[contextly_auto_sidebar id="JFTV8kkscmtLKx5Wmj1BWgosRiTRBgVg"] YOUR humble correspondent has just returned from the Ojai Music Festival, which continues to be a great place to see classical music. Here are a few highlights of this year's festival. On one major piece I break from the critical consensus and will get into that tomorrow. Music director Jeremy Denk is both a consummate … [Read more...]
The Ojai Music Festival and Uri Caine
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Scx4VCooDHhyWVBgymxHy3X9hGhGh8Y4"] LATER this week, one of our spring rituals arrives: The Ojai Music Festival kicks off on Thursday. It’s always a good time up there, and this year we’re doubly excited because of the artistic directorship by pianist Jeremy Denk, one of my generation’s most imaginative players, a gifted writer of prose on his blog and elsewhere, and … [Read more...]
If Culture Isn’t Quantified, Does it Exist? And, Tech News
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="9uyV3uaURenHexrSfUw92h6J4J7iuLD6"] ONE of the most important stories of the week ran below the fold in New York Times Styles. "Statisticians 10, Poets 0" got at the relentless quantifying that digital technology has made possible. And the things that can't be counted are fading from view. That would be fine, if so many of the things that matter, especially for the … [Read more...]
Is the Novel Dead? Plus, Art Auctions and Green Composer
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="crb2maHtqit51P5E7CQQCJm9upqvoZsh"] TODAY in Oxford, Will Self gives a speech about the death of the novel that many of my friends and colleagues have responded to with hostility and disbelief. Self's piece is at times over the top, and his persona is that of an ornery crank, but his speech -- reprinted here in the Guardian -- is essential reading. The story's … [Read more...]
A Return in Minnesota, and Kushner and Rodrick in Paperback
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="9ERXa4nuBab6v5CPcvsEksqMFVDobHPt"] ONE of the unpleasant recent developments in classical music -- the 16 month (!) lockout of the musicians in the Minnesota Orchestra -- may be resolving. But it may not go entirely smoothly. A report just today from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune describes newly restored music director Osmo Vanska. “We are terribly behind and must do … [Read more...]
Gearing Up for Record Store Day, and Art “Flipping”
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="8eZwNmRxYLLmX2m5vhxmxtoOeyErCIlW"] MUCH of my misspent youth was passed in record stores and bookstores, both as a customer and clerk, and I absorbed huge doses of enthusiasm, and I hope some knowledge, that would later help me as a scribe. So I'm always happy to read that record stores seem to be coming back, as this story timed to Record Store Day -- the annual … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday, J.S. Bach, You Scary Bastard
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="fCuLD2IqdN12lY1YuMoXVQLgOFYy7oc1"] Since the exact date is ambiguous -- he was born sometime in late March of 1685 -- I've decided to declare today Bach's birthday. That gives me great pleasure; Bach was the first composer to hit me hard, and is still my favorite. It also frightens me, because of the way Bach's music is typically used in films to signify something … [Read more...]
The Irreverent Genius of Jeremy Denk
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="W81pySFXa3drR3WTlrmSjqp0w13uJQpJ"] The classical pianist Jeremy Denk has just won the Avery Fisher Prize, which caps what's been a very good year or so for him. (He's working on a memoir for Random House, among other things.) I met Denk in 2010 and was immediately impressed with playing and thinking. (His commitment to Ives was palpable.) My story looks at his … [Read more...]
Chamber Music For the People
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="yE1qQT5mZx5Qd5zgZ5bpUcatdi77vObm"] HOW can classical music survive in a changing world? How can the aging audience be renewed? One answer is coming from a Boston group called Groupmuse, which puts on free, informal chamber concerts at people's homes, then passes the hat for the musicians. So far, this hasn't generated a huge amount of income for the players, but … [Read more...]
Novelists in the New Economy, and a National-ist Goes Classical
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="hPd2FVtPIrH02PAHBYXfxFyuIQJdbTd3"] HOW are novelists doing in the post-recession, Internet-besotted world? In Britain, apparently, even purportedly successful and well-reputed writers are hanging on by their fingernails. That's the conclusion of a nuanced and well-reported piece by Robert McCrum in the Observer. The story starts by describing Rupert Thomson, an … [Read more...]