Is Architecture A Red Herring In The Ground Zero Debate? The struggle to rebuild Ground Zero has frequently been portrayed as a clash between a visionary architect and a powerful New York developer, but "Philip Nobel argues that our obsession with the architect-as-healer has led us to ignore more important, if less emotionally appealing, questions about ground zero: How should the site be used? How much focus should there be on office space, on cultural space, on a memorial? In giving aesthetic speculations more weight than material concerns in our critical and public discussions, he says, we have virtually guaranteed that the site will end up looking like every other New York real estate development." The New York Times 01/30/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 8:47 am
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Weak Dollar Sending Art Back Across The Atlantic The American dollar's slide against other currencies has apparently sparked a push by European art institutions to reacquire some of the countless works which had been bought up by American collectors over the decades. "The weak dollar offers European buyers some remarkable bargains. At Sotheby's Old Masters sale in New York, a Botticelli sold for the equivalent of £246,000. Sources said Italians were particularly active buyers. Italy having produced so much good art, there are plenty of works for Italians to repatriate." The Guardian (UK) 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 9:17 am
Long On Art, Short On Space Harvard University's art collection is the envy of museums worldwide, comprising more than 250,000 pieces. But having that much art is one thing: finding the space to display, or even to store it all is another matter entirely. For the recently arrived chief of the university's museum system, keeping the collection intact and secure is becoming a major challenge, especially with much of the available gallery space in desperate need of new climate-control technology and other upgrades. Boston Globe 01/30/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 9:01 am
A Connecticut Renaissance Greenwich, Connecticut "is the last place... that you would expect to find a major Vermeer on loan from Europe, or several roomfuls of works by Rubens - or, for that matter, hard-core Manhattanites on an art pilgrimage." But in the last four years, Greenwich's Bruce Museum of Art & Science has transformed itself into a major player in the East Coast art scene, under the stewardship of director Peter Sutton, who has mounted high-profile exhibits previously though to be beyond the Bruce's reach. "At the same time, playing on Greenwich's reputation for private wealth, he has provocatively embraced the art market, organizing exhibitions showcasing high-end private art collections - and even artworks currently for sale." The New York Times 01/30/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 8:41 am
Is Saatchi's New Direction Profit-Driven? As famed UK art collector Charles Saatchi revamps his collection and turns his focus away from the cutting-edge conceptual art with which he has been identified for fifteen years, many in the art world have begun to wonder exactly what drives the enigmatic Saatchi's tastes. "Some art critics have long accused Mr. Saatchi of being more dealer than collector, less art lover than marketing genius who exhibits his collection to increase its value... In the 1980's he built up a major collection of postwar American and European art. He then sold it at great profit and channeled his resources into a new generation of British artists." The New York Times 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 7:37 am
Art & Terror "An exhibition inspired by the radical leftist Red Army Faction, loathed by many for its violent attacks in the 1970's and 80's yet lionized by some, opens Saturday amid angry debate over the romanticization of terrorism. Critics accuse the organizers of glorifying the guerrilla group's campaign of bomb attacks, kidnappings and assassinations, which left more than 30 people dead. Curators and artists, however, defend the show as a subtle exploration of the ways images can traumatize a society." The New York Times 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 6:44 am
Living Here In Allentown, Tearing All The Sculptures Down "More than 23 years ago, an artist with a growing international reputation for public art made a brief stop in Allentown, [Pennsylvania] to grace the west wall of a popular downtown gathering place with a light sculpture. With much fanfare he strung together 35 galvanized steel bars, etched to catch the rays of the sun and reflect them in an ever-changing prism. Over time, the downtown struggled and the restaurant closed [and] officials made plans to tear down the former Good Spirit eatery and replace it with shiny new offices." Dale Eldred's sculpture very nearly went down with the building, but now, thanks to the tireless efforts of a city official, the work has been preserved, and will be moved to a prominent position on Allentown's new Arts Walk. Allentown Morning Call (PA) 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 6:32 am
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Report: Kimmel Center Needs Acoustic Overhaul Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts has been open for less than four years, but an internal report by the acoustic engineer of Verizon Hall, the center's main stage and the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, suggests that a major interior renovation will likely be necessary to fix what are described as "serious acoustical problems." The hall has received mixed reviews from critics since its opening, but the concept of a major renovation is likely to face opposition, and debate has not even begun about who would pay for such a project. Philadelphia Inquirer 01/30/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 8:16 am
Strathmore Concert Hall Sets A New Suburban Standard " Most serious concert halls can be found in big cities. That's where the audiences are; that's where orchestras tend to make their homes. The Music Center at Strathmore, which opens Saturday in Montgomery County, [Maryland], is a rare exception... From the beginning, its designers set out to demonstrate that a suburban concert hall can be just as successful as its urban counterparts, in serving audiences and performers, and in showcasing classical music...From the standpoint of architectural design and construction, this music center measures up to the finest concert halls of the past 20 years - warm, intimate, visually sumptuous." Baltimore Sun 01/30/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 8:10 am
- And It Sounds Pretty Good, Too The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has been test-driving the new Strathmore concert hall for several weeks, and so far, everyone seems to be thrilled with the acoustic. "It's too soon to know the extent of long-range public relations or financial benefits the BSO will accrue from having an additional performance venue. But, on purely artistic grounds, Strathmore, opening Saturday, looks - and sounds - like a can't-lose prospect." Baltimore Sun 01/30/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 8:05 am
Opera, The Official Soundtrack Of Death Opera can be about a lot of things, but more often than not, it ends up being about death, and dying, and what happens to the bereaved after someone dies. Mortality is a natural human obsession, of course, but there does seem to be something about the operatic form that causes composers and librettists to linger on the subject. Toronto Star 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 8:05 am
Philly To Sign With Finnish Label The Philadelphia Orchestra is in talks with the small Finnish record label Ondine to distribute a series of CDs which would be produced live by the orchestra and distributed internationally by the label. Philadelphia has been without a recording deal since 1996, when it was dropped by EMI, although the orchestra has released a few albums on its own in recent years. The recent labor agreement between the orchestra and its musicians reportedly allows for lower pay rates for recording than those imposed on orchestras nationwide by the musicians' union, a change which paved the way for the new deal with Ondine. Philadelphia Inquirer 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 6:59 am
Damn The Applause, Full Speed Ahead! It's not unusual for audiences at orchestral concerts to accidentally disrupt the performance with a burst of applause, thinking that a piece has ended before it actually has. But last week, outgoing Detroit Symphony music director Neeme Jarvi created his own disruption, to the astonishment of many in attendance. Following the breathless conclusion of Carl Nielson's powerful Fifth Symphony, "with his back still to the house, [Jarvi] raised his baton once more, called over his shoulder 'Encore!' and proceeded straight into a rather banal waltz by Shostakovich... Jarvi loves to do encores. But this was nuts." The incident left Lawrence Johnson wondering if Jarvi's fragile health has begun to affect his judgment. Detroit News 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 6:51 am
Saraste To Take The Reins In Oslo Finnish conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste has been tapped to succeed Andre Previn as chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic. The ensemble has frequently been regarded as being among the finest in Europe, and Saraste's task will be to raise it to the heights it enjoyed under the 20-year directorship of Mariss Jansons. Saraste's contract calls for him to spend 10 weeks each year in Oslo conducting concerts, plus additional weeks spent touring and recording with the orchestra. Helsingen Sanomat (Finland) 01/25/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 6:25 am
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Aiming For A More Transparent SPAC As a new management team begins to rebuild the mess left behind by the previous administration at upstate New York's Saratoga Performing Arts Center, details are emerging that paint a bleak picture of SPAC's previous management practices. Still, the center's new treasurer is already hard at work sketching a new path for SPAC's fundraising apparatus and fiscal management, and like the rest of the new leadership team, he talks a great deal about bringing a new "transparency" to the organization. The Saratogian (NY) 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 6:42 am
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Litton: Bad Press Drove Me Out of Texas For the last several years, conductor Andrew Litton has been under heavy fire from critics, especially those in Texas, where Litton has led the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for more than a decade. His detractors claim that his interpretations are sometimes shallow and heavy-handed, and suggest that he lacks the technical skills necessary to draw the best from the DSO's musicians. Like most conductors, Litton claims not to pay close attention to reviews, but he does acknowledge that the constant barrage of criticism from the press played a role in his decision to step down from the Dallas podium in 2006. Denver Post 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 7:10 am
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Just Like A Book Tour, Only Without The Tour Margaret Atwood loves being an author, and - don't get her wrong - she loves meeting her fans and hearing about how her books affected them. But the whirlwind nature of the modern book tour has been wearing on her lately, and as a result, she "is developing a remote autographing device that will allow authors to sign books for devoted readers from afar, without those awful tours writers often dread. No, it's not clear whether she has spoken to Donald Rumsfeld lately." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 7:47 am
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There's Still Some Substance In There Somewhere As Sundance '05 steamrolls its way to a star-studded conclusion, Geoff Pevere decides that he has seen some spectacular films, but notes that it's the little Hollywood overindulgences that will likely stay with him: "Slumming superstars. Californians in general. Recovery junkie Californians in particular. Movies about making movies. Ordinary people with extraordinary abdominal muscles. Dysfunctional families (is there any other kind?). The 1970s. The Tarantino Factor. Quirk. Handheld. Emo-folky soundtrack music. Freeze-frames. Creative swearing from cute kids." Toronto Star 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 7:59 am
Oscar Snubs Mel & Moore - But What Does It Mean? "The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 might have been the year's most talked-about movies, cultural watersheds that produced hefty lines at movie houses and a mother lode of pundits yapping about the inevitable divide between red America and blue America. Yet one group that seemed curiously uninterested in the religion, politics and controversy the two pictures embraced was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which opted to leave both off the shortlist for best picture." So is Hollywood out of touch? Are moviegoers easily seduced by mediocre films that play to their preexisting beliefs? Maybe both. Chicago Tribune (LA Times) 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 7:32 am
Ebert: Why Attack A Film That Raises Real Issues? A storm of criticism has enveloped the new film, Million Dollar Baby, with right-wing commentators and disabled activists calling for critics to reveal (and condemn) the movie's controversial surprise plot twist. But Roger Ebert says that such demands miss the point of both the film and a critic's role in the cultural sphere: "Most movies have no issues and inspire no thought. A movie like this forces you to think about its issues. If you leave it and discuss what Maggie should have done, what you would do, and what you would wish for your loved ones, then the movie has served a purpose, whether you agree with it or not. A movie is not good or bad because of its content, but because of how it handles its content." Chicago Sun-Times 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 7:20 am
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Boston Ballet Cuts Salaries "After a disappointing holiday Nutcracker run, Boston Ballet has cut the salaries of virtually all its employees, with some workers taking short, unpaid leaves. The move is part of an expense-cutting plan meant to keep Boston Ballet on track for a balanced annual budget." The company's holiday struggles were due in large part to increased competition from the big-budget Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which forced Boston Ballet to move its Nutcracker to a much smaller theater. The company is assuring its employees that no one will be laid off. Boston Globe 01/29/05
Posted: 01/30/2005 7:17 am
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