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Friday, May 18, 2012

current top story
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, 20th Century's Great Champion Of Lieder, Dead At 86
"His Protean career was surely unique, as he sang and recorded more vocal music than any who came before. ... More than that, he was an inspiration to the vast number of singers who have followed his example in this field, and made the singing of lieder a common experience, not to forget the audience he created for this kind of music-making." The Guardian (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@08:22AM

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publishing
Amazon Customer Reviews Really Are As Good As The Pros (Harvard Business School Says So) "Amazon reviews are just as likely to give an accurate summary of a book's quality as those of professional newspapers, according to a study from Harvard Business School." The Guardian (UK) 05/16/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@12:16PM
media
What's The Hot Thing At Cannes This Year? Literary Adaptations "The Cannes festival is, famously, the keeper of the flame of the auteur tradition. ... Since the turn of the millennium, only two winners of the Palme d'Or have been literary adaptations: Roman Polanski's The Pianist, and Laurent Cantet's The Class. ... This year, however, things are different: it is a bookworm's Cannes, with directors as likely to have had their noses buried in novels as dreaming up original ideas." The Guardian (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:56AM
media
This Will Probably Be A Trend: Tajikistan Bans Sacha Baron Cohen's Dictator "First it was Kazakhstan that was left unamused by Borat. Now it's the turn of its neighbour Tajikistan. The central Asian country has decided not to screen Sacha Baron Cohen's latest spoof blockbuster, The Dictator, after authorities concluded the movie was incompatible with the nation's 'mentality'." The Guardian (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:55AM
music
LA Philharmonic Signs First Overseas Broadcast Deal, With UK's Classic FM "The Los Angeles Philharmonic will launch its first international radio broadcast partnership with England's largest classical music station. The agreement with Classic FM announced Friday includes a 14-part concert series of recorded concerts under the name 'Live with the L.A. Phil,' broadcast Fridays starting June 1." Los Angeles Times 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:45AM
music
Western Classical Music Begins Catching On In India In a culture with its own centuries-old, very strong and very different classical music traditions, European art music had only a tenuous toehold in the subcontinent. This situation is slowly but surely changing, with an increase in students and great improvements in teaching, notably in and around Delhi. Los Angeles Times 05/20/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:41AM
people
Bollywood Megastar's Post-Baby Weight Gain Causes Huge Debate In India The furor is over whether Aishwarya Rai, "the woman routinely referred to as the most beautiful in the world, and who occupies a place in Indian popular culture akin to Kate Middleton or Victoria Beckham, has an obligation to her fans to lose weight" six months after giving birth. Until relatively recently, Bollywood stars generally had healthy curves and hourglass figures. The Guardian (UK) 05/15/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:40AM
music
A New Opera About One Of Australia's Great Love-And-Murder Triangles "Composer Gordon Kerry and librettist Louis Nowra describe Midnight Son as 'An opera inspired by a true story'. That story is infamous: the murky, tragic tale of Maria Korp, her suburban Don Giovanni of a husband, Joe, and his murder-intent mistress, Tania Herman. Worse cases occur in opera, but perhaps not with quite the same disturbingly still-warm immediacy." The Age (Melbourne) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:16AM
visual
How Much Money Is Really Being Spent In China's Art Market? That's Not Entirely Clear "Was the 2011 joint turnover of the Chinese auction houses $154.2bn, $148.5bn, $88.1bn - or much less?" The Art Newspaper 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:16AM
theatre
Scotland's Smaller Theatre Companies Beginning To Panic Over Planned Funding Changes Creative Scotland, the country's arts funding body, is discontinuing two-year supporting grants in favor of per-project awards. "Companies and individual practitioners are questioning whether they will be able to continue under the new regime, while there are warnings that individual artists will leave Scotland." The Stage (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:11AM
visual
Showing Contemporary Art In An Old French Convent Supermarket magnate Michel-Edouard Leclerc "says that he hopes to transform the French public's perception of contemporary art by opening a new gallery in a former 17th-century convent in Brittany this summer." The Art Newspaper 05/15/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:06AM
people
Meet The One Man With Two Guv'nors "Part of the secret of [James] Corden's comic gift is that he combines innocence so naturally with mischief. Although he's 33, his face is that of an adolescent boy who has just discovered beer, Internet porn and some new flavor of potato chip." Los Angeles Times 05/20/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:00AM
visual
Melbourne's Top Art Museum Still Won't Let People Sketch There - And Said People Are Angry "A groundswell of anger about [the National Gallery of Victoria's] restrictions on visitors sketching, painting or even taking notes has the gallery scrambling to amend and defend its guidelines. And a group of eminent local artists has joined a campaign to persuade those in charge to throw open its doors freely to those who want to paint before its great works." The Age (Melbourne) 05/16/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@10:59AM
issues
Major Change In Australian Arts Funding Proposal: Make Big Companies Compete For Grants "Opening the major performing arts companies - including the state theatre companies, Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet - to competition for funding and peer review will no doubt prove most contentious since it raises the possibility of a company losing ongoing funding." Sydney Morning Herald 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@10:33AM
people
R. Crumb On The Art World's Embrace Of His Comics "People tell me this Museum of Modern Art in Paris is a really big deal, and that it's very prestigious to have a show there. I guess I should be impressed. I don't know." The Art Newspaper 05/16/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@09:19AM
dance
This Company Wants To Change Italian Dance-Theater, But Italy Bums Them Out "Young Italian movement group Dewey Dell are dedicated to forging a new form of theatre integrating music, choreography and lighting, but are so depressed by the Italian economy they are saddened when considering the future. The Age (Melbourne) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@09:15AM
ideas
Virtual Reality Games Help Treat Soldiers' PTSD "[A recent] clinical trial compar[es] virtual reality with standard exposure therapy - which helps patients relearn their responses to stressful situations by focusing on the traumatic event in a controlled environment." The effects of virtual reality treatment appear to last longer than those of talk therapy. New Scientist 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@09:11AM
theatre
How Technology Could Change Theatre Criticism For Good "While words alone can create a rich tapestry of critical response, imagine how much richer this might be with the addition of images, video, audio, geotagging, experimental forms such as Pinterest - the list goes on. Despite having such options at their fingertips, the majority of those writing theatre criticism for the web remain trapped in the conventional print review format." The Guardian (UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@09:06AM
people
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, 20th Century's Great Champion Of Lieder, Dead At 86 "His Protean career was surely unique, as he sang and recorded more vocal music than any who came before. ... More than that, he was an inspiration to the vast number of singers who have followed his example in this field, and made the singing of lieder a common experience, not to forget the audience he created for this kind of music-making." The Guardian (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@08:22AM
media
Forget Smell-O-Vision! Now We Have Edible Movies "For hot on the heels of 4D, scratch & sniff and dress-up cinema comes the latest immersive cinematic experience, and this time it's comestible. ... In your seat, you find a tray of numbered cups and parcels. During the screening, in the style of a dolly bird parading the scores at a boxing match, an usherette holds up corresponding numbers indicating what to open when." The Guardian (UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:59PM
theatre
Bring Back The Sitting Ovation!, Says Ben Brantley "Because we really have reached the point where a standing ovation doesn't mean a thing. Pretty much every show you attend on Broadway these days ends with people jumping to their feet and beating their flippers together like captive sea lions whose zookeeper has arrived with a bucket of fish. This is true even for doomed stinkers that find the casts taking their curtain calls with the pale, hopeless mien of patients who have just received a terminal diagnosis." The New York Times 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:53PM
issues
English Arts Orgs Get £30M To Develop Fundraising Capability "The money is being distributed through [Arts Council England's] Catalyst programme, which is aimed at helping cultural organisations to increase their fundraising potential. Overall, 173 organisations have been given more than £30 million to develop their fundraising capacity and make themselves more attractive to potential donors." The Stage (UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:53PM
issues
Scotland Changes Arts Funding To Focus On One-Time Projects "The agency's new funding strategy puts far greater emphasis on theatre groups, art centres, galleries and festivals competing against each other for subsidies for one-off projects from next April to help it cope with a £2.1m cut in its funding from the Scottish government." The Guardian (UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:52PM
people
Herbert Breslin, 87, Manager Who Made Pavarotti's Career Anne Midgette: "When in 2002 an offer to write a book with this character fell into my lap and I began sounding out people in the business about it, I started to get the impression that he was universally hated. But there was a lot more to Herbert's story than that." The Washington Post 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:51PM
publishing
Dickens And Browning And Lear: What's In A Reputation? "This year sees the bicentenary of Robert Browning, Charles Dickens and Edward Lear. No need to over-think the glorious posterity of the Inimitable. He was simply a genius who created a whole world for ages to come. But with Browning and Lear it gets more complicated. ... What are the qualities that make a writer endure and flourish?" The Guardian (UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:50PM
theatre
Slumdog Millionaire Musical Won't Involve Film's Creators "[A]fter years of negotiations proved fruitless, a planned London musical about the rags-to-riches game show contestant is now being developed without the participation of any of the film's key creators, including director Danny Boyle and composer A.R. Rahman." Los Angeles Times 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:50PM
visual
Here's One Major Critic Who Really Likes The New Barnes Foundation Roberta Smith: "Against all odds, the museum that opens to the public on Saturday is still very much the old Barnes, only better. ... And Barnes's exuberant vision of art as a relatively egalitarian aggregate of the fine, the decorative and the functional comes across more clearly, justifying its perpetuation with a new force." The New York Times 05/18/12 (includes slideshow)
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:49PM
ideas
The Essence Of Science, Explained In 63 Seconds "Here it is, in a nutshell: The logic of science boiled down to one, essential idea. It comes from Richard Feynman, one of the great scientists of the 20th century, who wrote it on the blackboard during a class at Cornell in 1964." NPR 05/17/12 (includes video)
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:48PM
ideas
And Here's Another Definition Of Science "Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson may well be the Richard Feynman of our day, a 'Great Explainer' in his own right ... In this short video, Tyson contributes a beautiful addition to this omnibus of notable definitions of science and explores subjects as diverse as the nature of originality and the future of artificial intelligence." Brain Pickings (Big Think) 05/16/12 (video)
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:47PM
issues
Turkish Prime Minister Threatens To De-Fund Nation's Theatres Over 'Insult' To His Daughter "In a tale which could have come straight from the time of the sultans, when one wrong word could seal your fate, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is threatening to withdraw state support from the country's theatres after his daughter said she was insulted by an actor during a play." The Guardian ((UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:47PM
music
The Next Finland? The Czech Republic Is Producing Crops Of Classical Stars Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, some exciting musicians have emerged from Prague and Brno, led by mezzo Magdalena Kozena, the Pavel Haas Quartet, and (more recently) the terrific Baroque orchestra Collegium 1704. And that's just the first generation. The Wall Street Journal 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:46PM
people
Meet The Father Of Chinese Rock 'n' Roll Cui Jian, now 50, was trained as a classical trumpeter; he took up electric guitar and singing in the 1980s and became the People's Republic's first rock star. Awkwardly for his relations with the Communist Party, one of his biggest hits, "Nothing to My Name," became the unnoficial anthem of the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising. The New York Times 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:45PM
theatre
Audra McDonald On Playing Gershwin's Bess "The last melody in the show, after an entire night of [Bess] singing and being raped and kicked and beaten and all of this stuff, is 'Summertime,' ... And it freaks me out that after all this, I have to sound high and pretty and fresh. And I'm always holding onto that baby, going, 'I know you're just a doll, but help me.'" NPR 05/15/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:44PM

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Today's Headlines (by topic)

ideas
Virtual Reality Games Help Treat Soldiers' PTSD - New Scientist 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@09:11AM

The Essence Of Science, Explained In 63 Seconds - NPR 05/17/12 (includes video)
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:48PM

And Here's Another Definition Of Science - Brain Pickings (Big Think) 05/16/12 (video)
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:47PM

more Ideas...

dance

more Dance...

issues

more Issues...

media
What's The Hot Thing At Cannes This Year? Literary Adaptations - The Guardian (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:56AM

This Will Probably Be A Trend: Tajikistan Bans Sacha Baron Cohen's Dictator - The Guardian (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:55AM

Forget Smell-O-Vision! Now We Have Edible Movies - The Guardian (UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:59PM

more Media...

music
LA Philharmonic Signs First Overseas Broadcast Deal, With UK's Classic FM - Los Angeles Times 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:45AM

Western Classical Music Begins Catching On In India - Los Angeles Times 05/20/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:41AM

A New Opera About One Of Australia's Great Love-And-Murder Triangles - The Age (Melbourne) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:16AM

The Next Finland? The Czech Republic Is Producing Crops Of Classical Stars - The Wall Street Journal 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:46PM

more Music...

people
Bollywood Megastar's Post-Baby Weight Gain Causes Huge Debate In India - The Guardian (UK) 05/15/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:40AM

Meet The One Man With Two Guv'nors - Los Angeles Times 05/20/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:00AM

R. Crumb On The Art World's Embrace Of His Comics - The Art Newspaper 05/16/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@09:19AM

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, 20th Century's Great Champion Of Lieder, Dead At 86 - The Guardian (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@08:22AM

Herbert Breslin, 87, Manager Who Made Pavarotti's Career - The Washington Post 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:51PM

Meet The Father Of Chinese Rock 'n' Roll - The New York Times 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:45PM

more People...

publishing

more Publishing...

theatre
Scotland's Smaller Theatre Companies Beginning To Panic Over Planned Funding Changes - The Stage (UK) 05/18/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:11AM

How Technology Could Change Theatre Criticism For Good - The Guardian (UK) 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@09:06AM

Bring Back The Sitting Ovation!, Says Ben Brantley - The New York Times 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:53PM

Slumdog Millionaire Musical Won't Involve Film's Creators - Los Angeles Times 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:50PM

Audra McDonald On Playing Gershwin's Bess - NPR 05/15/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:44PM

more Theatre...

visual
How Much Money Is Really Being Spent In China's Art Market? That's Not Entirely Clear - The Art Newspaper 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:16AM

Showing Contemporary Art In An Old French Convent - The Art Newspaper 05/15/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@11:06AM

Melbourne's Top Art Museum Still Won't Let People Sketch There - And Said People Are Angry - The Age (Melbourne) 05/16/12
email this story | Posted 05/18/12@10:59AM

Here's One Major Critic Who Really Likes The New Barnes Foundation - The New York Times 05/18/12 (includes slideshow)
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:49PM

Finding The Politics In Joan Miró's Art - Los Angeles Times 05/17/12
email this story | Posted 05/17/12@11:44PM

more Visual...