Emilia 2020

Following acclaimed performances at the Edinburgh Festival and then in Melbourne, Sir Andrew Davis’s recording of Massenet’s opera Thaïs features an outstanding cast, and exceptional performances from his Toronto forces. Written shortly after the premiere of his masterpiece Werther, Thaïs was composed for the Californian soprano Sybil Sanderson who gave the premiere at the Paris Opéra In 1894. Sanderson's performance was a triumph, but the opera itself had a mixed reception. After Massenet revised it in 1898 it went on to worldwide success in the years leading up to World War I and has enjoyed continuous and growing success in our own time.

Massimo Bottura, chef of the three-Michelin-star Osteria Francescana, treats his world-renowned restaurant as a laboratory of ideas. In his MasterClass, he shares how he transforms classic, regional Italian recipes into exciting modern dishes. You’ll learn how to make rich, flavorful tagliatelle al ragù, pumpkin risotto, and a MasterClass-exclusive Emilia Burger recipe. Develop your palate and embark on a culinary adventure.

It’s always tempting to draw conclusions as to why a musician feels drawn to a certain style or sound. In Dustin O’Halloran’s case, one can’t help but wonder whether it has something to do with a childhood spent in Phoenix, Arizona, one of America’s most populated cities, yet one buried in the Sonoran Desert. Does this sparse yet vivid music reflect an early desire to escape from the hustle of urban life to the peace of the desolate wilderness? Or is it connected to Los Angeles, where he continued to grow up beneath clear blue skies in a thriving cultural metropolis? Perhaps, though, it’s indicative of seven years spent living in the rural Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy, where O’Halloran developed his idiosyncratic piano skills following time spent in the underappreciated but critically acclaimed band, Devics. Maybe, even, it’s symptomatic of his current existence in Berlin, a city famed for its bohemian nightlife, but whose wide streets and plentiful parks offer a rarely celebrated tranquillity that’s unusual for a capital city. In all honesty, the answer’s probably not important. What really matters is the music.

At the fire department, the coffee gets cold – known to many as the (East) German children's book classic by the author Hannes Hüttner and the illustrator Gerhard Lahr from 1969 - is darn funny: the firefighters just want to recover from their strenuous work with a good cup of coffee, the phone is ringing again and calling for the next operation. The coffee stops untouched and Wachtmeister Meier, Löschmeister Wasserhose and the rest of the troops rush to Grandma Eierschecke in Kaffeestraße 13, where an open oven door has just set the apartment on fire. Fortunately, nothing happened to anyone. As a thank you Grandma Eierschecke puts the after all not charred cake in the bag. But who thinks that this can be eaten comfortably for the next coffee break, of course, was wrong!