Measuring Up - Is Greatness An Absolute? Terry Teachout ponders Charles Murray's attempts to statistically analyze "greatness." "The question of whether or not it is possible to demonstrate objectively the existence of absolute standards of aesthetic quality will probably always remain open. That such absolute standards do exist, however, seems to me indisputable. No matter how aggressively postmodern thinkers may deny the significance of the consensus of judgment—or the overwhelming dominance of Western culture—the whole of human history and experience is arrayed against them. It cannot be coincidental that, as Clement Greenberg observed, 'the people who try hardest and look hardest end up, over the ages, by agreeing with one another in the main'." Commentary 11/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 10:13 pm
Canadian Landscapes Coming Home "Thirteen exceptional 18th-century watercolours including views of Montreal and Quebec City as they looked in the 1780s are among a collection of rare paintings that have been bought in Britain by the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Quebec City and Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa... Bonhams, the auction house that negotiated the private sale, says the collection is worth at least $194,000. There is speculation, however, the Canadian officials might have paid a bit more to have them withdrawn from public auction." Montreal Gazette 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:06 am
Family Squabbles The estate of Quebec artist Jean-Paul Riopelle has announced plans to sell 43 of the abstractionist's works at auction this month, sparking controversy over the issue of who is calling the shots in the preservation of Riopelle's legacy. At the center of the debate are Riopelle's daughters, who are not executors of his estate; Riopelle's longtime companion, who is an executor; and the director of the Musee de Quebec, who is also an executor, and therefore in a potential conflict of interest regarding the sale. The announcement of the auction, which came only ten days before the auction itself, has many observers questioning whether the market value of Riopelle's work could be lowered by such a hasty selloff. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:52 am
- Previously: Riopelle Sale Worries Historians The estate of the late artist Jean-Paul Riopelle is "putting 40 of the abstract painter's works up for sale at an auction in Montreal in November, and some art historians are concerned about the impact of the sale on the international reputation of the Montreal painter." CBC 10/30/03
The Art World's Most Important Doorman On a list of the world's most influential art people, Gil Peretz ranks No. 50, according to Art Review Magazine. And who is Gil Peretz? "He's a 52-year-old Puerto Rican who lives in Queens with his wife, his 22-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son. And what does he do? Are we soon to be favoured with one of his installations in Tate Modern's turbine hall? Not even close. Has he got an unexpectedly large collection of hitherto unseen Breughels in his house in the Hamptons? Hardly. No, Perez is arguably the world's most important doorman. He stands at the door of the Christie's Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York greeting clients and helping to organise auctions." The Guardian (UK) 11/04/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:12 pm
Chunnel Project Yields Major Archaeological Finds Important archaeological finds were made all along the route of the high speed trains for the Chunnel between England and France. "Hundreds of archaeologists, working over a period of 15 years, have salvaged vast stores of finds from the path of the 185mph trains, as well as recording scores of sites which will remain safe but buried beneath the tracks. One long string of pearls seems to be everyone's favourite description." The Guardian (UK) 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:05 pm
Versailles To Get A Restoration; Will Take 20 Years The Palace of Versailles is to be given a €400 million restoration that will take 20 years. "The Sun King's 700-room palace and 800-hectare (2,000-acre) garden are to be given a long-overdue facelift aimed at restoring their lost sparkle - recapturing their architectural purity and rendering them safe for the 10 million people who visit each year. This is the first big restoration programme for Versailles since the early 1800s, and the biggest such undertaking in France since the remodelling of the Louvre in the late 1900s." The Guardian (UK) 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 6:27 pm
Britten Sculpture Condemned as "Eyesore" A scuplture commemorating composer Benjamin Britten in his beloved town of Aldeburgh has provoked protests, with many townsfolk calling it an eyesore. "The eyesore is a glorious thing, four tonnes of steel cut and shaped into giant scallop shells, which will rear up from the beach. From the shore the cut-out letters against the sky will read as a line from Peter Grimes: 'I hear those voices that will not be drowned.' The artist is despondent over the reception his work is getting: "It never crossed my mind that it would be in any way controversial. I thought that people might come up and say thank you - more fool me. My own newsagent just said to me, 'Hello, how's the eyesore coming along?'" The Guardian (UK) 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 6:22 pm
The Courtship Of David Zinman Conductor David Zinman resigned the music directorship of the Baltimore Symphony five years ago, unhappy with what he called the orchestra's increasingly conservative direction. At the time, many observers assumed that Zinman would never again agree to lead an American orchestra, that he was just too disgusted with the place of the arts in his native country. But now, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra revving up its search to replace outgoing director Mariss Jansons, Zinman is apparently willing to consider a return to the States. "I told them that it really depends on who the new executive director is and who the new board president is," he says. "Then I would be open to talking about it." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:23 am
Picking Up The Broken Pieces With the Charlotte Symphony's 7-week strike finally over, the organization is hoping to get back on track quickly, and begin raising the money the CSO will need to stay solvent throughout the five-year contract it just inked with its musicians. CSO president Richard Early says in an interview that the organization's focus must now be on mending fences with its subscriber base, and reminding the city's corporate community of the importance of supporting the orchestra. Charlotte Observer 11/03/04
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:44 am
Planning For The Future In Florida The Florida Philharmonic is gone, a victim of the bad economy and public indifference. But, like so many other communities which have lost symphony orchestras, music fans in South Florida are holding out hope that a new ensemble will eventually rise from the ashes of the Phil. This week, the Dade Community Foundation struck a deal that makes such a revival much more likely: it's purchasing the Philharmonic's music library for $180,000, and storing it until a new orchestra can take it back. An orchestra's music library is its most irreplacable asset, and building one from scratch takes years of careful purchasing, so the preservation of the library was a major priority for the musicians of the defunct Philharmonic. Palm Beach Post 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:20 am
Disney - The West Rises Up? LA's Disney Hall is a great accomplishment, sure. And a good place to hear music, writes Joshua Kosman. "But it's also a great roar of regional pride, a sweeping claim for the importance of the arts in a city and state long derided as philistine. It promises to strike a powerful blow - perhaps even, at long last, the fatal one - against the cultural mythology that says America's musical life begins on the East Coast and peters out somewhere around the Mississippi River." San Francisco Chronicle 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:49 pm
The Chorus Grows - Singing Praises Of Pay-Per-Song It's official: downloading pay-per-song tracks is the new darling of the music world. "Pay-per-song is now a legitimate industry promoted by some of the best brains in modern technology and entertainment, from Apple to Napster to Dell. With prices starting low and falling lower, legally downloading your own songs and mixing them to use the way you want is a seductive right that is fast revolutionizing the music business." Denver Post 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 6:14 pm
Will Arts Get Booted Off the Island? Hawai'i is more than just another state in the U.S. Its geographic isolation from the rest of the country means that its population is quite insular and, despite the heavy tourist trade, relatively unchanging. These unique qualities make Hawai'i a charming place to live, but are posing a grave danger for the state's arts groups, many of which are in severe financial turmoil, and in need of public support. "Years of financial austerity measures have helped the major arts and cultural organizations survive, but administrators say innovative solutions are needed to cope with a confluence of negative local and national trends." The Honolulu Advertiser 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:14 am
Miami Performing Arts Center Delayed And Over Budget Miami's new $344 million performing arts center has been beset by delays and cost overruns. "Center officials recently moved the expected opening date to early 2006, over 16 months behind what was originally hoped for. Meanwhile, cost overruns that accrue from design changes, material shortages or flawed work will eventually have to be covered by someone -- either the county or the contractors." Miami Herald 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:24 pm
- Who Will Pay To Run Miami PAC? Construction delays and budget overruns are only part of the problem facing Miami's new performing arts center. How will the facility find money to stay open once it debuts? "At this point $15.2 million a year in expenses has been identified but only $12.5 million in revenue, leaving a $2.7 million yearly deficit. With the collapse of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, the PAC is left with only four resident companies. They're scheduled to fill only 125 nights a year of the combined total of 730 nights available in the PAC's two biggest performance halls. That's less than 20 percent. Miami Herlad 11/04/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:08 pm
Teenage Classical Superstar What is it about 16-year-old Hayley Westrena? Her 13-song medley of ballads sold more than 290,000 copies in Britain in seven weeks, installing 'Pure' at the top of Britain's classical music charts. (The album will be released in the United States on April 9.) Now, with Ms. Westenra signed up for a $4.5 million five-album contract, Decca may well be tingling with the feeling that salvation is nigh." The New York Times 11/04/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:38 pm
Rowling Earned £75 million From Latest Harry "Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was the highest female earner in Britain during the year to September - earning eight times more than Queen Elizabeth. A survey in the Sunday Times newspaper reported that Rowling earned £125 million ($A302 million), including £75 million from her latest instalment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. However, the newspaper's annual survey of Britain's 500 highest earners found Rowling was only the fifth-highest earner overall." Sydney Morning Herald 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 5:23 pm
Colorado's Top Theatre School Takes Some Whacks Colorado's top theatre school is the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. But budget cuts to state colleges have decimated UNC's theatre program.
Denver Post 11/02/03
Posted: 11/02/2003 5:45 pm
Is The New Book Culture Killing Literature? "Literature now is in a dangerous zone where there seems to be little separation between the private act of writing and the public performance demanded of writers," says author Michael Ondaatje. "Books are judged today as successful or not depending on sales and jury short lists. Meanwhile the critical climate, for all the media coverage of writers, is random and manic... And with awards, the one thing we have to admit about juries is that they can often choose the wrong books." Toronto Star 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:33 am
The Serious Business of KidLit JK Rowling aside, authors who focus their efforts on the youth market are not in what you would call a moneymaking line of work. Most have day jobs, and few ever manage to earn a full-time income from writing children's books. But children's authors take themselves and their genre quite seriously, and they put as much time and effort into crafting a 200-word picture book as other authors put into an 80,000-word novel. National Post (Canada) 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:13 am
The Power Of The Literary Drunk Alcoholism is not an entertaining disease, and let no one claim that it is. "But drunks do make great literary characters. They are quest-driven and tragic, marked for a destiny they cannot escape, and full of passion... Like all great literary subjects, drinking is transformative; it changes the metabolism of the alcoholic, even the very structure of his cells. It allows for carnivalesque abandon and provides the novelist with a catalyst for visionary truth... The best writing about alcoholics manages to explore the degradation the disease inflicts while respecting the dignity of its victim." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:50 am
Amazon Scales Back Search Amazon has apparently scaled back its nifty new search engine which allowed surfers to search texts within books. "The program had allowed users to print for free each excerpt and a few pages surrounding it. That capability led critics, chief among them the Authors Guild, to protest that Web users would forgo buying books from which they could print large chunks of copyrighted material." Chicago Tribune 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 6:11 pm
The FCC's Big Media Misstep The Federal Communications Commission isn't used to being a magnet for controversy. Although the FCC and its 5-member board has near-complete control over the nation's broadcast spectrum, its rulings have frequently gone unnoticed by the vast majority of the American public. But this year, "the FCC broke its traditional lockstep and experienced a very public 3-to-2 split in June votes that narrowly endorsed six media-ownership rule changes, including one that would allow a single network to control television stations reaching 45 percent of all American households." The reaction from the public was dramatic and negative, and the resulting fallout has put FCC chairman Michael Powell on the defensive. The Nation 11/17/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:01 am
CBS Considers Dropping "Reagan" BBS is apparently considering dropping the airing of a mini-series on Ronald Reagan, after conservative groups protested that they believe the program to be biased against the former US president. "The possible cancellation of the mini-series was first reported on Monday in Daily Variety. A CBS spokesman declined to comment, and it was unclear why the network would consider bowing to pressure." The New York Times 11/04/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:41 pm
Florida Public Radio Station Attacked Over Dropping Music South Florida public radio station WLRN recently replaced some music programming with news from the BBC, prompting charges of racism from some listeners. "It has also raised questions about whether the publicly licensed station's programming should be aimed at drawing in the largest number of listeners, the goal of commercial stations, or serving smaller fragments of South Florida's ethnic and cultural mosaic." Miami Herald 11/03/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 9:33 pm
