Visual Arts

Hiding In Plain Sight A life-size statue which has stood for 500 years in a small town in Southern Italy has been identified as the work of Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna. It had been believed that none of Mantegna's sculptures were still in existence, but a staggering two decades of research by art experts uncovered the provenance of the statue, which was first noticed by a museum director in 1978. The Guardian (UK) 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 11:29 am

China's Architectural Revolution As China has gradually transformed itself from a closed economy to a capitalist-Marxist hybrid, the nation's urban culture has changed as well, as the architectural rebirth currently going on in Beijing and Shanghai demonstrates. "It is turning the country into the world's most boisterous architectural funhouse. Not since its birth in the Bauhaus almost a century ago has the modern revolution raged as hot as it does in China today." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 11:21 am

London To Blend Art, Science In New Center "An extraordinary museum collection, which includes Napoleon's tooth brush, Nelson's razor, and a small piece of the 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, will feature in a new centre for arts and science in London... The £20m centre is also to provide a permanent home for the 600,000 volume medical history library, the largest in the world outside the national medical history library in the US." The Guardian (UK) 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 11:00 am

Don't Forget To Make It Look Nice Like so many other American cities, Washington, D.C. has struggled to create what its former mayor called a "living downtown" with a distinct core of urban dwellers. But a new round of downtown residential construction is offering a chance at architectural revival, with the hope that a unique urban look will attract new residents. But for every great new building that goes up, it seems that four more uninspired, boxy concrete blobs rise as well. Are the city's architects abandoning creativity in order to insure that their buildings have the requisite exercise rooms, rooftop pools, and other amenities supposedly demanded by today's urban residents? Washington Post 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 9:50 am

MoMA's Modesty As New York prepares to welcome the Museum of Modern Art back to Manhattan, one striking architectural aspect of the museum's new home should be noted: the lack of a striking architectural aspect. "[MoMA] won't be housed in a titanium sculpture by Frank Gehry, an explosion of Daniel Libeskind shards or even one of Will Alsop's boxes on stilts; instead it will be in a simple but elegant building designed by relatively unknown Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi... In the case of MoMA, modesty makes sense. The New York skyline long ago became a cacophony of styles and intentions; the last thing it needs is another voice screaming to be heard." Toronto Star 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 9:34 am

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Music

Jazz Has A New Palace. Does Anyone Care? Lincoln Center's glittering new jazz center is impressive both acoustically and visually, but is that enough? "When the last sax had sounded and the last champagne bottle was drained, a quandary remained: Will the 'House of Swing' revitalize jazz, or merely embalm it?" Dallas Morning News 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 11:07 am

How To Sound Gay It's somewhat appropriate that, in a year when being gay became unavoidably, irritatingly "cool" in the pop culture sphere, the classical music world appears to be obsessing over the phenomenon of the gay composer. But some scholars are going well beyond traditional views of homosexuality, and are suggesting that the "American sound" created by composers like Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein is, in fact, the sound of a "queer sensibility" which is unique to gay composers. But can you really hear gayness in a piece of music? The New York Times 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:34 am

It's Not Who You Teach, It's How Many Senators You Know In Philadelphia, the new music-focused Orchestra 2001 is looking (so far, unsuccessfully) for a $20,000 grant to fund a groundbreaking music education series for underprivileged children. Meanwhile, Philly Pops got $150,000 in government funds last year for educational activities that were not exactly the height of creative engagement. Worse, the pops orchestra hasn't even used the vast majority of the money. Why the inequity? Peter Dobrin says that it has little to do with artistic integrity, and a whole lot to do with political connections. Philadelphia Inquirer 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:13 am

Philly Mayor Deep In The Orchestral Trenches It was something of a surprise when Philadelphia mayor John Street, who has never taken a leading role in the city's arts community, stepped into the middle of the acrimonious Philadelphia Orchestra contract negotiations last week. But apparently, Street means to stay involved in the delicate contract talks: after brokering a new extension of the existing agreement, the mayor and his Commerce Director have taken a direct role in the process, and hope to use their combined clout to avoid a work stoppage. The intervention means that both musicians and management will likely have to stop posturing and actually make a good-faith attempt to settle their differences. Philadelphia Inquirer 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:01 am

Levine Sweeps Into Boston In High Style Say this for the Boston Symphony Orchestra: it knows how to welcome a maestro to town. A champagne reception, a black-tie dinner featuring such celebrities as James Taylor and John Williams, and a gala concert with ticket prices as high as $2500 kicked off James Levine's tenure as the BSO's 14th music director this weekend. Boston Herald 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 8:41 am

• Starting Off With A Bang Levine and the BSO pulled out all the stops for the maestro's debut, performing Mahler's monumental "Symphony of a Thousand", which requires a mind-boggling 328 musicians. Richard Dyer liked what he saw. "[Levine's] conducting was undemonstrative, but vividly detailed and obviously inspiring. Only a little of it was invisible weaving; most of the time his baton sliced through plenty of space, and decisively... There was an occasional rough edge or sloppy entry in the orchestral playing, but an edge-of-the-chair intensity and excitement carried all before it." Boston Globe 10/23/04
  Posted: 10/24/2004 8:40 am

Another Audubon Controversy The Audubon Quartet is making headlines again, three years after the group was dismissed from the faculty of Virginia Tech in the wake of recriminations and lawsuits stemming from the group's decision to split with its first violinist, David Ehrlich. The Audubon has continued to perform with a new first violinist, ever as Ehrlich has continued to challenge the group's right to perform at all. Now, Ehrlich has been suddenly and unexpectedly rehired at Virginia Tech as an "outreach" coordinator, and the music faculty are furious. Roanoke Times 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 8:22 am

• Previously: STRING QUARTET HAS TO PAY: (link expired) A Pennsylvania judge has ordered three members of the Audubon String Quartet to pay the fourth member - David Ehrlich - more than $600,000. The group had thrown the first violinist out of the group 20 months ago after disagreements. The judge "ruled that Ehrlich was part owner of the Audubon Quartet, and therefore entitled to 25 percent of the group's assets." Philadelphia Inquirer 10/18/01

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People

The Most Loved/Hated Man In Public Radio Bill Kling is the man behind Minnesota Public Radio, the broadcasting juggernaut that is, by its own admission, hoping to change the landscape of public broadcasting across the country. Once a mild-mannered regional network best known for producing A Prairie Home Companion, Kling's MPR has become the 800-lb. gorilla of the industry, acquiring competing stations like a for-profit company would, and expanding its reach well outside the Upper Midwest. Whether these are positive or negative developments in the genteel world of pubic radio depends entirely on whom you ask. Minneapolis Star Tribune 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 11:37 am

The Quiet Conductor Bernard Haitink is not a superstar in the way that Simon Rattle is, or even in the way that Riccardo Muti has become. But Haitink has quietly cultivated a reputation as one of the world's top conductors, and the respect with which he speaks of the world's great orchestras mirrors the love and respect musicians seem to have for him. Still, Haitink has strong opinions about the ensembles he leads, and his peers on the podium, and he isn't afraid to express them. Financial Times 10/22/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 11:14 am

Opus Posthumous British playwright Sarah Kane committed suicide five years ago, and today, her plays are some of the hottest properties on the European theatre scene. But how much of that posthumous success has to do with the quality of Kane's work, and how much can be attributed to the power of her personal story? The New York Times 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:25 am

Hollywood's One And Only Head "To say there was only one Edith Head is an understatement. As the movie industry's most well-known costume designer (her career spanned 1923 to 1982) Head worked on more than 750 movies, received 35 nominations and won eight Oscars - more than any other woman. For 44 years, she was the fashion queen of Paramount Studios' design department. And she ruled her empire with a royal fervor. In a world where the Hollywood power brokers were men, Head proved to be one tough cookie, staying on top of her field with cunning, ruthlessness and skill." Hartford Courant 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 9:03 am

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Theatre

Are Young Adults Exiting Stage Left? "Is theater failing to attract a new generation of enthusiasts to replace those who, on the opposite end of the chronological scale, die off or become too frail to go out at night?" There's certainly no question that the predominant audience at your average mainstream theater is decidedly, um, mature, but some in the industry insist that the overall audience has expanded, regardless of demographic shifts. Still, "in the decade between 1992 and 2002, the percentage of young people in the overall theater audience shrank significantly." Chicago Sun-Times 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:58 am

This Might Be A Record A new West End musical about Oscar Wilde has closed ahead of schedule. Okay, that might be understating it a bit. The show, which debuted to scathing reviews and public indifference, was yanked from the Shaw Theatre's schedule after exactly one performance. BBC 10/22/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:20 am

Can Fame And Street Cred Coexist? The new partnership between the UK's National Theatre and the small, scrappy Shunt Theatre is raising eyebrows within the industry, and in fact, the Shunt originally passed up a chance to perform one of its shows at the National, for fear that it would be attracting the wrong crowd. But when the head of the National offered to help the Shunt acquire its dream theater, the temptation was too great to ignore. "By acquiring this striking new space and allying itself with the National Theatre, Shunt significantly increases its profile and ability to attract new fans. But it also risks undermining its underground credibility and alienating core fans." The New York Times 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 9:22 am

Loitering With Style The art of human sculpture is a corner of the world of mime about which few people have much knowledge. And yet, for the dedicated individuals who make their living by covering themselves in metallic paint and standing still on street corners and in subway stations for hours at a time, it's both an art and a sport, requiring the utmost in both creativity and physical conditioning. The New York Times 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 9:14 am

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Publishing

The Underrated World Of Literary Instruction "What Canadian school will emerge as the most influential nursery of writers? The creative writing program at the University of British Columbia? They've been graduating young writers such as Kevin Chong, Eden Robinson and Madeleine Thien, all published by major houses in the last few years, to considerable critical acclaim. Or will it be the creative writing program at Humber College? The latter has moved into the spotlight this year — although not so much because of the success of its students as because of the success of its instructors." Toronto Star 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 9:38 am

Authors To Rice: Calm Down, They're Only Readers Last month, author Anne Rice took on the amateur critics who had been trashing her latest novel on Amazon.com, calling their negative comments "libel." It was an unusual if not unprecedented move, and other authors are making it clear that Rice crossed an invisible line with her rant. "I'd be more worried if I impressed a moron than if I made one unhappy. And on Amazon... it's usually clear within a sentence or two which side of the intelligence fence the commentators fall on." Boston Herald 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 8:58 am

• Previously: Anne Rice: Satisfaction Or Your Money Back "Writer Anne Rice, whose extravagant fictions about vampires and witches have made her famous and rich, vents her anger at readers who dare criticize her latest book 'Blood Canticle' on the Amazon.com website and ends her lengthy, single-paragraph tirade by giving her home address in New Orleans and promising refunds to the disgruntled." Toronto Star 09/22/04

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Media

The Rise of The Right-Wing Film Festival "Conservatives do not have a reputation for making good documentaries, mainly because they do not have a reputation for making them at all." But a fledgling movement is aiming to change that, as intensely conservative film festivals have begun to spring up around the country in response to the commercial success of left-wing films like Fahrenheit 9/11. Screenings frequently begin with group prayers and recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance, and the only thing the crowds seem to enjoy more than a good sympathetic portrait of President Bush is a film that carves up Michael Moore like a Thanksgiving turkey. New York Times Magazine 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:45 am

Digital Film Takes A Big Step A new holiday movie is quietly ushering in a new revolution in digital animation. The Polar Express was performed by real actors covered in motion sensors, whose movements were converted into animation in post-production. The result is a new breed of film blurring the line between live-action and animation, and "from a technical perspective it could mark a turning point in the gradual transition from an analog to a digital cinema." The New York Times 10/24/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 10:30 am

But Can We Skip The Tie-Dye Thing This Time? The comparison is already being drawn between this year's ultra-close, ultra-partisan U.S. presidential election and the Nixon/Kennedy race in 1960. But the similarity goes deeper than mere politics: the movies of 2004 are looking strikingly like the flicks churned out in the '60s, presenting opposing takes on issues of national import and satirizing anything that sits still long enough to become a target. Toronto Star 10/23/04
Posted: 10/24/2004 9:43 am

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