This is Beirut

A Duo, Two Pianos, a Thousand Emotions: The Labèque Sisters Enchant Abu Dhabi

Bélinda Ibrahim, 18/04 18:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Abu Dhabi Festival Labèque Sisters Piano Music Culture

For the 22nd edition of the Abu Dhabi Festival, at the Red Theater of NYU Abu Dhabi, Katia and Marielle Labèque captivated the audience. Their recital wove a striking dialogue between Glass and Cocteau, with Ravel as a musical bridge. The evening opened with Glass’s La Belle et la Bête, its hypnotic motifs unfolding across two ...

Mulatu Astatke’s Timeless Ethio-Jazz Legacy Continues Worldwide

This is Beirut, 18/04 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Music Jazz Art Cuture Paris Ethiopia

Mulatu Astatke struggled for decades before his name became associated worldwide with a musical genre, and he was finally born as the father of Ethio-jazz. Now, despite that long journey and his 81 years of age, the Ethiopian music legend cannot even "think about retirement." A one-man band, equally at home with the vibraphone and the conga, a ...

Sweden Goes into Eurovision as Punters' Favorite

This is Beirut, 17/04 14:11 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Music Eurovision Award Television Switzerland Sweden

Eurovision is the world's biggest talent show, featuring 37 national entries, but one country seems to regularly dominate the conversation and the winners' podium: Sweden. With a month to go before the grand finale in Basel on May 17, anything could happen. But Sweden, which has already won the glitzy glamfest seven times - tied with ...

Abu Dhabi Festival: Kuniko Kato Plays Bach and Miyoshi

Bélinda Ibrahim, 15/04 18:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Abu Dhabi Festival Japan Kuniko Kato Music Bach

Abu Dhabi, Blue Hall, The Arts Center, April 14, 2025 Beneath the sleek arches of this hall nestled in the heart of the NYU Abu Dhabi campus, the 22nd edition of the Abu Dhabi Festival offered more than just a concert that evening. The event opened on a deeply cultural and symbolic note, where music became a bridge between civilizations—echoing ...

Lady Gaga, Missy Elliott Set Coachella on Fire

This is Beirut, 12/04 18:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Music Festival Culture Art

The California desert was buzzing Friday as the premier music festival Coachella got underway, with Lady Gaga and Missy Elliott set to helm day one's main stage. Thousands of music fans traversed the sprawling grounds whipping paper fans and wielding parasols, as temperatures cracked the 100-degree Fahrenheit mark (37.8 degrees Celsius). That ...

The Sound of Music: One Movie, Countless Lives, Sixty Years of Emotion

Bélinda Ibrahim, 08/04 18:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Sound of Music Film Music Homage Culture

We all remember that iconic image: a silhouette spinning atop alpine meadows, arms wide open beneath a boundless blue sky. Picture March 2, 1965—the day The Sound of Music premiered at the Rivoli Theatre in New York. And now, six decades later, its charm remains as vibrant as ever. Years may have passed, but the first notes of “Do-Re-Mi” or ...

Music Industry Battles AI Deepfakes With Limited Progress

This is Beirut, 07/04 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

New York Music AI Donald Trump Art

The music industry is fighting on multiple fronts—through streaming platforms, in the courts, and with lawmakers—to prevent the looting and misuse of its content by generative artificial intelligence (AI). But the results so far remain underwhelming. 75,000. That’s the number of deepfakes that Sony Music says it has already requested to be ...

Bruce Springsteen Reveals Hidden Albums After Four Decades

Madeleine Cadoux, 06/04 14:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Music Album Art Bruce Springsteen Culture Singer

American rock legend Bruce Springsteen announced Thursday that he will release a new box set in June featuring 83 previously unreleased songs across seven albums. Tracks II: The Lost Albums is set to be released on June 27. It includes full albums recorded between 1983 and 2018, many of which were mixed but never officially published, according ...

Anna Netrebko Returns to Royal Opera House Stage

This is Beirut, 06/04 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Music Culture Art Opera Russia

Russian superstar soprano Anna Netrebko — shunned on some world stages since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine — will appear at London's Royal Opera House later this year. Netrebko, 53, will star in a production of Puccini's Tosca from September 11, marking her return to Covent Garden after a six-year absence, the Royal Opera said on its ...

'Who Believes in Angels?': Elton John Launches Boldest Album Since the 1970s

This is Beirut, 04/04 12:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Music Album Elton John Singer Culture Art

The British artist Elton John is releasing his new album Who Believes in Angels? this Friday, co-written with American singer Brandi Carlile, and which he describes as his "most innovative" record since the 1970s. "This album marks a new beginning for me," said the 78-year-old singer in an interview with British radio Smooth Radio. "It’s very ...

Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Ticket Scalping

This is Beirut, 02/04 10:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Music Entertainment Tickets Price

The directive seeks to prevent "unscrupulous middlemen" from profiting off reselling tickets for concerts and other events at an "enormous markup". It orders the US attorney general and the Treasury secretary to use "all legal means" to stamp out soaring price gouging and calls on the Federal Trade Commission to "ensure price transparency at all ...

Souad Massi Urges Paris and Algiers to Reconnect

This is Beirut, 30/03 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Concert France Algeria Berlin Music Culture

She is one of the artists who best embodies the deep bond—and tensions—between France and Algeria. Souad Massi says she feels "sad" about the current diplomatic crisis between the two countries, which, according to her, "should talk things through like a couple," as she told AFP in an interview. Performing at the Berlin Philharmonie on ...

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