Bach – Michael Newberry

For decades I have listened to classical music every day while painting. Here are my favorite and most inspiring recordings:

No 1: Puccini, Turandot

Conducted by Zubin Mehta. Sutherland, Pavarotti, Caballe, Chiaurov, Krause, Pears, John Alldis Choir. London Philharmonic Orchestra.
This opera and recording represent one of the greatest art achievements of the 20th century. In 1925 Puccini died before completing the last act, it premiered in 1926 at La Scala conducted by Arturo Toscanini. This recording has great singers, great performances, beautifully and passionately conducted, and fresh clean sound. This recording inspired my painting of Puccini and Denouement. My aesthetic takeaway from this opera was that it integrated romance, epic setting, beautiful and exotic color/sound harmonies, gorgeous melodies, powerful chorus, the battle of the sopranos, and maintained the big picture driving towards powerful closings of each act. My painting Denouement was the result of translating this aesthetic from music into paint.

Part 1

Part 2 of 2

Join the good guys in the culture war!

Support and encourage the figurative artists in your orbit. If you have clout, then join a contemporary museum board. If you are in the fine arts, then start curating exhibitions in university galleries, cultural centers, and museums. If you are an art historian or art critic, then write about what great living figurative artists are doing now! If you are an activist, then offer to help figurative artists with their PR, social media, and arranging art talks and interviews. If you are psychologically wicked, enjoy research, and detective work, then expose the trustees of contemporary and postmodern art museum boards.