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Tom Service asks a question the classical world mostly avoids: what does it mean to call the Berlin Philharmonic the best orchestra in the world, and how has the label survived a half-century of conductors, politics and technology? (The Guardian) The answer isn’t in the playing. It’s in who confers the title and why it sticks.
Reputation, it turns out, is a poor predictor of survival. Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences announced its closure Tuesday and got a rescue deal Wednesday (Philadelphia Inquirer) — 200 years of standing bought it exactly one news cycle. Georgia Ensemble Theatre, after 34 years, got no rescue and no announcement; the board simply went quiet (ArtsATL). A Louisville high school’s cancelled Ragtime drew a million views and Broadway’s attention before it got the district’s (Playbill). What decides who gets saved isn’t age or quality, it seems to be whether anyone with money or a megaphone is watching.
Boston Ballet had someone watching: an anonymous patron just wrote a $10 million check (People). Edinburgh’s arts groups will get their pay from tourists, through a visitor levy worth up to £50 million a year (The Stage) — the city finally billing the crowds for the culture that draws them.
Also: at 25, Adult Swim TV channel is thriving while the rest of cable dies, and even its own people can’t explain why (TheWrap).
All of our stories below.