From singing at recent New York street protests to protests over the Metropolitan Opera’s production of John Adams’ “The Death of Klinghoffer,” music and protest seem to be in the air…
Another Gifted Female Conductor Cracks The Glass Ceiling
Susanna Mälkki: “I was very aware that the tradition of the profession is extremely masculine. I knew that if I wanted to do this, I have to be particularly good at it. … Maybe one day we will have reached a point where we won’t have to discuss the gender issue at all.”
Avant-Garde Yodeling Gets Some Dirndls In A Twist
“Christine Lauterburg, a musician from Bern, has layered yodeling over techno beats, and that simply isn’t done. She wears a miniskirt and heels on stage, rather than the Alpine peasant dresses worn by performers sanctioned by the Swiss Yodeling Association, the keeper of the flame. The outfit, called a dirndl, isn’t optional. Ms. Lauterburg isn’t alone in her heresy.”
Atlanta Symphony Musicians Say Departed CEO Wasn’t The Problem
When he resigned this week, Stanley Romanstein wrote that his continued presence would be “an impediment” to ending the lockout. But, says the leader of the musicians’ union, “Stanley was never empowered to negotiate an agreement with the Musicians of the ASO; neither this negotiation nor in 2012.”
Perfectionism Can Be Really, Really Bad For You
“Perfectionism is a trait many of us cop to coyly, maybe even a little proudly. … But real perfectionism can be devastatingly destructive, leading to crippling anxiety or depression, and it may even be an overlooked risk factor for suicide, argues a new paper.”
One Architect’s Lifelong Struggle Against The Tyranny Of Straight Lines
The story of Austrian designer Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (which means “Realm-of-Peace Rainy-Day Dark-Colored Hundred-Waters”), né Friedrich Stowasser. (includes podcast)
What Does It Mean That We Seem To Want To Document Everything Now?
“What if the omnipresence of cameras and the act of recording helps some people to be more firmly in the moment than if they weren’t documenting it? Maybe it isn’t so much about the result of that documentation – the arguably inflationary numbers of selfies, time-lapses and photos – but about the mere act of consciously documenting?”
Netflix To Release Movie In Theatres And Online At Same Time (How Significant Is This?)
“Certainly a high-profile movie that would go into theaters and online at the same time is noteworthy. But is it a game-changer – something that, in success, will hint at and even hasten a very different future? Here are a number of questions that inform that answer.”
Gunther Schuller Talks About Composing
“The thing about composing, nobody can tell — even Beethoven couldn’t tell until he had composed quite a bit of music and it got better and better — the degree of talent. You can’t get up one day [and say], ‘I’m going to be talented today and write a great piece.’ The only thing you can do is start composing and work your buns off working on it and studying the great music of the past and learning from it and then try to create sort of your own language.”
Jessye Norman On How To Deal With Critics
“Oh, they might write it, but, darling, I don’t read it. I don’t need it. I know whether or not I have done onstage what I intended to do that night. … And if it doesn’t suit somebody who is sitting there, not having paid for their ticket to be there, and they find it not to their liking – what does it matter? Who are they?” (video)
ABT To Lose Three Star Principals
“Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent and Xiomara Reyes will retire this spring near the end of Ballet Theater’s 2015 season at the Metropolitan Opera House.”
Turning An Audience Into Asylum-Seekers Trying To Sneak Across A Border
Bordergame, the latest site-specific production by National Theatre Wales, will have live audience members on a train trying to cross illegally from England into “the Autonomous Republic of Cymru” – as online audience members decide their fate in real time.
A Fourth Italian Opera House Loses Its Chief Conductor
With the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari having cancelled its fall productions after posting a €2 million deficit for 2013, the house’s young chief conductor, Daniele Rustioni, has said he won’t renew his contract when it expires next January. (in Italian)
How Our Sense Of Humor Changes As We Age
Researchers describe it as a progression from aggressive humor to affiliative humor – but it’s clearer and more understandable than those two terms may sound.
The Attractions Of Slow TV
“A slow-TV program is like a great view you encounter on vacation: it’s always there, impervious, but it gains meaning and a story depending on what it conjures in your head. … As entertainment, it is backward: it appears to do its job by casting viewers into their own minds.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.30.14
This is not censorship
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth | Published 2014-09-30
“Sculpture Victorious,” Yes, But In What Way?
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-10-01
Have We Lost the Ability to Be Alone?
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-10-01
It can be done
AJBlog: Sandow | Published 2014-09-30
Dancing the Breaking Point
AJBlog: Dancebeat | Published 2014-10-01
Another free Chicago jazz festival: Hyde Park and local stars
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz | Published 2014-09-30
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Joshua Bell Playing The D.C. Metro: Here’s What Happens When He Alerts People Ahead Of Time
“The hall was so packed that when the students who accompanied Bell performed an opening set, people in the back of the crowd kept clapping after the students left the stage, not realizing that the music they were then hearing was a recording.”
Brooklyn Bar Sues City For The Right Of Patrons to Dance
“Andrew Muchmore, owner of Muchmore’s Cafe in Williamsburg, filed suit in Brooklyn federal court to challenge New York’s cabaret laws – which prohibit dancing by more than three people at one time unless the venue has a cabaret license. In the suit, he cites the first and 14th amendments and claims the tight restrictions against patrons shaking their money makers have forced him to play sedate if not dreary tunes at his nightspot and coffeehouse.”
The Problem With Protecting Canadian Content
“The problem facing the Canadian TV industry – from the big three commercial outfits to the guilds, unions and lobby groups representing the creators – is that cultural protectionism is a very, very hard sell. And it’s a hard sell because there is so little Canadian programming that is truly cherished and admired by the public. In this, everyone, from the top executives to the creative end of the industry, must face blame.”
Live Screening Of Billy Elliot Musical Tops UK Box Office This Week
“The screening, which was broadcast live from London’s Victoria Palace Theatre to more than 500 cinemas across the UK on September 28, beat new releases The Equalizer and The Boxtrolls to the top spot, and was the widest ever cinema release of a live event.”
Les Arts Florissants Loses State Funding (But They’ll Adapt)
The celebrated Baroque specialist ensemble “is losing the support it has received for 25 years for performing and teaching in Caen, where the city and regional French governments are cutting back.” But, says founder/director William Christie, the group is better situated to absorb the shock than many other French arts organizations.