Week
of May 18-25, 2001
1.
Special Interest
2. Dance
3. Media
4. Music
5. People
6. Publishing
7. Theatre
8. Visual Arts
9. Arts Issues
10. For Fun
1.
SPECIAL INTEREST
WHAT
AILS YOU: "Anyone now catching up on medical literature
from the past few years can't help being struck by the vast amount
of attention devoted to intriguing cases from long ago.
Investigations by modern doctors have suggested that Catherine the
Great suffered from syphilis, that Kant suffered from Alzheimer's,
and that Brahms suffered from sleep apnea; that Van Gogh and Saint
Teresa of Avila were afflicted with temporal-lobe epilepsy; that
Chopin was felled by emphysema or cystic fibrosis; and that Mozart
was done in by streptococcus, not by Salieri. The
Atlantic 05/01
IDEAS
IN PICTURES: Philosophers have traditionally dwelled in the
universe of words. But a new book proposes that
"philosophical themes can also be represented as artistic
images, not just in texts, as has traditionally been the case.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 05/22/01
LEARNING
TO BE CREATIVE: What's wrong with today's artists? No
discipline. We've come to believe that the discipline of rote
learning and structure is anathema to creativity. But creativity
without background and knowledge and skill flops around
incoherently. How about a return to traditional rigors? Mozart
wouldn't have been Mozart without it. Sunday
Times (UK) 05/20/01
2.
DANCE
PERSONA
NON GRATA: Betty Oliphant, the Canadian dance legend who
helped to found the National Ballet School and the National Ballet
of Canada, has been virtually banned from both of the institutions
she brought to prominence. "Oliphant is the vivid
personification of the Dylan Thomas poem advising us not to go
gentle into that good night. Time has not withered her formidable
mind. Neither has it softened her acid tongue." The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 05/23/01
A
FAREWELL TO THE HUB: The Boston Ballet wrapped up its season
this week, and the final curtain call was unusually poignant, as
it marked the conclusion of a season filled with turmoil and bad
feelings. Several of the troupe's dancers were not offered
contracts for next season, and the artistic director is leaving
the company after sixteen years. Boston
Herald 05/22/01
THEY
ONLY REMEMBER HER BROTHER: "History is full of unlucky
artists less famous than they should be. Bronislava Nijinska, the
greatest female ballet choreographer of the 20th century, had many
obstacles to overcome... New Statesman
05/21/01
JEROME
ROBBINS, MEANY? A new 600-page biography of choreographer
Jerome Robbins says he was difficult to work with and frequently
screamed at dancers. So... what about the work and what it means?
The New Yorker 05/21/01
TALE
OF TWO CITIES: The Fort Worth Dallas Ballet has been
struggling as a two-city company. "The company's survival is
also the story of Dallas's inability to keep its own ballet
company despite several tries. The downfall of the Dallas Ballet
in 1988 followed a painful fund-raising campaign that had dancers
in tutus panhandling passersby. Another company, Ballet Dallas,
emerged from the ashes only to fold several years later, leaving
Dallas with no ballet at all." The
New York Times 05/20/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
3.
MEDIA
CANNES
WINNER: An Italian movie The Son's Room, a
"stirring account of a happy family shattered by the death of
a teenage son," won the Cannes Film Festival top prize Sunday
evening. Los Angeles Times 05/20/01
RAINING
BOMBS? As film critics converge on Hawaii for the $5 million
party to open the $135 million movie Pearl Harbor, word from the
advance screenings isn't good. And some wonder about the
appropriateness of the lavish event. The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 05/21/01
THE
TROUBLE WITH KIDS' MOVIES: What's with these lousy new kids'
movies? "These loud extravaganzas pummel children for
attention, stunning them into a sugar-rush buzz that keeps them
from realizing they're getting less for their movie buck than they
deserve. Like heart. Like soul. Like a good story." Atlanta
Journal-Constitution 05/20/01
WHO'LL
SAY IT'S BAD? Movies are arguably the most influential artform
of our age. Yet, complains Roger Ebert, “there is essentially no
film criticism on national American television, except for our
show, the critics on the morning programmes and on CNN. These are
about the only places on American television where you might hear
that a movie is bad. The other national shows essentially focus on
chat, gossip, premiere sound bites, who’s in rehab, who’s
getting divorced.” The Times (UK) 05/25/01
YOU
WANT ME TO FLY WHAT CLASS? In the current Hollywood
negotiations, the actors' unions want more money. The producers,
apparently trying to avoid a strike, say they're not asking for
any major rollbacks. However, they would like to pay less for bit
actors, and make performers fly business class instead of first
class. Inside.com O5/25/01
BLACK
& WHITE TV: "Although African-Americans have been a
presence on television since its birth, their presence hasn't
always been a positive or representative one. Why? The answer
varies depending upon whom you ask and what statistics you look
at. Mostly, though, the question leads to the conclusion that TV
is still considered a business that takes place in a vacuum rather
than a cultural force with significant social side effects."
Salon 05/22/01
YANKEE
STAY HOME: Producers who find Canada to be a cheap and
attractive alternative to making their films in the U.S. are about
to run smack into the Screen Actors' Guild. SAG says that, as part
of the negotiations to avoid a summer strike, it intends to curb
the growth of so-called "runaway productions." The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 05/23/01
4.
MUSIC
NO
RECORD OF IT: The Scottish National Opera has lost its
recording contract, including for a planned recording of Inés,
by Scottish composer James MacMillan, commissioned by Scottish
Opera in 1996. The opera has become one of the troubled company’s
proudest achievements. The Scotsman
05/25/01
ATTACK
ON THE NAPSTER CLONES: "Major record companies filed a
lawsuit against file-sharing Web service Aimster on Thursday,
asserting the company is helping customers infringe upon the
copyrights of millions of sound recordings worldwide. It said the
company was providing the same abilities to its customers as
Napster." San Francisco Chronicle
05/24/01
PIANO
OLYMPICS: The Van Cliburn Piano Competition begins Friday, and
the 30 contestants, looking a little dazed, were introduced to a
barrage of press. This is "the most public of music
competitions, a civic and media extravaganza." Dallas
Morning News 05/24/01
CROUCHING
TIGER, STOLEN MUSIC? "A Chinese mainland-based composer
is planning legal action for breach of copyright after his works
were allegedly used without authorization in the Oscar-winning
film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, press reports said
yesterday. Ning Yong... said he had already contacted a legal firm
in Guangzhou to sue Tan Dun, who won the best original score Oscar
for his music in the film." The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) (AFP) 05/22/01
- NO
THEFT HERE: Composer Tan Dun says he did not steal any of
the music he used for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,
as alleged by Chinese composer Ning Yong. Tan "said that
the professor is confusing the film's original soundtrack with
additional music chosen by director Ang Lee for the
movie." BBC 05/24/01
WOMEN'S
PHIL ON THE BRINK: The San Francisco-based Women's
Philharmonic has cancelled its entire 2001-02 concert season,
citing a lack of funds. The 20-year-old organization is a powerful
advocate for women in the too often male-dominated orchestral
world, and that side of the Philharmonic will continue to operate.
San Francisco Chronicle 05/22/01
SUE
'EM, THEN BUY 'EM: Eight months after Vivendi Universal
successfully sued MP3.com over copyright violation, the French
multimedia giant has bought the digital music site for $372
million. BBC 05/21/01
HARRASSING
THE SINGERS: Members of the Scottish National Opera chorus say
they are being "verbally and mentally bullied" by the
company. Scottish Opera has suffered from a series of
controversies in the past year. "These are performers, these
are not car mechanics. They are finely tuned instruments and if
you overheat an instrument or freeze an instrument it goes out of
tune. Performers are no different."
The Scotsman 05/21/01
NEW
MINNESOTA MAESTRO: The Minnesota Orchestra has named Finnish
conductor Osmo Vänskä, 48, as the orchestra's 10th music
director. Hopes are high for Vänskä, reportedly well-liked by
the orchestra's players, to revitalize the orchestra's artistic
fortunes, which have waned in recent years. St.
Paul Pioneer Press 05/24/01
- NEW
WINNIPEG MAESTRO: The Winnipeg Symphony has chosen
Russian-born conductor Andrey Boreyko, 44, as its new music
director, succeeding Bramwell Tovey. The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 05/19/01
5.
PEOPLE
MR
OPERA: Buck for buck, Alberto Vilar is "the biggest
benefactor in musical history. In four years, he has given $225
million to opera, ballet and orchestras - and there is more to
come, much more, the planned gifts dropping into our conversation
like paragliders into a disaster zone. His high visibility has
raised concerns among guardians of operatic purity, who fear that
this bumptious outsider may be exerting a malign influence on
their art." The Telegraph (UK)
05/23/01
SIR
PETER PLAYWRIGHT: Playwright Peter Shaffer is knighted by the
Queen. "A unique figure among modern dramatists, for three
decades he produced a series of successful plays which tackled
huge themes, making him the playwright who makes mainstream
audiences think about the big ideas of their times." The
Times (UK) 05/21/01
6.
PUBLISHING
THE
E-FUTURE: Is there an audience for e-books?
"Subscription, pay-per-view, ad-supported - online publishing
will only succeed when there are many business models, and
publishers and users can choose the appropriate model for their
needs." Publishers Weekly
05/21/01
MAYBE
HE'LL MOVE THE SCROLL TO BALTIMORE: Jack Kerouac's original
manuscript for On the Road was sold at auction for $2.43
million yesterday, more than $1 million over the expected sale
price. The manuscript is written on one continuous roll of paper.
Oh, and the winning bidder? That would be Jim Irsay, best known as
the owner of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. MSNBC
05/23/01
BLOWIN'
IN THE WIND: A federal appeals court has cleared the
way for publication of The Wind Done Gone, a novel that
parodies, and borrows liberally from, Margaret Mitchell's Gone
With the Wind. The ruling reverses a lower court decision
blocking publication. Nando Times (AP)
05/26/01
WRITING
ON THE WALL? The legendary Writer's Voice program at New
York's West Side YMCA, "an unusually fertile training ground
for writers," has announced it was canceling its summer
programs. But a recent troubled history of management and rumor
has many wondering if the program will ever resume. They worry
that a "20-year-old community institution whose students and
professors have included the likes of Pulitzer winner Michael
Cunningham, Walter Mosley, and Sue Miller" will be lost
forever. Village Voice 05/22/01
THE
NEXT CHAPTER: Troubled Canadian book superstore Chapters is
downsizing to try to solve its money woes. But "why should
Chapters have its wings clipped? Just because it expanded far too
rapidly? Just because it targeted and drove independent bookstores
out of business? Just because it strong-armed and bullied
publishers? Just because it returned books by the truckload? Just
because it delayed payment of its bills until publishers and
authors alike teetered on the edge of bankruptcy? Just because its
doomed course - iceberg? what iceberg? - might well have dragged a
sizable chunk of Canadian publishing down to the bottom with
it?" The Globe & Mail
(Canada) 05/21/01
UNRELIABLE
SOURCES: Critics seem to be wrong just about as often as
they're right. From the archives of publisher Alfred A. Knopf, the
reviews of readers considering what books to publish, show serious
lapses in judgment. The Observer (UK)
05/20/01
EVEN
IF YOU PAY... There are lots of problems with the magazine Foreword's
announcement it will review books for authors at a cost of $295.
"It's obvious that ForeWord won't get much business
from the publishers it claims it means to serve. See, ForeWord
reviews will be worthless unless they seem objective, and so
they're going to have to be negative on occasion. Do you think
publishers are going to pay for bad reviews? Big publishers don't
need to, and small publisher don't have the money to waste."
Mobylives 05/21/01
7.
THEATRE
TAKING
STOCK OF BROADWAY: One way of taking stock of the state of
Broadway is to look at the quality of plays and the health of the
box office - both of which seem to be doing fine right now.
Another way is to make note of the theatres - those that came into
service this season, and those which disappeared forever. Theatre.com
05/24/01
REINVENTING
SHAKESPEARE: The Royal Shakespeare Company has the prestige,
but "the current structure of the RSC, where actors must
commit to a lengthy contract in order to perform with the company,
is a deterrent to many actors and directors." So the RSC is
restructuring, allowing "shorter contracts, bold programming
of plays and better pay and conditions for actors." BBC
05/25/01
NEW
A.R.T. DIRECTOR: Robert Brustein is stepping down as director
of American Repertory Theatre next summer. And after looking at 70
candidates, the company has chosen Robert Woodruff, a director
known for his avant-garde work to replace Brustein, who is 70.
The New York Times 05/24/01
(one-time registration required for access)
BEST
OF (OFF) BROADWAY: Thirty-four New York theatre folk pick
their favorites of the off-Broadway theatre season. Village
Voice 05/22/01
CHICAGO
VICTORY: Chicago's Victory Gardens Theatre has won this year's
Regional Theatre Tony award. "For theaters outside New York,
this award, which is given in advance of most of the Tonys in
other categories, is singularly important." The
New York Times 05/23/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
PRODUCERS
WINS: The Producers wins a record 11 Drama Desk awards
in New York. The New York Times
05/21/01 (one-time registration
required for access)
A
FEW GOOD SCORES: For some years now, the Tony category for
best musical score has been something of an embarrasment
"ever since Broadway was occupied by British invaders and
Disney investors." But this year there are finally some
scores that have meat on their bones. The
New York Times 05/20/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
PICTURING
SHAKESPEARE: "A
retired Canadian engineer, telling a tale of ancient family ties,
mistaken judgments and surprise revelations, has roiled the world
of Shakespeare scholarship by saying he possesses a striking
portrait painted in 1603 showing Shakespeare as a coy man of 39,
with a full head of hair and a Mona Lisa smile." The
New York Times 05/24/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
8.
VISUAL ARTS
WHO
ME COMPETE? Newly released memos between Christie's and
Sotheby's reveal a cozy relationship. "The arrangements —
beyond the already admitted collusion of fixing the commission
fees paid by sellers — paint a picture of competitors operating
not so much as cutthroat rivals but almost as cozy partners, happy
to consult each other on matters big and small to the detriment of
their customers." The New York
Times 05/25/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
ARE
YOU A STUCKIST? "Stuckists want to put painting back on
its pedestal, they want to see brush strokes on canvas and
recognisable objects. Down, they say, with all the detached,
'clever' stuff that these days passes as art." The
Age (Melbourne) 05/25/01
OUT
OF THE SHADOWS: Why did women artists married to famous
artists take so long to develop careers? "Did Lee Krasner
have no choice but to wait for alcohol to kill Jackson Pollock?
Did Elaine de Kooning need to separate from Willem, Helen
Frankenthaler to divorce Robert Motherwell before their talents
could really develop?" Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
05/25/01
WHAT
ABOUT LATIN AMERICAN? Though Latino musicians seem to be
gaining popularity in the US, art by Latin American artists hasn't
caught on. Why? Forbes.com 05/24/01
ART
AS INVESTMENT: A new business index tracks the value of art
from 1875 to the present. "Starting from a baseline value of
100, the market peaked in 1990 at 2,476 before dropping 20 percent
over the next four years. By last year, art prices had fully
recovered, reaching a level of 2,566, although the Impressionist
works still lag behind their top performance, according to the
index." Globe & Mail (AP)
05/23/01
ART
IN IRAN: Iran's artists seem to be coming out to play again.
"While there has been liberalisation in the past five years,
it has taken the form of a general loosening of control rather
than a principled move away from strictness. Discretion is the
hallmark of the newest Iranian art — or at least of its
presentation. Timing may well be all." The
Times (UK) 05/23/01
PETITIONING
ABOUT LEONARDO: More than 30 art scholars are protesting the
Ufizzi's plans to work on a Leonardo painting. "Several
petitioners said their main concern was the vulnerability of the
Leonardo painting (1481-82), which in its unfinished state is too
fragile to undergo the rigors of a restoration, or consolidation
and stabilization in the language of art restorers." The
New York Times 05/23/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
TERRA
LAWSUIT SETTLED: A lawsuit filed last year over the future of
the Terra Museum in suburban Chicago has reportedly been settled.
The terms of the settlement require that the Terra stay in
Illinois - a potential move was the reason for the suit - but
would allow the museum's collection to be merged with another area
institution. Chicago Tribune 05/23/01
MONUMENT
ON THE MALL: Despite loud and persistent criticism, the US
Congress has voted to erect a monument to World War II on the
National Mall in Washington DC. "The turf war is over one of
the most visible and hallowed pieces of territory in America: 7.4
acres of the Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington
Monument." The New York Times
05/22/01 (one-time registration required
for access)
RUSSIAN
HARD LINE: "According to German sources, a recent
international conference on looted art held in Moscow failed to
make any progress and, in the view of some, demonstrated a Russian
reluctance to return art works (taken in World War II) to Germany,
Hungary, Poland, and other countries." Radio
Free Europe 05/21/01
- LOOT
OR COMPENSATION? The Russians are reluctant to return art
they took from Germany in World War II. Now a new Russian
policy: "Beginning immediately, the European cultural
treasures taken to Russia as war spoils by army brigades in
the postwar period will no longer be regarded as 'looted art'.
Instead, they will be termed 'compensation' for losses
suffered. Those in power now plan to garner the greatest
possible benefit from the art looted in that era."
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 05/21/01
OUTSIDER
ART COMES IN: The $22 million Museum of American Folk Art
opening this December is "the first major art museum in New
York since the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1966. Its
centerpiece is the Contemporary Center, devoted to the exhibition
and research of contemporary self-taught artists. Business
2.0 05/21/01
IN
JOURNALISM THEY CALL IT PLAGIARISM: Net photographer Michael
Mandiberg is challenging notions of originality with his latest
work. His new show "features his scanned reproductions of
photographs taken by the respected artist Sherrie Levine. The
catch: Levine's originals, shot in the late 1970s, are head-on
photos of black-and-white documentary photographs of
Depression-era Alabama sharecroppers, which were shot in 1936 by
the legendary Walker Evans." Wired
05/21/01
STAR
POWER: Clients are rushing to sign up the biggies in
architecture - the brand names - because they think doing so will
help them get donors and publicity and, maybe, more exciting
buildings. 'Signature buildings' is another term you hear, as if
architects signed their work like painters."
Boston Globe 05/20/01
9.
ISSUES
REFORMS
FOR ITALIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE: "Italy’s new Prime
Minister, will appoint a Culture Minister... who will preside over
a ministry that has just emerged from a four-year process of
reform.... The shake-up goes right to the top with the creation of
a new position of secretary general." The
Art Newspaper 05/24/01
REDRAWING
THE ARTS MAP: Margaret Seares is leaving as the chairperson of
the Australia Arts Council. She leaves four years in which the
arts funding map has been redrawn and the council and its clients
have begun to think more strategically about their operations. Sydney
Morning Herald 05/23/01
CONTEMPO
LEAD: Vienna is about to open a new £100 million contemporary
arts center - the world's largest. It's "the biggest
investment in culture that Austria has made in more than a
century. When the Museums Quartier centre for contemporary arts
opens next month it will cover 60,000 square yards and turn
Vienna, whose best-known cultural offspring include Gustav Klimt
and Mozart, into a world centre for modern art." The
Telegraph (UK) 05/20/01
REDEMPTION
THROUGH THE ARTS: Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has long been a
collection of abandoned industrial buildings. But two years ago
the city started an arts district to encourage the arts and
revitalization of the city's downtown. "The district
comprises more than 60 blocks. Artists can waive the sales tax on
art they sell there. Those who live and work in the district are
also eligible for a state income-tax exclusion on any money their
art generates. The city has lured two longstanding cultural
institutions from Providence." Boston
Globe 05/20/01
10.
FOR FUN
PHONE
RAGE: Readers of the Cleveland Plain Dealer are fed up with
cell phones and pagers chirping in their concert halls and
theatres. Readers wrote to the paper after a story on the subject
to suggest solutions: "One reader pointed out that most
states - but not Ohio - have laws prohibiting concealed weapons,
so why not pass laws banning concealed cell phones? 'If someone is
caught with one and it goes off during a concert, ban 'em for the
rest of the season'." The Plain
Dealer (Cleveland) 05/21/01
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