The line-up for the Singapore International Piano Festival 2015 (25-28 June 2015 at Victoria Concert Hall) has finally been publicised, and it looks very interesting, with recitals by world-renowned artists like Imogen Cooper, Olli Mustonen, Lars Vogt and the phenomenal young Czech pianist Lukas Vondracek.
In a rather self-conscious act of political correctness and self-censorship, the publicity material which trumpets Romantics & Nationalists has committed a grave sin against art. Look at the pamphlet above and the banner below. It was creative to use one of Eugene Delacroix's most famous and emotive paintings, Liberty Leading The People, but what have the censors done to it?
The proverbial fig-leaf now takes the form of a gigantic rose that seems to erupt from the chest of Liberty, like some floral version of Ridley Scott's Alien. And the flag she carries is no longer the Tricolore but in bright Socialist red. So is this Liberty leading the Bolsheviks? (Perhaps it makes some sense that the Tricolore was not used, as there is no French music in the entire 4-evening series, while there is a whole evening of Prokofiev.)
Here is the original painting:
What I have now done is to restore the publicity material to what it should have been.
Voila! Now we have the breast of both worlds. So enjoy the titillating piano music in revealing performances, and boob your tickets soon to avoid disappointment.
www.pianofestival.com.sg
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