Do We Fetishize Endings? "The ending of a film, or any narrative, bears a disproportionate amount of the artistic weight. Endings are the last thing we see, and the thing most likely to stay in the memory. And there's a natural inclination, in any long and complex work, to focus on the ending: Art, like life, often passes by in a state of semi-confusion, but a solid ending proves to the audience that the director had control all along. And the power of a good ending has particular resonance in a 'closure' society, a society that strives for finality in things of the heart (closure after grief) and clairvoyance in most everything else (how's this going to turn out?)." Washinton Post 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:37 pm
You Can't Win Without Words Times are tough for Republicans, no doubt about it, but somehow, the current public dissatisfaction with the Bush Administration has yet to translate into anything approaching widespread support for the opposition Democrats. Why are the Dems so totally incapable of seizing the moment? One linguist suggests that while the GOP may be on the outs politically, they're still the reigning champions when it comes to effective use of language. "The right has been incredibly successful in capturing the English political vocabulary. In a way, it's a tribute to their ability to spin compelling narratives." Boston Globe 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 10:02 am
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Getty Makes Deal To Return Greek Art The Getty Museum has agreed to return two artifacts to Greece. "The compromise accord, which was initially hammered out in May at a meeting in Athens between the museum's director, Michael Brand, and the Greek culture minister, Georgios A. Voulgarakis, provides for the return to Greece of a large stele, or grave marker, acquired by the museum in 1993 and an archaic votive relief bought by the museum's founder, the oil magnate J. Paul Getty, in 1955. It also includes a provision for heightened collaboration between the museum and the Greek government." The New York Times 07/10/06
Posted: 07/10/2006 6:00 am
Guggenheim Coming To The Mideast Frank Gehry will design a new Guggenheim outpost in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. Gehry, who also designed the Guggenheim's much-vaunted museum in Bilbao, Spain, expects ground to be broken shortly in the city's new cultural district, with completion slated for 2011. BBC 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 12:16 pm
- Will Islamic Law Trump Artistic Quality? The UAE Guggenheim "could present a headache for curators - how to balance artistic expression and Islamic cultural sensitivities?" For instance, nudes would likely be forbidden, as would any other depictions that might offend ultra-conservative Islamic sensibilities. And with that kind of self-censorship a necessity, the new Guggenheim might be dooming itself to irrelevance before it even opens. Australian Broadcasting Corporation 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 12:10 pm
Museum's Ready - Who's Bringing The Art? The tiny country of Luxembourg opened its spectacular new I.M. Pei-designed modern art museum this month, an enterprise nearly twenty years in the making. "Still, this striking symbol of modernity is not quite what its name implies. Because Luxembourg owned virtually no Modern art, and the museum could hardly afford to start building a collection of works by, say, Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Dalí, Miró and the like, this is really a museum of contemporary art... The size and sober grandeur of Mr. Pei's building still suggests a museum awaiting a collection. But at least the museum exists, something that at times seemed less than certain." The New York Times 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 11:19 am
The Met's $45m Duccio May Be A Fake "A Columbia University professor known for challenging the art historical establishment asserts that a painting purchased in 2004 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for an estimated $45 million is not the work of the early-Renaissance master Duccio di Buoninsegna, to whom it has long been attributed. The Met's scholars have dismissed his argument, citing detailed scientific testing and scholarly study of the work." The New York Times 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 11:16 am
Dali Museum To Get New Home "Salvador Dali never set foot in St. Petersburg, Fla., where the dominant art form is the watercolor beachscape. But in a strange twist worthy of one of the Spanish Surrealist master's paintings, St. Petersburg will soon be home to a $30-million museum to house the world's most comprehensive collection of Dali's work... Groundbreaking is set for early next year. The new facility will open in 2010." Los Angeles Times (AP) 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 10:59 am
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Rattle Takes On The Aix "Ring" Simon Rattle conducts a dreary first installment of Wagner's "Ring" at the Aix Festival. "Rattle has been taking some flak in the Berlin press — mostly for not being the late Herbert von Karajan, which you might think would be something of a blessing — but he sounded in danger of “Karajanising” his Wagner here, luxuriating in the wondrous sounds he coaxes from the Berliners and almost loving the music to death. There were exceptional moments — the rasp of the lower brass heralding the giants’ entrance suggested terrifying menace — but the overall effect was soporific." The Times (UK) 07/10/06
Posted: 07/10/2006 6:30 am
Chicago Jazz Station Takes The Jazz Out Chicago public radio station WBEZ is dropping its all-jazz format and turning to news and information. It's a trend that has swept the public radio world. But jazz fans in Chicago are angry... Chicago Sun-Times 07/10/06
Posted: 07/10/2006 6:22 am
Piano Competition Winners - Did They Really Give The Best Performances? Edward Reichel has a problem with the results of the just-completed Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. "The six who were chosen to compete in the finals unquestionably should have been there. They deserved it. But those who took the top three prizes did not give the best performances." Deseret News (Utah) 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 9:08 pm
Classical Music's Hottest Season? Summer Summer used to be the time classical musicians took some time off. In most cities, classical concerts were scarce. No more. "Exact figures are hard to come by, but in the last five years alone, summer festivals and workshops in America have doubled, from about 100 in 2001 to more than 200 this year, according to Chamber Music America." Los Angeles Times 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:45 pm
Why Online Music Can't Beat Radio... Online music is stealing audience. But can it rival radio? "Despite numerous attempts, no one online has found a way to turn the hat trick that sustained radio through six decades of dominance of the music industry. The iTunes store is just a very alluring retailer; it has no defining personality and therefore hasn't developed into the kind of mass community that assembled around the most successful radio DJ shows. Various adventures in file-sharing have been a bonanza for music collectors, but have done little to advance the cause of sounds that weren't already popular." Washington Post 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:35 pm
What If One Company Controls All The Major Concerts? A deal that combines America's two largest concert promoters has Greg Kot worried about lack of competition. "The $350 million acquisition announced Wednesday will bring HOB Entertainment, the operator of the House of Blues clubs, under the umbrella of Live Nation, the Clear Channel Entertainment spinoff that is North America's biggest concert promoter. The deal brings the concert business even closer to a monopoly, and the effect on ticket prices and artistic diversity could be crippling." Chicago Tribune 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:01 pm
Music Downloads Continue To Soar Music downloading hit new highs in the first half of 2006, with more than 14 million full albums downloaded (legally) by consumers, a 77% increase over the same period last year. Sales of traditional albums fell by 4.2%. "Although digital sales are growing, music fans are eschewing the more profitable full-album downloads in favour of cherry-picking a few songs." BBC 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 12:13 pm
The Detroit Solution The Detroit Symphony may still be looking for a music director to replace the departed Neeme Järvi, but the ensemble is enjoying rising attendance and a stability that most other American orchestras would kill for. How did they accomplish such a thing in a city famed for its crippling poverty? Rather than simply making an appeal to the business community for help, the DSO has become a major investor in the urban revitalization of its hometown, and is endeavoring to show the community the same long-term commitment it requests from others. All Things Considered (audio file) 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 12:00 pm
Hitting All The High Notes It was a good year for Opera Theatre of St. Louis, a small but important company that each summer draws opera aficionados from across the country to the Midwest for a month-long festival. A $400,000 challenge grant, "for which the company had to raise $7.5 million and attract 1,000 new donors by June 30, was not only met but surpassed in both dollars and donors... The company made a major push to bring in young people to its performances," and continued its efforts to assist talented young singers in making the transition to the professional world. St. Louis Post-Dispatch 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 9:40 am
Littler: Great Orchestras Don't Take The Summer Off The Toronto Symphony has come a long way since nearly succumbing to bankruptcy a few years back. But William Littler says that the TSO still lacks one of the crucial amenities of a major North American orchestra: "Unlike most orchestras of its class, Toronto's still lacks the summer season that would keep its profile before the public and its players more extensively employed." Toronto Star 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 9:33 am
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So Shut Up Already (And We'll All Enjoy It) "As common sense and good manners become lost in this era of cell phones, iPods and high-tech everything, loud talking at concerts and nightclub performances has reached almost epidemic levels." So what's to be done? San Diego Union-Tribune 07/09/06
Posted: 07/10/2006 6:51 am
Miami's New Performing Arts Center - Will People Be Able To Afford To Go? Managers of Miami's new Performing Arts Center say they hope to make "the $446 million center accessible to all, both through programming and ticket prices. But in a community as diverse as Miami, the task of serving everyone is akin to building a bridge across the Atlantic. Nearly 60 percent of the city's population was born in another country, according to 2004 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. And about 91,000 people - 28 percent of the population - earn less than the federal poverty level of $9,570 a year for an individual, making Miami the third poorest big city in the nation." Miami Herald 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:54 pm
Oregon Arts In Dire Straits "A torrent of red ink is flowing through some of Oregon's best-known arts and cultural organizations. The Oregon Historical Society and the Oregon Symphony each posted a six- or seven-figure deficit in its two most recent fiscal years. Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Opera and the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene also booked large losses last year. Arts officials checked off a laundry list of problems causing the disappointing financial results: high costs, executive changes, miserly state support and fierce competition for audiences and donor dollars." The Oregonian (Portland) 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 11:40 am
Whose PAC Is It, Anyway? St. Paul's Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is hunting for a new chief executive, and Dominic Papatola says that the center would do well to spend some time reexamining its mission before it settles on a new leader. "The Ordway is the crown jewel of St. Paul's cultural destinations, but it is a flawed gem. Economically and organizationally, the place was built broken... No one has ever been able to successfully juggle the building's multiple roles as landlord, presenter and producer." St. Paul Pioneer Press 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 11:33 am
It Must Be Nice To Have Your Very Own Senator Politicians are known for using their influence to do favors for friends in trouble. But when is the last time you heard of a conservative Republican senator pulling strings to get a pal released from an Arab prison after a drug conviction? Senator Orrin Hatch, the floor is yours... The New York Times 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 11:12 am
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Voigt To (Finally) Sing Covent Garden Again Soprano Deborah Voigt has been hired to sing at London's Royal Opera House. Voigt was famously fired from singing in Ariadne Auf Naxos in 2004, reportedl for being too fat. Subsequently she had surgery and lost 150 pounds. BBC 07/10/06
Posted: 07/10/2006 6:25 am
A Photograph Of Mozart's Wife Surfaces "The previously unknown print was discovered in archives in the southern German town of Altötting, local authorities said yesterday, and has been authenticated as including Mrs Mozart. The long-lost photograph was taken in October 1840, when Constanze Weber was 78, at Max Keller's home. The Altötting state archive said it was believed this was the only time in her life that she had been photographed." The Guardian (UK) 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:51 pm
Pavarotti Surgery Successful Luciano Pavarotti is resting comfortably following successful cancer surgery in New York. "The 70-year-old singer was preparing to leave New York last week to resume his farewell world concert tour in Britain when doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass." Doctors were reportedly able to remove the entire mass during the procedure, but pancreatic cancer has one of the highest eventual fatality rates among cancers. Pavarotti plans to resume touring in 2007. Chicago Sun-Times 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 10:53 am
Less Levine, But No Less Committed "James Levine does look thinner, healthier, and the best part of all, there’s no change in his magical right baton-waving hand. And so he proved it last night at Tanglewood, conducting a little eerily for this listener the same program that he was leading when he took a header and crashed into rotator cuff surgery on March 1. That would be the Schoenberg first chamber symphony, and the glorious Beethoven ninth. He’s certainly lost a bunch of pounds, but James Levine has lost none of his humane gravitas." Boston Herald 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 9:54 am
- It's Not Really About The Arms, Anyway There was never really any risk that James Levine's rotator cuff injury would affect his conducting skill, of course, but it may be a sign of how important Levine's presence has been to the revival of the BSO that his return to the podium has inspired such breathless anticipation. "Conducting is a mysterious occupation, one in which the exchange of information seems to occur almost by osmosis. Everyone should be heartened by what happened at Tanglewood on Friday night. No one should worry about Mr. Levine's arm-waving capacities, nor should they ever have. It is not like losing one's fastball." The New York Times 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 9:45 am
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How The Internet Is Changing The Way Theatres Build Audiences "Word of mouth has always been the ideal. But the Internet has provided a new and, some say, vastly improved set of tools to generate it: not just e-mail blasts but also Web sites, banner ads, search-engine pop-ups and blog coverage. In the last few years these tools have reshaped the way the theater reaches its audience." The New York Times 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:42 pm
A History of Violence Often lost in our continued marveling at the words of William Shakespeare is the fact that the Bard's plays are often shockingly violent. A handful of new British productions embrace the bloody brutality, and Ben Brantley says that it's impossible to miss the wider significance of the interpretation. "Besides demonstrating that there's more than one way to skin a corpse, these contrasting takes on Titus anatomize the impact of a world where slaughter and torture are everyday occurrences, and especially on those whose job is to kill... The current investigations into the alleged rape and murder of civilians by American soldiers in Iraq have made such presentations tremble with inescapable timeliness." The New York Times 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 11:01 am
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The Family Business - Writing (Now If Only They Could Agree On What Happened) The seven brothers and sisters of the Minot family are all writers. "Taken together, their books constitute a kind of New England ‘Rashomon,’ divergent and sometimes conflicting accounts of their collective past. And while no one would want to read their novels as coded autobiography or reduce them to dispatches from the family front, the Minots themselves keep revisiting the subject of their childhood as if it were possible to rewrite life." The New York Times Magazine 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 9:15 pm
Joyce Heirs Fight Hard For Copyright Retention "A lawsuit filed on June 16 by an American scholar alleges that Stephen Joyce, grandson of the writer James Joyce, along with estate trustee Sean Sweeney, improperly withheld access to materials and attempted to intimidate academics... In the struggle to define copyright as it applies to literary rights, web rights and the extent of time a work is withheld from public domain, the Joyce estate's fearsome vigilance stands out." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 12:36 pm
Free eBook Downloads Are A Hit The publishing industry appears to be the latest corner of the arts world to discover that consumers will flock to almost anything given away for free. "That seems to be the lesson of the first few days of the World eBook Fair, a one-month experiment in free downloadable books produced by Illinois-based Project Gutenberg. The fair began Tuesday, and already more than 1.5 million books have been downloaded." Boston Globe 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 9:57 am
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Requiem For The Video Store "The demise of the independent bookstore has been augured for nearly a generation now, the inevitable casualty of behemoths like Borders and Barnes & Noble, online booksellers like Amazon, and ultimately, so we're told, of the universal, digital library imagined by Google and various techno-visionaries. The more imminent demise of the video store, meanwhile, has merited only occasional notice, mostly in the business pages. Yet something important is being lost here, something that isn't going to be replaced by rent-by-mail outfits like Netflix, video-on-demand services, or newfangled delivery systems like the Disney-backed MovieBeam." Boston Globe 07/10/06
Posted: 07/10/2006 6:15 am
"Pirates" Has A Record Weekend "Pirates of the Caribbean" shatters single-day and weekend box office records, taking in $132 million. "Playing at 4,133 theaters — the widest opening in Disney's history — the film averaged $31,945 per venue. The weekend's second-biggest movie, 'Superman Returns,' averaged $5,375 per location for a total of $21.9 million." Los Angeles Times 07/10/06
Posted: 07/10/2006 5:41 am
Hyping Movies -It's All About The Bling The growing business of licensing is fundamentally changing both the way people interact with entertainment and the face of entertainment itself... The Globe & Mail (Canada) 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:30 pm
Rhode Island = Hollywood East? Rhode Island is the latest American state to jump on the tax subsidy wagon for movie poductions. After the state passed incentives last year, there has been a steady stream of movies coming to film. An they spend real money, which boosts the local economy. Washington Post 07/09/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 7:57 pm
Judge: Cleaning Up Movies Not Legal A federal appeals court has ruled that companies which market "sanitized" versions of Hollywood films to consumers who wish to skip the sex, violence, and profanity are violating U.S. copyright law. The companies have been ordered to stop selling the edited titles, and to turn over their entire inventory to the original production studios immediately. The Globe & Mail (AP) 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 12:31 pm
Vox Populi.com "In the age of widespread broadband access, iTunes video and video sites like Youtube.com, television viewers are migrating en masse to the Internet, looking not only to watch their favorite shows online but also for ways to discuss and engage with those shows. As a result, the blogs, communities like livejournal.com and message boards devoted to television shows are becoming more popular — and mainstream — forums for viewer discussion and feedback. And the people behind the shows have taken note." The New York Times 07/08/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 11:10 am
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The Man Who's Changing Ballet "Often billed as 'the greatest male dancer of his generation', Carlos Acosta has become almost as busy behind the scenes as he is on stage. This summer he's producing and directing two London seasons. The first, at Sadler's Wells, features him and various Royal Ballet colleagues in a week of choreography both contemporary and classical. The second, at the Coliseum, is a revival of Tocororo, the Cuban-flavoured show he created in 2003." The Times (UK) 07/9/06
Posted: 07/09/2006 8:04 pm
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