Switzerland’s idyllic Lake Lucerne, bounded by majestic mountains, was famously the site of two composer’s homes. Sergei Rachmaninoff built Senar (an acronym for SErgei and NAtalia Rachmaninoff) on land purchased in 1930. From 1932 until 1939, it was his annual residence from May to August. Richard Wagner rented Tribschen, a short boat ride from Lucerne, from 1866 to … [Read more...] about Honoring Rachmaninoff and Dishonoring Wagner on Lake Lucerne
What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become — Take Two
I’ve received three memorable responses to my recent blog – also posted on Arts Fuse -- pondering whether the Kennedy Center might become, or might have become, a genuine “national cultural center.” The first, from a prominent arts administrator in mid-America, simply reads: “It all comes down to leadership.” The second, from Douglas McLennan of ArtsJournal, concludes: … [Read more...] about What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become — Take Two
What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become?
Today's "Arts Fuse" publishes my latest thoughts about the Kennedy Center: With the fate of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – for the moment, no longer the Trump Kennedy Center – unknowable, it’s tantalizing to inquire what it might become. A related question is whether it became all it could have been in the first place. When Jackie Kennedy urged Leonard … [Read more...] about What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become?
Why Gustav Mahler’s New York Career Was a “Failure”
The critic Henry Krehbiel notoriously called Gustav Mahler’s New York career a failure, undone by “foolishness and naivete.” Most accounts of Mahler’s life take issue with this opinion, or refuse to take it seriously. But Krehbiel knew what he was talking about. At the Colorado Mahlerfest last May, Krehbiel and his Mahler verdict were debated. The debaters were Hilan … [Read more...] about Why Gustav Mahler’s New York Career Was a “Failure”
“What if JFK had not been assassinated? People talk about: What would have been the impact in Vietnam? What interests me is: What would have been the impact on the American arts?”
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy has published an interview with me pondering the implications of my study of the cultural Cold War, “The Propaganda of Freedom.” You can read the full interview here. Excerpts follow: The book began one day when I attended an event at the National Archives about the Kennedy White House and Arts Policy. For the first time, I became … [Read more...] about “What if JFK had not been assassinated? People talk about: What would have been the impact in Vietnam? What interests me is: What would have been the impact on the American arts?”