Ideas

Over-50s - Now There's A Market For You (Really!) For advertisers, "neglect of the 40 per cent of adult population over 50 - sometimes known as the grey market - is nothing new." But why? "Eighty per cent of the country's wealth is controlled by the over-50s but 95 per cent of adspend targets people under-50; 86 per cent of over-50s say they don't relate to most current advertising yet, for example, 66 per cent of new cars are bought by people over-45. The over-50s in employment outspend their under-50 counterparts by 20 per cent. And over the next 20 years the over-50s market in the UK will grow by 30 per cent, while the under-50s market will shrink by 5 per cent." Financial Times 01/06/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:00 pm

Yes, But Is It The RIGHT Edition? Charles Rosen, responding to a reader of one of his earlier articles, writes that the internet is not the panacea of free-flowing information that many suggest it is. "I believe that the literary and musical tradition of a culture ought to be easily available in the best form as a matter of course, like street lighting or public transport. This is not such a radical notion: making it available is often given tax-exempt status as if it were a public service, but in the present economy this is no longer good enough. Record stores, above all the big chains, no longer offer the full range of classical records but have cut back; in most bookstores only the cheapest editions of works of the past are to be found on the shelves; and publishers and record companies no longer believe that keeping their products available for any stretch of time is economically justifiable." New York Review of Books 01/15/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 9:24 pm

Visual Arts

O'Keeffe Stolen, Then Recovered A painting was stolen from the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe early Thursday but was quickly recovered, and a security guard who reported the theft has emerged as a suspect, police said. ABCNews (AP) 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:38 pm

Taking Vermeer To The Screen A film is soon to be released about the painter Vermeer. But there's a problem. "It's not only the man but his art that is tantalisingly silent: just as no pithy quotes from Vermeer or anecdotes about the time he punched Pieter de Hooch in the face survive, nothing is known about the women in his paintings, or the stories they seem to hint at. And there's the rub. In fact it makes film-makers of us all as we mentally complete the hints of narrative in his paintings, picturing scenarios, possibilities suggested by his inscrutable glimpses. Vermeer painted more than two centuries before the invention of cinema, but he anticipated the way films make a world and fill it with light." The Guardian (UK) 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:05 pm

Music

Haitink Gets New Position At Boston Symphony "Bernard Haitink has accepted the Boston Symphony Orchestra's invitation to become 'conductor emeritus,' a new position and title created especially for him. Haitink, who first conducted the BSO in 1971, has served as principal guest conductor since 1995." Boston Globe 01/09/04
Posted: 01/09/2004 7:33 am

Harlem Boys Choir Leaders Under Fire To Resign An explosive memo concerning leaders of the famed Boys Choir of Harlem and how they handled a case of abuse against one of the choir's boys, threatens to result in the ouster of the choir's founder. "The accusations against the Turnbulls have dealt the choir and its academy a painful blow at a time when both are struggling with their finances, as they have on and off for many years. The crisis could signify the end of an era for the group, which has performed from Yankee Stadium to Tokyo, and the beginning of a decidedly shaky future." The New York Times 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:29 pm

Restoring The Grand Fenice The restoration of Venice's historic opera house La Fenice is completed. "In the local parlance, this house was realized com'era, dov'era--how it was, where it was. It's as if you are walking into La Fenice for the very first time in 1837 (year after the first La Fenice, built in 1792, was burnt down and redesigned by Meduna brothers). It's a paradox: old yet spanking new." Newsweek 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:24 pm

Scottish Opera To Undergo "Fundamental Change" The chief executive of Scottish Opera says that his company will have to endure "fundamental" changes in size, shape and output" because of funding caps by the government. "One authoritative insider last night suggested that the potential job losses in the 'difficult transition' at Scottish Opera could be as much as 80 from its current staff of around 200." The Herald (Glasgow) 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:18 pm

British Recording Group Investigates Amazon For CD Sales Amazon.com is being investigated by the British Phonographic Industry for selling cheap CD's acquired outside the UK. "The BPI said it was questioning as routine whether Amazon was selling CDs obtained outside the European Economic Area, contravening UK law." BBC 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 9:50 pm

Arts Issues

Performing Arts For Sale! The American Association of Performing Arts Presenters holds its annual meeting in New York. "The conference functions as something of a freewheeling art marketplace where those who program (buyers) and those who perform (sellers) can get to know one another's work. The principal conduit for all that creative networking is more than 1,000 performances around the city, continuing through Tuesday, when the association's members scurry back to their artistic homes to program the 2004-5 season and beyond." The New York Times 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:50 pm

$9 Million To Protect Sydney Opera House About $9 million in new security measures are being installed at the Sydney Opera House, to protect against terrorism. "NSW premier Bob Carr rejected suggestions the Opera House was the country's prime terrorism target but added: 'We live in an era where anything can be considered a target.' About four million visitors entered the Opera House every year, making it difficult to protect." Adelaide Advertiser 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:35 pm

Brilliance From Autism "Historical figures including Socrates, Charles Darwin, and Andy Warhol probably had a form of autism, says a leading specialist. Professor Michael Fitzgerald, of Dublin's Trinity College believes they showed signs of Asperger's syndrome. BBC 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 9:28 pm

The War On Terrorism (and Foreign Artists?) New U.S. customs rules put in place by the Bush administration have the potential to severely limit the ability of foreign-born artists to tour North America, and Canadian organizations are worried that their cultural trade will be directly affected by the actions of the American government. Artists who were born outside of certain pre-approved countries "can expect to be detained [at the U.S. border] under the new U.S. Homeland Security regulations for digital fingerprinting, photographing and a short interview, even if their work visas have been pre-approved by U.S. authorities." Many performers are unwilling to risk such humiliating treatment, and are cancelling planned trips to North America. Toronto Star 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 6:05 am

Government Arts Funding On The Rise (In Canada) Even as America's state governments slash their arts funding to the bone or beyond, Canada is moving in the opposite direction. "Government spending for the arts and culture has continued to rise, with Ottawa coughing up more than $3-billion for the first time during the fiscal year 2001 to 2002... all three levels of government contributed that year to the fastest rate of increase in cultural spending in a decade, with Ottawa, the provinces and cities together providing $6.8-billion in 2001-2002." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 5:33 am

People

Jarvi - At Home In Gothenberg Neeme Järvi is "one of those conductors who never quite made it to the leadership of one of the world's great orchestras but who has made an essential contribution by bolstering symphonic music on the periphery. When he arrived at Gothenberg in 1982 the orchestra was decidedly second division; now its only rival as the leading Scandinavian orchestra is the Oslo Philharmonic, and on many counts it can claim superiority." Financial Times 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 9:57 pm

Theatre

Tetreault Named To Lead Ford's Theatre Paul Tetreault, a veteran manager of regional theater companies, was named the new producing director at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC yesterday, succeeding the late Frankie Hewitt, who held the post for 30 years. Washington Post 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 11:04 pm

Portrait Of A West End Flop Les Liaisons Dangereuses was a hit in London back in the 80s. This time around though, the show closed in the West End after dismal reviews and only a few weeks. "The critics said the star delivered his lines like the speaking clock, the cast seemed to have been picked because of their more famous relatives and the theatre was half full. Looking back, it seems no surprise that Les Liaisons Dangereuses was cancelled after three weeks." The Guardian (UK) 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:09 pm

Publishing

Hughes To Run Paris Review "Four months after the death of George Plimpton, the Paris Review announced yesterday that interim editor Brigid Hughes will permanently run the literary quarterly... Hughes, 30, takes on a role that Plimpton, who died in September at 76, assumed with tireless enthusiasm for half a century. In deference to Plimpton, his official title - editor - will not be filled. Hughes has the newly established title of executive editor." Philadelphia Inquirer (AP) 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 5:58 am

The Rebirth Of Mutanabi Street Baghdad's Mutanabi Street has, for centuries, been one of the centers of Iraqi intellectual life, as reflected in the avenue's bookshops. Dissidents, professors, religious clerics, and ordinary Iraqis gathered together at Mutanabi's open-air book marts to trade ideas and debate philosophy. "In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein crushed intellectual life, forcing Mutanabi Street's alternative ideas and books underground. Secret police informants infested the cafe tables, ready to overhear whispers of dissent. But six months after the U.S. occupation, Mutanabi is again in ferment." Newsday 01/07/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 5:53 am

Media

Small Screen Clutter TV screens have become cluttered with information. "Multiple screens have moved quickly into the arts and entertainment. Film and television screens crammed with text and images are everywhere from the Museum of Modern Art to "Access Hollywood." Once we were couch potatoes, but we are all active viewers now, flipping the remote through channels, flipping our eyes around the screen. Even deciding to ignore the crawl requires an active choice." The New York Times 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 10:58 pm

The Death Of The Blockbuster? The costs of making big blockbuster movies is getting unsustainable. "Typically, the music will be almost incessant and costs several million dollars. The norm for a blockbuster is $US100 million and going up every year. The studios can no longer afford them but must go on making them. More and more they swallow their pride and split costs with a rival studio. Massive German tax shelter money has kept them afloat for the past several years, but is running out." The Age (Melbourne) 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 8:53 pm

A New Generation Of Black Directors Still Struggles It's easier now to get films made because of digital technology and falling costs for production. But "African-American directors still find it difficult to get financing for independent black films that don't feature, say, Will Smith picking a gunfight on a freeway during rush hour. Obtaining theatrical distribution is an even greater challenge." Christian Science Monitor 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 6:27 pm

How Indy Films Got Sold Out A new book about Miramax studios and Harvey Weinstein chronicles the commercialization of independent film. The book "shows how Mr. Weinstein led greedy studio execs down a path paved with profits, promising and doling out Oscars with the help of megabucks publicity campaigns—and in the process, independent films became as commercialized as studio films." New York Observer 01/07/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 6:24 pm

The Little Film That Couldn't The strange saga of Atom Egoyan's controversial film, Ararat, continues apace in Turkey. "Turkish newspapers were reporting yesterday that the Istanbul-based distributor of [the film] is in contact with associates of a right-wing nationalist group that forced the distributor this week to postpone Ararat's screening in Turkey." Officially, the Turkish government is still allowing the film to be screened, but plans for its debut were scrapped this week in the wake of violent threats from the nationalists. Egoyan considered traveling to Turkey himself, to make the case for his film, but has scrapped the idea as "foolish." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/08/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 5:28 am

• Previously: Turkish Ararat Screening Off "The Canadian writer-director of a controversial film about Turkey's historical genocide says he's surprised a country that seemed so committed to starting a dialogue about its painful past has postponed screening the film amid fears of attacks. Atom Egoyan, whose award-winning film Ararat was scheduled to begin showing in Turkey on January 16, said he's still waiting to hear more details from the Turkish film distributor about why its screening was scuttled... The Armenian National Committee of Canada said the film distributor, Istanbul-based Belge Films, pulled the film's release after receiving threats from Ulku Ocaklari, a group with ties to the Grey Wolves, a nationalist paramilitary group, as well as the Turkish military and intelligence units." Toronto Star 01/07/04

The CDs That Could Save The Industry A new CD technology which creates a fuller, more ambient sound for the listener is being hailed as the technology that could reverse the slide in international record sales. Super-Audio CDs (SACD) have two different layers of music embedded in them: one for "normal" CD players, and one for players equipped with the special digital capabilities that unleash layers of music previously unheard of in digital media. For audiophiles, its the best development in recording technology since the vinyl record. For the rest of the world, even the "normal" CD layer is a vast improvement over the current standard. Financial Times 01/06/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 5:13 am

Dance

A Balanchine Moment That Never Came Tobi Tobias continues her survey of New York City Ballet's Balanchine birthday celebration: "The current production delivers many of the images, but, as has become NYCB custom, without rubato and without their essential perfume. The corps de ballet is neat and lively, practicing exactitude adorned, in the women’s case, with empty smiles. I had been looking forward to my favorite Scotch Symphony moment. Two of the kilts lift the Sylphide high—she seems to be standing on air—and toss her, still vertical, into her ardent suitor’s arms. I recall the exquisitely gentle Diana Adams in that moment. For two unforgettable seconds, she seemed to be not falling but floating—softly, lazily, serenely, swept crosswise by an idle breeze. It didn’t happen last night. They didn’t even attempt it. I wonder if whoever is setting the ballet even knows that moment existed. Or cares." Seeing Things (AJBlogs) 01/09/04
Posted: 01/08/2004 11:14 pm