In his most important speech about the place of culture in the national experience, delivered at Amherst College mere weeks before his death, President John F. Kennedy said: “In free society art is not a weapon and it does not belong to the spheres of polemic and ideology. Artists are not ‘engineers of the soul.’ It may be different elsewhere. But democratic society -- in … [Read more...] about “Redes” Lives! — The Iconic Film of the Mexican Revolution and what it says to us today
The Arts in America — Is the Pandemic a Perfect Storm?
In 1987, my Understanding Toscanini was the most discussed, most reviled book about classical music to have appeared in recent memory. Its subtitle was “How He Became an American Culture-God and Helped Create a New Audience for Old Music.” I used Arturo Toscanini -- for decades, the most famous and influential classical musician in the US, hailed as a “priest of … [Read more...] about The Arts in America — Is the Pandemic a Perfect Storm?
Porgy and the White Police
Though a prominent British reviewer of what became the hit Met production of Porgy and Bess called Gershwin’s landmark 1935 opera “a period piece,” it loudly resounds today. Consider the first act confrontation between a white detective and a black community. “Race is critical to Gershwin’s conception,” observes the Gershwin scholar Mark Clague in the most recent … [Read more...] about Porgy and the White Police
The New Deal, the Arts, and Race — and Today
FDR’s New Deal included the Works Progress Administration, which generously supported the arts in unprecedented ways. Employing writers, composers, visual artists, and performers via Art, Music, and Theater projects, the WPA was a massive employment agency -- and the closest Washington had come to emulating European arts subsidies. The Music Project alone gave 225,000 … [Read more...] about The New Deal, the Arts, and Race — and Today
Porgy Takes a Knee — “Porgy and Bess” and the American Experience of Race
“It’s interesting that Gershwin chose as his protagonist a person who’s on his knees. ‘Taking a knee’ has never been more relevant.” That’s Kevin Deas, a distinguished exponent of Gershwin’s Porgy, talking a few days ago on PostClassical Ensemble’s “Porgy and Bess Roundtable” zoomchat alongside another eminent African-American singer: George Shirley. “I’ve been thinking … [Read more...] about Porgy Takes a Knee — “Porgy and Bess” and the American Experience of Race