Successful Art - It's Who You Know "One of the hardest things in art, outside of creating it, is to be that very first person who looks at an unknown and his or her work and says: I like it. Any idiot can second the motion. But to look at an unknown and say, 'You, yes you, you are worthy'—that is different. That means taking a risk, to say yes where probably dozens have already said no. It is also what changes the course of an art form. And this is why I sometimes nurse the suspicion that the real gatekeeper of American literature is not the publisher, not the critic, and not Jack Warner's fabled 'schmucks with Underwoods'—i.e., writers. No, it is the schmuck with a Rolodex: the literary agent." Village Voice 07/06/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 8:49 pm
Vermeer Sells For $30 Million A Vermeer painting - the first to come on the market in 80 years - has sold for $30 million. "The overflowing salesroom burst into applause when George Gordon, an expert in the Sotheby's old-master paintings department, took the winning bid by telephone. While the auction house is not saying who the buyer was, it is believed to be Stephen A. Wynn, the Las Vegas casino owner." The New York Times/04 07/08
Posted: 07/07/2004 9:42 pm
Collecting Big - The World's Art Collectors ARTnews has compiled its annual list of the world's top art collectors. "When do you become a serious collector who might make the Top Ten, and how long do you remain one? It kicks in at about the age of 45. Of course, you’ve got to be extremely wealthy. Usually, you’re not willing to spend lots of money on art unless you reach that age and you have the confidence to do it. It lasts for about eight to ten years.” ARTNews 07/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 5:37 pm
Philadelphia Orchestra, Musicians Union Far Apart In Contract Talks The Philadelphia Orchestra's contract with its musicians expires in September, and negotiators seem to be far apart. "Deficits are nothing new at the orchestra, but this season's shortfall is unusually large: $4 million. In response, management has already implemented a number of surprising cuts, asking music director Christoph Eschenbach to take a 10 percent pay cut, reducing fees for guest soloists and conductors by 10 percent, and asking administrators to take a week's unpaid vacation." Philadelphia Inquirer 07/08/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 11:40 am
Duke Ellington And The Pulitzer What would Duke Ellington have thought of the decision by the Pulitzer board to broaden the prize's music category to include jazz? He would have thought, writes Nat Hentoff, that it was damn well about time. OpinionJournal.com 07/06/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 8:19 am
When Was Rock Born? So rock music is officially 50 years old. So much for officially. "Just when did rock really begin? It's an issue that has long been tinged with racism, specifically the notion that it took a white man to make it rock 'n' roll, whereas before it was only R&B and what was then described as 'race music'." Chicago Tribune 07/08/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 8:06 am
Pay Copyright Royalties On 300-Year-Old Music? "The director of Hyperion Records plans to appeal against this week's high court ruling that the company must pay copyright fees on its recording of a 300-year-old piece of music. The decision could have serious repercussions throughout the world of classical music." The Guardian (UK) 07/08/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 11:25 pm
ENO's Outdoor Opera Busted By Weather "English National Opera's plan to bring high culture to the wide expanses of Trafalgar Square was last night defeated by the British weather. Seven thousand Londoners had snapped up free tickets to watch a live performance of Puccini's La Bohème. But as heavy rains closed in and forecasters warned of winds gusting up to 35mph, even the 2,000 complimentary ponchos seemed unlikely to protect those braving the soggy Astroturf rolled out over the square's paving." The Guardian (UK) 07/08/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 11:24 pm
La Scala To Return Home (Briefly) After three years of renovation, La Scala will move back into its home for the traditional December season premiere. "Opening the season at La Scala will be the same work performed when the theatre opened for business in 1778: Antonio Salieri's Europa Riconosciuta." But the welcome home will be brief - the opera company will move out again a few weeks later so the renovation job can be completed. The Guardian (UK) 07/08/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 11:20 pm
Seeing (Electronically) The Music In Front Of You Lee Rosenbaum takes the electronic Concert Companion for a spin. "The constant flitting between commentary, video and the live performers, the glitchy image quality and the need to reboot after several crashes put me in a state of nervous agitation rather than rapt absorption. CoCo's chief drawback, though, is that words can never adequately translate music. Background reading is helpful, either before or after a concert. But the best way to appreciate a live performance is to switch off all electronic devices and simply employ your ears." Wall Street Journal 07/08/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 10:09 pm
Concert Recordings On Demand "The scourge of live bands, the illegal bootleg concert recording, will soon become a money spinner for the live music industry when a Sydney company offers patrons the opportunity to buy a CD of a show within five minutes of the finale." The Age (Melbourne) 07/07/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 9:29 pm
Industry: Aussie CD Copy Rules Change Will Be Bad "Proposed changes to legislation allowing consumers to copy CDs for personal use, and to impose a levy on blank CDs for distribution to songwriters, would create an inefficient and unfair system, says the Australian Record Industry Association." The Age (Melbourne) 07/07/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 9:25 pm
State Arts Funding Stabilizing? US state budgets are in better shape this year, and so arts funding may not be targets of cuts this year in most parts of the country. One survey sees "state expenditures growing by a national average of 2.8% during the next fiscal year. And one of the primary reasons why state legislatures and governors have cut arts funding so deeply -- deficits -- appears to be cresting and perhaps even receding a bit." Backstage 07/08/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 5:16 pm
Reviving A Town Through The Arts The town of North Adams Massachusetts was a dying town when MassMOCA moved in. Now the town is rebuilding as a center of creative industry and people are moving in... OpinionJournal.com 07/07/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 8:10 am
Kurtz Expected To Plead Not Guilty Artist Steve Kurtz is expected to plead not guilty today on charges that he acquired biological substances illegally. "The bizarre case of Steven Kurtz, 46, has attracted international attention in recent weeks, pitting U.S. prosecutors and FBI agents who say they're only protecting public safety in the wake of Sept. 11, and the arts community that claims the federal government is indiscriminately and mistakenly attacking artistic expression and freedom of speech." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 07/08/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 7:56 am
Spamalot Gets A Cast The new Monty Python musical Spamalot is due to open on Broadway in February 2005. "Based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it will star Frasier actor David Hyde Pierce, alongside Tim Curry and Simpsons star Hank Azaria. Python star Eric Idle wrote the book for the musical, and collaborated on music and lyrics with John Du Prez." BBC 07/08/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 5:07 pm
Politically Yours (On London Stages) London theatre has become very poiltical in the past 18 months. "In theaters all over London these days, debates rage about power and justice, about leadership and its abuses. From the National's production of Euripides' 410 B.C. Iphigenia at Aulis to the New Ambassador's up-to-date Guantánamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom, curtains rise on works that confront the morality of the coalition's invasion of Iraq and inquire into government's dubious motives." Village Voice 07/06/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 9:11 pm
- Greeks In London "In London, where theater often has a fraternal closeness to the morning's headlines rarely known across the Atlantic, the ancient Greeks are hot this summer." The New York Times 07/08/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 9:03 pm
Study Confirms "Our Worst Fears About American Reading A new study on American reading habits by the National Endowment for the Arts paints a glum pitcure. "Among its findings are that fewer than half of Americans over 18 now read novels, short stories, plays or poetry; that the consumer pool for books of all kinds has diminished; and that the pace at which the nation is losing readers, especially young readers, is quickening. In addition it finds that the downward trend holds in virtually all demographic areas." The New York Times 07/08/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 9:48 pm
A (Dale) Peck Of Petty Epithets Why is critic Dale Peck so mean? "Peck is hardly the first writer to enlist a congenial cultural form in the effort to repair injuries and redeem losses: Transforming such experiences and emotions into other idioms and forms is part of what makes culture emotionally resonant. But when a writer bends existing genres to suit such purposes, the critical question—and perhaps a larger question for criticism itself—is this: At what point does transformation fail, leaving a writer mired in psychodrama and family repetition?" Slate 07/07/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 6:08 pm
Could New Copyright Law Make iPods Liable A bill under consideration in the US Congress would make operators of media-swap networks such as Kazaa and Grokster liable for users' actions. "Opponents say the language is so broad it could apply to makers of MP3 players, such as iPod, and CD and DVD recorders, as well as to media organizations that give consumers tips on using digital content. The recording and movie industries support the bill to help curb piracy. But the tech industry is worried." USAToday 07/08/04
Posted: 07/08/2004 9:43 am
Payola - You Play, You Pay How to get your song played on the radio? One word: Payola. "Although some forms of payola were outlawed after the mid-century scandals, various loopholes allowed other incarnations to thrive, under the guise of independent promotion. With money from the record companies, promoters used oblique tactics—subsidies, gifts, “research funds”—to encourage radio stations to add new singles to their playlists. By 2000, tens of millions of dollars a year were being spent on what you might call legal payola, and although bad publicity has severely curtailed the promotion business, paying to play is still integral to the way radio works. Despite its sleazy reputation, payola has a certain rationale." The New Yorker 07/05/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 7:04 pm
Balanchine - Georgian On My Mind A surprise great ending to New York City Ballet's Balanchine celebration, when the Georgian State Ballet performs. "Yes, Balanchine was crazy about the Georgian dancers; but the real relevance of their appearance at the State Theatre, the real Balanchine connection, lay in the dancers’ fierce attack, their discipline, their obvious love of what they were doing—these guys and dolls were out there giving their all. After the anemic and despondent work that characterized so many of the season’s earlier performances, it was more than exhilarating, it was thrilling to see this much energy, this absolute command of technique, this uncynical, unironic dedication." New York Observer 07/07/04
Posted: 07/07/2004 8:22 pm
