Hockey & Haydn: Civic Assets That Come At A Big Cost What does the work stoppage at the St. Louis Symphony have to do with the cancellation of the National Hockey League's season? "Symphony orchestras and hockey teams have a much higher profile than their market clout would otherwise warrant... For orchestras and hockey teams are both considered civic assets, evidences that a community is sophisticated and 'major league.'... Consequently, there are more and more orchestras and more and more professional hockey teams in smaller communities whose resources are insufficient to sustain them in difficult economic times." The New York Times 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 7:07 am
Looking For Quality In A Quantitative World This year's Academy Awards emcee, Chris Rock, recently caused a minor flap when he declared the idea of giving out prizes for artistic achievements to be "stupid" and antithetical to the very idea of art. It's awfully hard to deny the logic of Rock's position. "The idea of slapping a 'best' label on artistic endeavor is understandable; we live in a society that insists on quantification. And everyone likes to be a winner. But it's also like trying to hold smoke in your hands... it's easy to report the box score — everyone understands winning and losing. It's more difficult, however, to delve into the game to find out why something succeeded or failed." St. Paul Pioneer Press 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:10 am
Click here for more Ideas stories...
Luring Guys To Art With The Vrrrroom Factor Boston's Museum of Fine Arts is not the first venue in which you would expect to find an auto show. But there in its stately galleries are 16 vintage cars in all their glory, and they are there for a very good reason. "For car guys, the MFA's nontraditional exhibition offers a rare chance for time with some of the world's rarest and priciest racing machines, a collection built largely over the past 30 years by the fashion designer who created Polo. For the museum, the show has another function: to reach more men. The museum, noted for its flowery Impressionist works, says women visitors outnumber men, 64 percent to 36 percent." Boston Globe 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 8:11 am
Well, This Explains The Sudden Run On Saffron Fabric The artist Hargo, of Somerville, Massachusetts, may not have Christo's cachet or financial wherewithal, but that hasn't stopped him from piggybacking on the attention being paid to the better-known artist's "Gates of Central Park". In fact, Hargo's "Somerville Gates," unveiled in the artist's apartment (and on his web site) this week after a day-long installation bear a striking resemblance to the much-larger New York version. But Hargo hastens to point out the difference in the visions of the two projects. For one thing, Hargo will be accepting donations to defray the costs of mounting his gates: that cost, by the way, is $3.50... The New York Times 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 7:12 am
Click here for more Visual Arts stories...
Milan, New York, Paris, London... Denver? Denver's $86 million Ellie Caulkins Opera House is in the final stages of construction, and the architects, acousticians, and civic boosters involved in its rise are not setting their sights low. In fact, some are suggesting that the venue could rank among the top ten opera houses in the world when it opens in September. "The facility will become the first permanent home for Opera Colorado, and it will be the principal venue for Ballet Colorado." Denver Post 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 8:28 am
What's Next In Chicago? As the Chicago Symphony prepares to bid farewell to Daniel Barenboim after next season, a lot of questions about the future remain unanswered. The first unknown, of course, is the identity of Barenboim's successor, and as usual, the CSO is keeping a tight lid on speculation. But almost as important is the orchestra's overall model for future success: "with attendance flat at 82 percent and an accumulated deficit of $19.4 million gnawing on the bottom line, the CSO, with its 2005-06 season, will introduce two new series in an effort to make its concerts more inviting to a larger audience." Chicago Tribune 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:51 am
St. Louis Players Reject Management Offer The striking musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra overwhelmingly agreed not to even take a vote on their management's latest contract offer this weekend, sending their negotiating team back to the table with a renewed shot of resolve. But the orchestra's president was flabbergasted by the flat rejection of what he thought was more or less a done deal. St. Louis Post-Dispatch 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:21 am
- Who Will Be There When The Dust Clears? As with any orchestra embroiled in a long work stoppage, the St. Louis Symphony is facing the spectre of eventually returning to work with severely depleted ranks, as musicians begin to audition for other jobs. "The basic issue is one of money: The players took a major cut in salary during the orchestra's financial crisis and now want to get closer to the pay scales of their peers. But just as significant is the issue of quality: the sense of ensemble and esprit that has set the Symphony apart in the excellence of their music-making, making them the artistic equals of better-paid orchestras in larger cities." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:20 am
- Variations On A Theme By Houston Orchestral work stoppages tend to run on similar themes, and the St. Louis clash is no exception, bearing more than a passing resemblance to the Houston Symphony's 4-week strike of two years ago. Both conflicts revolved around a clash of business values and artistic quality, and focused on "ongoing deficit spending, the question of a relatively low endowment fund - although St. Louis' was a lot worse than Houston's - and the question of summer work." In the end, Houston settled its strike, but lost 14 of its best musicians to more stable orchestras. St. Louis Post-Dispatch 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:19 am
But Aren't Affairs Merely Retrograde Inversions of Marriage? One doesn't often think of serialist music as overtly sexual - overly cerebral is more like it. But a new scholarly take on Alban Berg's landmark Chamber Concerto suggests that it is explicitly based on the various infidelities of Mathilde Schoenberg, wife of Berg's fellow serialist Arnold Schoenberg. Baltimore Sun 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:15 am
Music Of The Now Chicago's five-year-old new music festival, MusicNOW, has become a bona fide hit, attracting large audiences of all ages and backgrounds to its performances of the type of avant garde music which is supposed to send everyone streaming for the exits. The key seems to be taking an open and inviting approach to difficult music, and insuring that listeners feel welcomed, not overwhelmed. Chicago Tribune 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:00 am
Treading Water In Kentucky The Louisville Orchestra, plagued in recent years by budget deficits and labor strife, has announced the formation of a special fund designed to allow the organization to balance its budget for the current season. The orchestra has been keeping its head above water with a special "bridge fund" from the city of Louisville and several private contributors, but that money runs out later this year. In addition to generating new revenue, the orchestra is attempting to dispel what it calls several myths in the community about its business practices and long-term sustainability. Louisville Courier-Journal 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 5:28 am
Click here for more Music stories...
This Just In: Brits Love The Arts (More Than Soccer) "In the biggest survey of its kind, conducted by the Office of National Statistics for the Arts Council of England, it has emerged that participation and appreciation of the arts are more popular than sport and are widely indulged in across the social spectrum... While the public appetite for books is not so much of a surprise - three quarters of interviewees listed this as a feature of their spare time - the keen edge of our hunger for theatre, both live and on television, is a revelation." The Observer (UK) 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 8:52 am
- Even The Italians Agree... Britons do not enjoy a terribly high level of popularity among their European counterparts, but a new Italian survey reveals that the UK may actually be the continent's most cultured country. Even more alarming to continentals is the relatively low cultural scores assigned to such traditional arts centers as Italy. The Guardian (UK) 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 8:50 am
The Crusade No One Saw Coming As viewed from Canada, the current American brouhaha over "decency" on the public airwaves is a bit confusing, coming as it does from the country that places such a high value on free speech. But there's no doubt that U.S. conservatives have made significant gains in political clout over the last year, and whether or not their position is entirely consistent with traditional American (or traditional conservative) values, the opposition to their crusade is comparatively disorganized and ineffective. Of course, the First Amendment has not been removed from the U.S. constitution, meaning that the last word on the debate over decency will likely come from the courts. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 8:33 am
Welcome To Toronto: This Space For Rent Toronto is becoming more like New York and Tokyo every day, and not in a good way. Canada's largest city has lately been showing an alarming affection for the big urban design idea of plastering every available surface with advertising and calling it architecture. "In Toronto, which has spent the last decade hovering on the verge of bankruptcy, public space has come to be viewed as a way to make money. The price of selling the city is a growing sense of civic irritation, not to mention alienation. It boils down to one question: whose city is this anyway?" Toronto Star 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 7:21 am
Click here for more Arts Issues stories...
Taking The Classical Road Less Traveled Joanna MacGregor is not your typical classical concert pianist. For starters, she completely rejects the notion that concert music is superior to other genres. "One critic has described her as 'exhilaratingly, recklessly democratic' in her musical tastes, because the London-born pianist has no qualms about mixing musical genres in unconventional and sometimes unlikely ways." But don't call her concerts "crossover". MacGregor's programs may mix a few musical metaphors, but never in a way that demeans the intelligence of either the music or her audience. Denver Post 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:56 am
Click here for more People stories...
Uganda Bans Vagina Monologues The African nation of Uganda has banned The Vagina Monologues following a concerted push by Christian church groups which consider the performance pornographic and derogatory towards men. "Rarely-used powers of censorship have been reinvoked to demand drastic script alterations, including the deletion of references to lesbianism and the removal of the crucial word 'vagina' from the title." The Observer (UK) 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 8:47 am
Click here for more Theatre stories...
It Does Say "Novel" On The Cover, Right? "Art experts and conservative clerics are holding an unusual 'trial' in Leonardo da Vinci's hometown aimed at sorting out fact from fiction in the book The Da Vinci Code after many readers took the smash hit novel as gospel truth... The novel's contentious allegations -- namely, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and sired a bloodline -- have provoked unprecedented protest among Roman Catholic and Protestant conservatives." The trial is being organized by the director of a Leonardo da Vinci museum, and is being backed by several Catholic officials, Minneapolis Star Tribune (AP) 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 6:41 am
Click here for more Publishing stories...
France's Film Comeback: It's No Accident French cinema, in decline for more than a decade, is experiencing a resurgence of popularity, thanks in large part to "various practical government initiatives: substantial subsidies for first- and second-time filmmakers; well-funded film schools; an obligation on television stations to show French films; and a complex system of subsidies funded by a levy on all box-office receipts, a measure regarded with fury by the US studios, which believe they are thereby helping to fund their direct competition." The Age (Melbourne) 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 7:53 am
Sideways, Eternal Sunshine Lead Writers' Guild Awards The proximity of the Writers' Guild of America Awards to the Oscars always leads to speculation that the latter could follow the lead of the former, and this year is no exception, as Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind took home the Guild's top honors this weekend. Other major awards, all for scriptwriting, included HBO's miniseries adaption of Angels in America, NBC's The West Wing, and the critically adored Fox sitcom, Arrested Development. BBC 02/20/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 7:46 am
The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall "In Hollywood, movie projects are assembled - and unraveled - every day. But the sudden collapse of a high-profile film only days before shooting is set to begin still gets the town talking. Fox Searchlight, News Corporation's art film unit, was topic A for many in the film business this week, as the thriving ministudio - on its way to the Oscars with a best-picture nomination for its film Sideways - watched a big-star vehicle aimed at next year's awards season suddenly collapse in Australia." The New York Times 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 7:05 am
Click here for more Media stories...
Those Magical Women In Pointe Shoes Ballet is a fairly ethereal art form, based as it is on the wonder of watching the human body do things that most human bodies cannot do, and even a cursory glance at the history of the form suggests a positive obsession with female characters who reflect that spooky, supernatural, and ultimately unattainable image. "The lure of the otherworldly heroine took strongest hold in the Romantic era, when ballet, like the rest of European culture, became enthralled by the gothic and the supernatural... [But] even when romanticism waned, the popularity of the ethereal, magical heroine persisted." The Guardian (UK) 02/19/05
Posted: 02/20/2005 8:43 am
Click here for more Dance stories...
