Olivier Martin

À quelques kilomètres d’Embrun dans les Hautes-Alpes, sur les bords du lac de Serre-Ponçon, jaillit soudain un château aux allures médiévales, le château de Picomtal. Au début des années 2000, les nouveaux propriétaires effectuant des travaux découvrent, au revers des planchers qu’ils sont en train de démonter, des inscriptions. Cent vingt ans plus tôt, au début des années 1880, le menuisier qui a monté le parquet dans les différentes pièces s’est confié. …

The shapes and silhouettes, the corseted waists and deep décolletage, the incredibly wide and flat skirts—in a word, the majesty—of eighteenth-century style have provided lasting inspiration for fashion even to the present. Consider, for example, the images on the cover of this book. On the front a Gianni Versace evening ensemble with denim blouse of 1992 is juxtaposed with a mantua and petticoat of 1690–95. The back cover shows a 1998 natural vintage recycled linen evening dress by Olivier Theyskens, a young designer in his twenties. …

Quand on est un grand amateur de polars, c'est toujours un évènement en soi de découvrir un nouvel auteur avec une plume crédible, une intrigue bien construite et des personnages complexes qu'on a envie de retrouver dans d'autres enquêtes. …

In Venice in the 18th century, Christmas was celebrated as only Venetians know how to celebrate: according to one account, more wax was burnt to light up the three storeys of the Procuratie on Christmas Eve, than in all the rest of Italy in an entire year. At the same time, rather than being an independent feast – and as such, the most singularly important one of the year – the Venetian Christmas was also part of the city's famous Carnevale, which at this time lasted for almost six months. This lent a rather special character to the celebrations, compared with for instance the more clerically inclined Rome.

Naji Hakim returns to disc on Signum with a new disc of his own unique compositions for solo organ, performed on the magnificent Stahlhuth-Jann Organ of St Martin’s Church, Dudelange, Grand Duché du Luxembourg.