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Tuesday, April 19




 

Visual Arts

Spiritual Home Of Renaissance Art "When the cardinals convene today in the Sistine Chapel, they will be listening not only for the voice of the Holy Spirit but for those of Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli and other titans of the Italian Renaissance, whose paintings and frescoes adorn its walls and ceilings. No place is richer in spiritual inspiration and admonition than this – from Botticelli's Punishment of the Rebels to Michelangelo's Last Judgment, the most harrowing depiction of sin and damnation in Western art. The room has a vote." Dallas Morning News 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 5:50 am

Billionaire Cancels Museum Plans Outside Paris A billionaire businessman says he's canceling plans to build a spectacular new museum of contemporary art outside of Paris because of his annoyance over red tape and official inertia. "François Pinault, owner of one of the finest private contemporary art collections in Europe, is now likely to put it on display in a magnificent 18th-century palace in Venice." The Guardian (UK) 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 7:08 pm

The People Who Lived Before Pompei Archaeologists have found a prehistoric village under Pompei. "Carbon dating shows that the finds are from prehistoric times, that is, from 3,500 years BC," Leander Touati said. It was until now believed that Pompei was first inhabited during the Bronze Age. The group of archeologists - part of a larger international project - were mapping a Roman neighbourhood of Pompei when they made the discovery." The Local (Sweden) 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 6:20 pm

Back To The Human Figure Only a few years ago, the idea of artists gathering to paint from a model would have seemed impossibly old-fashioned and hokey - and if the model was female and nude, sexist to boot. Yet for nearly three years now, a number of artists - not students putting charcoal to paper for the first time, but successful artists with established styles and audiences of their own - have flocked to weekly invitation-only sessions. 'There's something kind of fun about doing something so geeky, so nerdy, so traditional. To do something so anti-conceptual and anti-Modernism feels really good, as if it were going to lead to helping you express things'." The New York Times 04/17/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 5:54 pm

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Music

Muti "Considering Offer" From Chicago Sym Deposed La Scala music director Riccardo Muti has said in an interview that he is "considering an offer" from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which is currently searching for a new music director to replace Daniel Barenboim. Whether the offer is for Muti to be the next podium star in Chicago is not known, and since CSO management has made it clear that it wants Barenboim's successor to spend significant time in the city engaging the community and raising money, tasks which Muti did not relish during his time as MD in Philadelphia, the Italian maestro might not seem to be a natural choice for Chicago. Muti refused to elaborate on exactly what the CSO offer might entail. St. Paul Pioneer Press (AP) 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 6:33 am

Pittsburgh's Slimmed-Down Ring Hot on the heels of the Chicago Lyric Opera's Ring cycle, the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh has announced plans to present a "streamlined" version of the massive Wagner cycle over the next two summers. The cut-down Ring, which was conceived by Jonathan Dove for the UK's City of Birmingham Opera, features a chamber orchestra in the pit and minimal costumes and sets. Traditional Ring cycles cost millions to stage, and are considered out of the realm of possibility for all but the largest companies, but the Dove version is expected to cost no more than $250,000. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 6:23 am

And For Another $10, Emeril Will Conduct "Bolero" Serving as music director of an American orchestra, even a small one, is a multifaceted job, and these days, there seem to be almost as many fundraising responsibilities for U.S. conductors as musical ones. Still, the Binghamton (NY) Philharmonic may have a first on its hands with its latest moneymaking scheme: a $10 raffle, with the winner getting the services of music director Jose Luis Novo for an evening. No, Novo won't be making any music in the winner's home. He'll just be cooking dinner. Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 5:23 am

Does Your iPod Define You? The old adage used to be "you are what you eat.'' But with the advent of digital music and the popularity of gadgets like the iPod, now it's "you are what's on your playlist.'' San Francisco Chronicle 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 6:45 pm

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Arts Issues

Kansas City PAC May Find A New Home The proposed Kansas City performing arts center has hit a number of road blocks since its conception, and the latest is a proposal to move the whole project downtown. Fundraising has not been able to keep up with the PAC's construction costs, and last fall, voters in the metro area rejected a bi-state tax which would have partially funded the center, leaving the board overseeing the project in a bit of a pickle. The proposal to move the PAC into the city's downtown loop would mean the renovation of the Lyric Theatre, and the construction of a new concert hall beside it, a considerably less expensive undertaking than the original plan. Kansas City Star 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 5:14 am

The Animatronic Lincoln Experience The new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois offers experience over history. "The blurring of history for the sake of entertainment may not be something new. After all, the village of New Salem, about a 20-minute drive from Springfield, was where Lincoln tended store and began his political career, but the town didn't survive. So in the 1920's and 30's, it was "reconstructed"; it is an invented historical village. But the new museum, because of technological power alone, risks making invention seem like fact. It also enshrines a notion that the best way to know anything about politics and history is to understand personality, and even then only in a simplified fashion. Maybe it will lead to curiosity and further inquiry; maybe not." The New York Times 04/19/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 11:58 pm

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People

Nashville Sym Conductor Dies Conductor Kenneth Schermerhorn, who led the Nashville Symphony for 22 years and became a local icon of the cultural scene, has died at 75 after a brief battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Schermerhorn is credited with helping to boost the orchestra out of bankruptcy years ago, and with driving it to new professional heights, including major recording contracts and an appearance at New York's Carnegie Hall. The NSO's new $120 million concert hall, now under construction in downtown Nashville, will be named for Schermerhorn. The Tennessean (Nashville) 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 4:49 am

Does Leonard Cohen Deserve A Nobel? A campaign is being mounted to nominate Leonard Cohen for a Nobel Prize. "I surprised myself when I suddenly figured, in a sort of watershed moment, you know this guy actually does deserve the Nobel Prize. It's the sort of wry, self-irony there. This man is an amazing poet. He's not just a good poet; he's an amazing poet. Cohen, whose first love is poetry, enjoyed later success as a recording star. A companion to the Order of Canada, Cohen had published two internationally acclaimed collections before the age of 30 and went on to write six more. 'He's a universal poet in a way that I can't think of anybody since maybe Homer – in western tradition anyway. And Homer, by the way, was a singer too'." CBC 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 8:23 am

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Publishing

Bloggers Band Together To Promote Old-Fashioned Lit "Marking a departure from the solitary life of reading and writing, about 20 independent literary bloggers announced last week that they will begin working together in hopes of drawing readers to books they feel deserve more attention, while seeking to generate more and deeper public discussions of literature. Calling themselves the Litblog Co-Op, the effort includes the sites the Elegant Variation, Moorishgirl, Rake's Progress and Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, all of which will continue to operate separately, the bloggers say." Chicago Tribune (LA Times) 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 5:47 am

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Media

Fox Wants Viewers To Make A Commitment Ever since the Fox sitcom Arrested Development hit the air two years ago, critics have been begging viewers to tune in, lest the innovative program go the way of other "smart" comedies, which is to say, into the network dustbin. The show has never become a hit, though, and a third season is very much in doubt. But Fox, which has traditionally been quick to cancel low-rated programs, is taking an unusual approach to the future of Arrested, asking fans of the show to sign an online "loyalty oath" promising to watch and support the show if it is brought back. Philadelphia Inquirer 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 6:17 am

CanFilm Wants Tougher Copyright Laws Movie theatre owners are getting better at spotting film pirates who attend premieres armed with tiny video cameras, but in Canada, the law has yet to catch up with the times. In fact, in many cases, those caught trying to create illegal bootlegs of the latest Hollywood blockbuster are charged with nothing worse than trespassing. Now, the Canadian film industry is putting pressure on the government to toughen up the laws and provide some disincentive to the tapers. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 6:01 am

Hollywoods New Movie Moguls "Hollywood has a long tradition of luring wealthy outsiders to its gleaming lair, from William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper millionaire, in the silent movie era to Paul Allen, the Microsoft billionaire, who is a principal investor in DreamWorks, the 10-year-old studio. What distinguishes the current crop of outsiders is the sheer number who have arrived in the last two years or so, many of them very young and prepared to make the movies themselves rather than relying on studio executives or other insiders." The New York Times 04/19/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 11:51 pm

Tusa: BBC Has Gone Stupid John Tusa, Barbican managing director and a former BBC executive, says the BCC has dumbed itself down to an unacceptable level. He claims that "enthusiasm has replaced knowledge, with broadcasters unable to trust their audience with challenging ideas for fear of damaging ratings. The Guardian (UK) 04/19/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 11:39 pm

How Michael Eisner Made Disney A Star Performer In 20 years, Michael Eisner took disney from a faltering company to one of the richest in America. He didn't do it with Disney cartoons. So "how did Eisner succeed in adding $65 billion in enterprise value to Disney at a time when his rivals were faltering? Having come from television, Eisner saw that Disney's future would be in home entertainment—not in movie theaters." Slate 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 6:57 pm

Tivo Talks To Search Companies About Partnership Tivo is talking with major search engine companies about partnering on finding digital entertainment. "One scenario that's been discussed would see TiVo partner with Google or Yahoo on a new service that would let consumers search for videos on the Web and then watch them on their television sets." CNet News 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 6:49 pm

When Cell Phones Become Your Entertainment Hub Motorola is planning to sell a new phone that will act as your personal entertainment center. "The company plans to launch a service, dubbed iRadio, that allows the new phones to download songs and radio programming from an Internet- connected computer each day, then beam them to car stereos or home entertainment centers. The iRadio initiative reflects the intense interest that phone manufacturers, music companies and mobile network operators have in new music services for cellphones. Their appetites whetted by the multibillion-dollar global market for ring tones, they are eager to sink their teeth into song downloads, online jukeboxes and music videos — even though it's not clear what, if anything, customers will buy." Los Angeles Times 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 6:40 pm

Cell Phones As An Instrument Of Art "New public space art projects are using cellphones and other mobile devices to explore new ways of communicating while giving everyday people the chance to share some insights about real world locations. One art project, Yellow Arrow, based in New York City, has developed a system where people can place yellow stickers in the shape of arrows around the city, stating that they have something to say about that particular location. Each arrow, which is ideally placed in a location that holds significance to the person, has its own unique code that can be sent to a mobile phone via text messaging, allowing others to read the message that was left." Boston Globe 04/18/05
Posted: 04/18/2005 6:38 pm

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Dance

A New Season, With Something Missing When the Colorado Ballet announced last year that it would kick off its stay in Denver's beautiful new opera house with an $800,000 production choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, everyone wondered where the company would get the money to pull off such a show. As it turns out, the company didn't know, either. The ballet's new season was unveiled this week, with no mention of the Wheeldon project, and the company's artistic director says that the plans to stage the monumental show were hasty and "impractical." The ballet still hopes to raise the money for the project and perform it in the 2006-07 season. Denver Post 04/19/05
Posted: 04/19/2005 5:52 am

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