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Our Newest Streaming Resource Medici.TV is an Absolute Dream for Classical Music, Opera, and Ballet Fans!

29 Jan

This month, we just debuted our newest streaming resource Medici.TV for our Hoboken resident card holders.  Medici.TV is the world’s leading classical music channel, which includes over 1,800 programs (3,000 original works), including: concerts and archived historical concerts; operas; ballets; documentaries, artist portraits and educational programs; and master classes.  The New York Times has said Medici.TV is “The closest thing to a classical Netflix.”

As a working mom it feels impossible sometimes to get out to see the multitude of ballets, concerts and operas that are going on just across the river so I am particularly excited by the fact that Medici. TV has more than 100 live events are broadcast each year, in partnership with the world’s most prestigious venues, opera houses, festivals and competitions.  So if like me life is keeping you from getting into the city to see live performances, you don’t have to miss out, just tune in to Medici.TV.  If you can’t go to Carnegie Hall, have Carnegie Hall come to you!

I’ve just started exploring all the amazing things that Medici.TV has to offer.  I’m a huge Alice in Wonderland fan so one of the first things I chose to stream was the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland.  The opera composed by Unsuk Chin and commissioned by conductor Kent Nagano, features a libretto by David Henry Hwang and Chin.

unsuk-chin-alice-in-wonderland-nationaltheater-munchen

image from Medici.TV

The opera is just as unique as Lewis Carroll’s original work and puts a fresh spin on the source material.  Despite musically referencing classical composers like Handel, Puccini, and Stravinsky it also includes unusual instruments like musical saws, accordions, and a harmonica.  This was Korean born Chin’s first opera.

Also available for Wonderland fans is Being Alice, a documentary which records Lauren Cuthbertson, who performed Alice in the Royal Ballet’s production of Christopher Wheeldon’s adaptation.  Being Alice follows her as she rehearses and then performs through the season’s final performance.  I really enjoy that with Medici.TV we don’t just get to see performances, but also get insight into what goes on behind them.  If you liked the book Mozart in the Jungle, here’s your chance to get more behind the scene peaks at the actual world of classical music and dance.

Have you streamed anything on Medici.TV?  Let us know what you have enjoyed in the comments!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Head of Reference

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The Religion of Not Believing: The Atheist’s Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur

17 Jan
atheist's tragedy

image from Hoopladigital.com

Challenging interpretations is something I not only find amusing but also quite fascinating. Although, religion is not something that I believe should be challenged personally for myself, I find myself drawn and intrigued by this very question: Is the absence of belief a belief in of itself?

Atheism, according to Cyril Tourneur’s The Atheist’s Tragedy, is not the lack of belief but the assertion of belief in something other than God. Being an Atheist, according to The Atheist’s Tragedy, does not imply the absence of religion but rather challenges the definition of religion and an all-powerful God. The idea of an Atheist believing in a higher power is brought into question through the atheist in the play. In The Atheist’s Tragedy; Or the Honest Man’s Revenge, Tourneur suggests through the atheist D’Amville that atheism is in fact a kind of religion and that not believing in a God is a religion in of itself.

The play was highly interesting – some of the ideas seem formidable – but above all it is an educational and entertaining read. The play was first published in 1611 and is considered classic of the Jacobean era.  If you are someone who finds other’s viewpoints interesting and love a good debatable topic then this is a good book for you to read whatever your personal religious views; you can check out a digital copy from Hoopla with your library card. Of course, it’s to be taken in with an open mind.

Written by:
Sherissa Hernandez
Adult Programming Assistant

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