Ripped From The Tabs: Dali Sculpture In Exorcist Basement! "A sculpture of Christ that Salvador Dali gave to his exorcist has been found among the belongings of the deceased Italian priest." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/14/2005 7:32 am
Barnes Reattributes Old Masters One hundred and twenty Old Master paintings in the Barnes Collection have been reattributed. "Some 22 works formerly attributed to Bosch, Giorgione, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, El Greco, Watteau and others have been reattributed by scholars taking part in the Collection Assessment Project, which has been examining the foundation’s roughly 9,000 objects and works of art over the past four years." The Art Newspaper 10/13/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 4:58 pm
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Washington Opera To Simulcast Opera Outdoors The Washington Opera plans to simulcast a performance of "Porgy and Bess" on the National Mall. "The 2 p.m. performance will be transmitted live from the Kennedy Center Opera House and shown on a gigantic video screen, 18 by 32 feet, that will be located near the Capitol, with speakers set up for sound. Although large screens have been used to let audiences view close-ups of musicians while they were playing on the Mall, this is believed to be the first time that a performance originating elsewhere will have been transmitted there live." Washington Post 10/14/05
Posted: 10/14/2005 8:02 am
Beethoven In Philly How did a manuscript of Beethoven's Grosse Fuge end up in Philadelphia? "The more immediate question is how such a manuscript ended up at Palmer, previously known as Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Though important manuscripts are scattered over the globe by world wars, this one had a more genteel route, arriving in 1950 among a collection of hymns donated by philanthropist Marguerite Treat Doane." Philadelphia Inquirer 10/14/05
Posted: 10/14/2005 6:14 am
New Energy in British Jazz British jazz of the 1970s was vibrant, but by the 90s it had lost steam. "If there was an identity crisis in young British jazz just 10 years ago, it is now subsiding, and a lot of that is thanks to the work of F-ire. The measure of inspiration presented in the collective's work reminds me of the very best of British jazz." The Telegraph (UK) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 7:33 pm
Study: Classic FM Works Critics assail the UK's Classic FM as lightweight and useless in clutivating new audiences for classical music. But a new study reports that Classic FM is a potent audience-builder. "The study, conducted between May and October last year, compared concerts supported by Classic FM with those that were not. The Philharmonia Orchestra reported three times the number of first-time concert-goers at their Classic FM-supported events, and figures for the Barbican's Classic-backed Mostly Mozart festival were even more impressive, with a massive 38 per cent of the audience attending a classical concert for the very first time." The Telegraph (UK) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 7:27 pm
Stockhausen - Out Of This World? Composer Karlheinz Stockhausen has ha an enormous influence on contemporary music. Personally, he's enigmatic: "This 77-year-old musical pioneer has claimed that he comes not from Burg Mödrath, near Cologne (listed as his birthplace on his biography), but rather from a planet orbiting the star Sirius, and that he was put on earth to give voice to a cosmic music that will change the world. He is, to put it mildly, a one-off." The Guardian (UK) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 7:21 pm
Bartoli - Diva Outside The Mainstream? Cecilia Bartoli has made a specialty of singing repertoire off the beaten path. "She is not diva-ish in the old-fashioned sense - she doesn't intimidate and, by all accounts, is an easy-going colleague when part of an opera cast. Her widely quoted falling out with Jonathan Miller at the Met in 1996 during a production of The Marriage of Figaro was untypical: in any case, she was standing up for a musical principle, not refusing a directorial command. She is tough, demanding, but no termagant. Yet there remain questions about the trajectory of her career..." The Guardian (UK) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 6:57 pm
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One-Day Culture Strike In Italy To Protest Arts Funding Cuts Italy's public culture has shut down in a country-wide one-day strike. "Cinemas, theatres, concert halls and opera houses and even circuses in Italy will be empty today because of a combined strike and lockout in protest at huge cuts to the arts budget ordered by Silvio Berlusconi's government. Impresarios and distributors are to join actors and musicians in the initiative. The draft budget for next year lops about a third off the main fund for the performing arts. Cultural institutions said they faced reductions of up to 40% in resources." The Guardian (UK) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 7:01 pm
US Against The World On UNESCO Initiative The United States is opposing a major new UNESCO convention on cultural diversity. "The convention's supporters argue that the treaty will protect and promote cultural diversity in the face of cultural globalization, but the United States believes it is intended to restrict exports of American audiovisual products, particularly Hollywood movies and television programs." The New York Times 10/13/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 6:09 am
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Pinter - Power Playwright "In his versatile and productive career, Harold Pinter, 75, has written plays and screenplays, directed theater productions, acted on screen and stage, and won awards across Europe. So precise and pared down is his prose, so artful his use of pauses and omissions to invoke discomfort, foreboding and miscommunication that he has his own adjective, Pinteresque, signifying a peculiar kind of atmospheric unease." The New York Times 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 9:15 pm
- Pinter - No Respect At Home Playwright Harold Pinter's Nobel Prize confirms his international stature as a great writer. "In Britain Pinter is ritually described as an 'angry old man'. In the world at large he is seen as a great writer and champion of the oppressed. The gulf between the understanding and appreciation of Pinter at home and abroad is astonishing. Travel to virtually any country in the world and you will find a Pinter play in production." The Guardian (UK) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 7:06 pm
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Where Are Tomorrow's Theatre Audiences? "Bringing in new audiences has become an increasing concern for theater companies with aging subscribers. Not only is the coveted 18- to 35-year-old demographic not subscribing, they aren't even a substantial slice of the single-ticket buying pie. In response, companies are developing clever methods of channeling attention toward their theaters - things like student rush, which offers tickets for reduced rates right before a show. Other theaters are taking more proactive steps, like the College Ambassador Program." Christian Science Monitor 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 10:17 pm
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Simon: No To Pinter Nobel Flamethrower John Simon objects to Harold Pinter winning the Nobel Prize for literature: "I would have gladly accorded him the Nobel for Arrogance, the Nobel for Self-promotion, or the Nobel for Hypocrisy—spewing venom at the United States while basking in our dollars—if such Nobels existed. But the Nobel for Literature? I think not." Radar 10/14/05
Posted: 10/14/2005 8:10 am
Booker Sponsor Under Investigation The Booker Prize hasn't had a good week. "Now comes news that that a division of the prize sponsors, the Man Group, is under investigation in the US by the Securities and Exchange Commission. After the collapse of the Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management hedge fund, its receiver has alleged that a senior employee at the Man Financial brokerage business - with whom PAAM worked - helped to hide $175m. of losses from investors." The Independent (UK) 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 6:44 pm
Who Is The Real JT LeRoy? The elusive author's behavior makes many question who he is or if he really exists. "For all its abuse and kinky sex, the JT story is really just another heartwarming rags-to-riches tale for the punk generation. But what if America isn’t really the sort of place where a street urchin can charm his way to the top, through diligence and talent; what if instead it’s the sort of place where heartwarming stories of abused children who triumph through adversity are made up and marketed?" New York Magazine 10/10/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 6:32 pm
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Video On The Go - Still Some Hurdles Apple's announcement of a video iPod has people excited that they'll be able to watch TV on their handhelds. But it's not as easy as that. "The future for watching video on a portable player is uncertain, with the latest iPod offering the industry a chance to gauge interest. So the question for the big companies will be asking themselves is how much should they invest in a technology if the demand for the product is not yet proven?" BBC 10/14/05
Posted: 10/14/2005 6:26 am
What's Wrong With MTV "We, too, remember when MTV used to be all about the issues — subversive and usually liberal. Now the network is all gab about the glam lifestyles, love triangles, mean girls and staged cat fights on these impossible-to-ignore unreality shows starring spoiled simpletons. We don’t mean to make like the Rev. James Dobson, but we’re certain that the MTV execs who green-lighted these docudramas about socioeconomic excess are headed straight for hell." LAWeekly 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 9:58 pm
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New York's Dance Season Debuts "The most extreme landscape for the art form is found at City Ballet, where dozens of works, frustratingly underrehearsed, are performed each season. Yet by the very nature of the company's George Balanchine-heavy repertory, there is often ample opportunity for individual dancers to shine. The company, no longer the one Balanchine envisioned, has turned into the punk rock of ballet. Performances are jittery, raw, unpredictable and, at times, horrific, but at both its unprofessional worst and unnervingly beautiful best, programs at the New York State Theater are alive. You go because you can't fathom what will happen next." The New York Times 10/14/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 9:42 pm
Bussell Says She'll Retire Royal Ballet star Darcey Bussell says she'll retire at the end of this season. "Bussell, 36, says the current season will be her last as a principal dancer with the company as she wants to spend more time with her family. 'I have always wanted to end my full-time career still dancing the full classical repertoire at the standard to which I aspire'." BBC 10/13/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 4:52 pm
Stirrings At Canada's Third Largest Dance Company Alberta Ballet has "survived an extremely difficult year characterized by low staff morale, high-profile board resignations and financial instability. However, its artistic director - with the solid backing of a brand-new board - says he is ready to turn his troupe into one of Canada's best." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 0/13/05
Posted: 10/13/2005 7:10 am
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