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Day: 20 December 2019

New ballet to be debuted in Monaco

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/12/2019

COPPÉL-i.A., a Jean-Christophe Maillot-created spectacle, will be performed for the first time by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo after Christmas.

The ballet, which will be held at the Salles des Princes at the Grimaldi Forum, is intended to take the audience on a journey to the future.

Inspired by the short story ‘The Sandman’ written in 1816 by German writer E. T. A. Hoffmann, the tale is about two lovers, Franz and Swanhilda, who are in love and wish to be married.

One day before the nuptials, a mad scientist called Coppélius arrives in town in his caravan. Inside is a beautiful young woman, Coppélia, and Franz, who sees her through the caravan’s window and falls hard for her. He spends hours pining outside the window, leading a desperate Swanhilda to want to find out more about her rival.

The jealous lover is relieved to discover that Coppélia is a puppet that the scientist created and does all she can to reveal the truth to Franz.

The story is a cautionary tale about the true meaning of love. The early glow of Franz and Swanhilda’s affections were thrown into chaos with the arrival of this artificial being. It makes us question whether their love is indeed the real thing, or if it is the abstract idea of love that they crave. The audience is left to decide for itself.

The ballet is a one hour and 50 minute journey, including intermission, and will be performed on Friday 27th, Saturday 28th, Monday 30th, Tuesday 31st December and Monday 2nd, Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th January at 8pm, and again on Sunday 29th December and Sunday 5th January at 4pm.

For tickets and more information, go online to https://www.balletsdemontecarlo.com/fr/saison-2019-2020/coppelia

Monaco Telecom acquires Vodaphone Malta

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/12/2019

An acquisition deal has been struck between Monaco Telecom and Vodaphone Malta (VFML) for a cash consideration equal to an enterprise value of €250 million.

The sale, if approved by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) – the Maltese government’s regulatory agency – will mean a 100% take-over of the operator with completion expected as soon as the first quarter of the 2020 calendar year.

A previous merger had been planned for VFML and Melita in 2017, but that merger was blocked as the two companies were unable to meet conditions stipulated by the MCA.

Vodaphone, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, had a turnover at the end of the last fiscal year in Malta of €82 million in revenue, €32 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, and €19 million in operating free cash flow.  

Monaco Telecom has already had another successful procurement with the purchase of EPIC, formerly known as MTN Cyprus, and is now Cyprus’s second largest mobile operator, as well as other holdings in Ireland and Switzerland.

Following the completion, Vodaphone Malta will operate under the Vodaphone brand for a transitional period.

 

Phone scam alert

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/12/2019

Monaco police are calling for citizens to be on alert for a telephone scam artist who is attempting to swindle large sums of cash by posing as a police officer or a Monegasque government employee.

So far, there has only been one actual victim, though several attempts have been made.

The offender appears to be targeting those whose phone number appears in the directory and who have a name that suggests they could be from an older generation.

The scammer uses scare tactics, such as risk of a large tax fine, to get the unsuspecting target to hand over large sums of money through a bank transfer to a foreign account.  

The set-up is virtually the same in all instances. The perpetrator opens a bank account abroad in the name of the person being taken advantage of, who is expected to deposit vast sums into this unknown account. The victim is prompted on how to answer any questions posed by bank managers or advisors who may question the reasoning for such a withdrawal.

If you receive such a call, do not give any details to this person and immediately call Monaco Public Security on +377 93 15 30 15 who will direct you to the specialised services department.

If you know someone who may be an at-risk target, please pass the word to them not to give any personal details to anyone via telephone or otherwise to protect their assets and their safety.

 

 

Philippe Pastor: Is this world serious?

by: Cassandra Tanti
20/12/2019

Up to 7°C at the end of the century, cyclones, hurricanes, Indonesian cities sinking under rising seas, Amazon in flames, California under evacuation following the ravages of fire, the list is still long … Is this world serious?

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If nowadays, more than ever, we are informed of the natural disasters devastating the planet, the world seems to have become crazy, swept along by an exponential irremediable process.

Philippe Pastor

Through this new exhibition of paintings and sculptures at Monaco Modern’Art, Philippe Pastor questions this chaos and the destructive force of Man, directed against his fellow human beings and his environment.

Philippe Pastor, Arbres brulés, Vues Exposition Monaco Modern Art 2019

In the first room, you find an installation of the emblematic ‘Burned Trees’ series, composed of a set of 28 sculptures made of calcinated black trunks. Majestic silhouettes erected in groves, the trees are brought back to life and impose their troubling presence.

Philippe Pastor, Arbres brulés, Vues Exposition Monaco Modern Art 2019

It was in his effort to raise public awareness of forest fires that Philippe Pastor created this series in 2003, in the heart of the Massif des Maures. Having become symbols of the fight against deforestation, ‘The Burned Trees’ have been presented around the world, particularly within the framework of the ‘Plant for the Planet’ campaign, organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The black version shown here, designed for the interior, reminds us of the monumental installation integrated in the Pavilion of Monaco, during the Universal Exhibition in Milan in 2015. It contrasts with the installation, punctuated with colour, set up last month in the Garden Sacha Sosno, in Nice.

Phillipe Pastor’s ‘Burned Trees’ installation in Nice

In the second room, the large paintings resonate with the sculptures. Philippe Pastor works, once again, with time and nature. A magnificent painting from the ‘Blue Monochrome’ series, created from natural pigments of a particularly intense blue, invokes the infinite expanse of seas and oceans.

Phillipe Pastor, 200x400cm

The matter is nourished by diverse fragile and delicate natural elements, which animate the surface of the canvas. Around this monumental piece are presented recent paintings of the series ‘Avec le Temps’ (With Time). Here, the matter unfolds in ebb and flow of elements that circulate and clash.

Philippe Pastor 2019, 130x196cm

Through this series, the artist summons the strength and power of natural elements to address the theme of climate change and the phenomena of hurricanes and tornadoes, which are multiplying around the globe.

Philippe Pastor 2014, 200x200cm

‘Is this world serious?’ sounds as a warning against the harm done to nature. If the exhibition appeals to man’s responsibility, it is above all a sensitive evocation of the cycle of life, where the works of Philippe Pastor expresses the fragility, but also the beauty, the complexity and resilience, of nature, essential to our planet’s equilibrium.

 

Read also:

Nice to host monumental works of Pastor

 

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