Month: December 2003

The Skinny On MP3 Players

MP3 players come in all sizes and shapes these days. “For some people, MP3 players represent the physical endgame of music collecting, where there’s a vast stockpile of music at hand but no CD towers or groaning shelves of vinyl. In extreme cases, they also mark the end of an old reliable gift-giving strategy; what’s the point of buying a CD for someone who snaffles all the tunes they want from the Web?”

Toronto’s Fly-In Art – Where Are The Canadians?

The expansion of Toronto’s airport has generated some major new public art by some of the biggest names in contemporary sculpture. But. “Costing approximately $30-million, less than 1 per cent of the total budget, it will no doubt still be perceived as wild extravagance in a country where the idea of tourism promotion through the arts is still a weakly flickering light bulb. But the controversy should not be about the money; it should be about the heavy emphasis on non-Canadian artists.”

Jim Wolfensohn’s Birthday Party

“It’s good to be Jim Wolfensohn, no question about it. He runs a global institution with 10,000 employees and doles out $30 billion annually to make the world a better place. A career in investment banking made him personally rich-rich-rich. He’s got friends in high places and, because he loves music, is pals with some of the world’s greatest musical artists. So Wolfensohn pulled some strings for the evening. Last night’s performers included Bono, cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Cho-Liang Lin and Sharon Robinson, pianist Vladimir Feltsman, violinists Jaime Laredo and Pinchas Zukerman — and the amateur of the bunch, Wolfensohn. ‘Not a bad group,’ he said with a chuckle.”

Art Basel, Miami Branch

Art Basel converges on Miami Beach after a successful first outing last year. “The Art Basel people have utilized the Miami location to make it a fun event, creating something of the same atmosphere that they have in Basel. It becomes the event. Equally important is that museum directors, curators and patrons are coming. So it’s not just a place for sales. It’s a meeting place.”

Lasting Memories – What’s It Take?

“As we move into the final stages of the World Trade Center memorial competition, it’s worth recalling this city’s forgetfulness about tragedy. Perhaps if we make the monument sufficiently majestic – and devote enough resources to change the light bulbs, clean the pumps and scrub the glass – we can prolong the event’s resonance, but we must also build for the future ebbing of emotions.”

My Family, The Wagners

Gottfried Wagner, great grandson of composer Richard Wagner, has a complicated family. “As Gottfried continues to speak, it becomes apparent that Richard Wagner (who died in 1883) isn’t really the source of his angst. Although he firmly believes that his operatic great-grandfather was a raving anti-Semite who harmfully influenced German thought, what Gottfried is most concerned about is his more recent relatives’ involvement in 20th-century Nazi politics, and their subsequent efforts to sanitize the family name. He contends that the family was left in charge of the Bayreuth Festival after the Second World War because they successfully hoodwinked the occupying forces.”

Beethoven Quartet Sells For $2 Million

Beethoven’s Opus 127 String Quartet has sold at auction for just over $2 million. “The scherzo manuscript of the quartet is clearly a working document, with smudges, parts crossed out and late alterations added. Prince Galitzin of Russia, who played cello, commissioned Beethoven to write three quartets in 1822, but the composer was inspired to produce five.”