pulling the rug from under public figures and the general public with stunts of jaw-dropping tastelessness. Is it really satire? Maybe. Prima Donna represents singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright's first compositional foray into the world of opera. Janis Kelly sings the lead role of Regine Saint-Laurent, a fading operatic soprano who is considering a return to the stage. The opera is playing at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, as part of the Manchester International Festival. Dara Horn was named as one of the Best Young American Novelists by Granta magazine in 2007. All Other Nights is her third novel and its protagonist is a young Jewish soldier in the American Civil War - Jacob Rappaport. Having run away from home to join the Union army, Jacob finds himself selected to carry out acts of counter-espionage against Confederate conspirators which have devastating consequences Zaha Hadid is a renowned architect who became the first female recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004. As part of the Manchester International Festival, she has been commissioned to create a chamber music hall within Manchester Art Gallery. The resulting installation consists of a series of graceful curves partially enclosing a small auditorium and stage. A limited number of performances will be taking place in the hall. The Jack in Gilbert and George's Jack Freak Pictures refers to the Union Jack which is a recurrent motif in the single largest series of work the duo have produced. As usual, the artists themselves are a key feature of the work, in various distorted and manipulated guises, along with maps, medals, nettles and graffiti. The exhibition is staged at the White Cube galleries in Mason's Yard and Hoxton Square, London.