BEAUTIFUL CAPE TOWN: Fine Music “Voices” (GSE Claremont) PUT Emma Eenzi as Aida, Sally Presant as Carmen, and Aviva Pelham as Cherubino on a disc and you have not only a winner but also a historic document that captures the often under-appreciated artistry of these singers. As if that is not enough to tempt buyers, […]

Shirley Kossick THE LAW OF LOVE by Laura Esquivel(Chatto and Windus, R89,95) HERE’S the solution to your Christmas shopping dilemma if you’ve been hesitating between books and CDs. The Law of Love is a multi-media novel (the first, the publishers claim) which comes complete with a CD of Puccini arias and Mexican danzones, as well […]

stage Andrew Clements in London TEN singers, 16 actors, a hundred musicians, three film screens and a theatre space divided into several acting areas … No wonder it took three decades for Bernd Alois Zimmerman’s landmark contemporary opera Die Soldaten to premiere in London. First staged in Cologne in 1965, the widely celebrated opera has […]

Zimbabwe faces embarrassment over illegal ivory sales, reports Iden Wetherell in Harare ZIMBABWE’S record of ivory management has been described as “grossly inadequate” by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) just six months before the Geneva-based organisation is due to hold a major conference in Harare. The Zimbabwean government has said it […]

At the heart of Italy’s largest industrial grouping, profits and reputations are being damaged, writes John Glover IN the opulent surroundings of Turin’s snooty Circolo del Whist (whist club), Republican Italy’s version of a royal family met for its annual dinner last week. The meal was hosted by Avvocato Gianni Agnelli, the patriarch of the […]

Is there such a thing as international competitiveness? Paul Krugman thinks many of the arguments are bunk. Ben Laurance looks at his thesis DEBATES about international trade are, Paul Krugman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests, “a study in confusion and misconceptions, in which the `experts’ are usually misinformed about the most basic facts […]

Dan Wylie LIGHT VERSE AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL by Gus Ferguson (David Philip, R29) WITH a bit of selective quotation, you could even argue that Gus Ferguson is a serious poet: Life is but a gift of time Spent in gathering evidence Against the summons for the crime Of wasting that inheritance. Or, […]

HOW do fireworks work? And will they one day invent a noiseless firework that is “animal- friendly”? – Lee Scholtz, Westdene THE fireworks that dazzle us today have their origins in 12th-century China, where the explosive mixture of charcoal, sulphur and potassium nitrate that gives fireworks their “oomph” – known as “black powder”, because of […]

case Safety and Security Minister Mufamadi has been landed in another potentially embarrassing legal situation, reports Mungo Soggot T HE lawyer who defended Eastern Cape killer policeman Gideon Niewoudt has been hired by Sydney Mufamadi’s Safety and Security Department to fight a civil claim lodged by the three widows of Niewoudt’s victims. The widows, Doreen […]

An opportunity to show high-level commitment to Aids has been missed, say Mary Crew and James McIntyre TWO rumours circulated in the week preceding World Aids Day. The first was that President Mandela and Deputy President Mbeki would be joining Minister Zuma at the National Health World Aids Day rally in Bloemfontein. It was believed […]