MUSIC – Inaugurated on October 7, 1923, the Lille Opera celebrates its centenary with a varied program for the 2023-2024 season. Among the planned events, a modern version of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, conducted by baroque conductor and harpsichordist Emmanuelle Haïm, will mark the beginning of the season in October. This work had already been performed during the Opera’s reopening in 2003, after five years of closure for renovation works.

MUSIC – At just 26 years old, K.S Bloom, whose real name is Souleymane Koné, has established himself as one of the most popular Francophone artists on YouTube in 2021, amassing over 100 million views, including 57 million for his track Enfant de Dieu. In July 2022, he performed on the prestigious stage of the Casino de Paris.

HISTORY – Victoria Woodhull was born on September 23, 1838, in Homer, Ohio. Coming from a large and modest family, she grew up in a close-knit environment despite facing challenges. At 15, she married Dr. Canning Woodhull, who was much older than her. Their marriage did not last, and Victoria divorced him, keeping her ex-husband’s last name.

HISTORY – On May 5, 1920, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants and anarchist activists, were arrested for the murder of two individuals during a robbery. Their trial, tainted by prejudice against foreigners and dissenters, would last until 1927, the year of their execution, despite international protests. It was not until 1977 that Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis declared their “moral rehabilitation.”

HISTORY – Rodolfo Guglielmi, better known by the pseudonym Rudy Valentino (1895-1926), made a name for himself during the bustling 1920s, an era characterized by jazz, the Charleston, gramophones, and women’s liberation. This period was especially marked by the film industry and Hollywood.

HISTORY – The Italian Red Cross was founded in 1864, but committed women had already begun working as nurses on the battlefield a few years earlier, during the time of Florence Nightingale. Among these pioneers was Cristina Trivulzio di Belgioioso, a Milanese aristocrat who set up relief centers in Milan and Rome during the revolutions of 1848 and 1849.

MUSIC – Since its release on January 13, “Flowers” has spent eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and climbed to the most listened-to song on Spotify for two consecutive weeks. On May 4, the platform recorded one billion streams for the track in just 112 days, an achievement highlighted by Spotify in an Instagram post. “Some flowers never wilt,” adding that the artist’s song joins the “billion club.”

CURIOSITIES – The extraordinary 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II has been followed by millions of people worldwide. Today’s ceremony represents a pivotal moment in the history of the British monarchy, with the ascension of Prince Charles, who attended his mother’s coronation at the age of 4.

MUSIC – The jury in the Manhattan federal court concluded that the 2014 hit, Thinking Out Loud, did not constitute a partial copy of Marvin Gaye’s famous Let’s Get It On from 1973. Ed Sheeran expressed his happiness with the victory against an “unfounded” complaint, but also his frustration that such a question of musical copyright “could be brought before the courts”.

MOVIES – Masao Maruyama believes that the limitations on freedom of expression in China are the only reason why China has not yet surpassed Japan in the field of animation. According to him, Japanese animation has neglected to promote new talent in recent years, unlike China, which encourages its young creators.

MOVIES – Major studios and platforms, including Disney and Netflix, are in negotiations with the writers’ union, Writers Guild of America (WGA), which is threatening to launch a strike if no agreement is reached. This would cause the immediate shutdown of popular shows, such as late-night shows, and significantly delay television series and films scheduled for this year.

MOVIES – Charlotte Arnould, 27 years old, spoke for the first time to the media on Thursday in an interview with Elle magazine. She expressed her desire to see more legal proceedings initiated following the accounts of thirteen women collected by Mediapart on April 11. According to her, it is likely that the number of victims is higher than those who have already come forward.

MOVIES – In his work “Where God is Not”, competing for the 2023 Berlinale, Mehran Tamadon brings to life the tortures endured by former Iranian prisoners. Born in Tehran in 1972 to communist parents, the filmmaker aims to denounce the totalitarian regime established since the 1979 revolution. According to the NGO Iran Human Rights, at least 537 individuals have been killed by Iranian security forces during the latest protest movement, and thousands more incarcerated.