Why is the Long Island Philharmonic sort of problem is one that confronts almost anyone who presents live classical music. The ‘event’ aspect of live music has been challenged on one hand by the advent of electronic reproduction of music and on the other by what we might think of as the “museum-ification” of classical music generally. The development of new technologies that make performed music readily and easily available has had a profound effect not only on how and when people listen to music but on what listeners expect to hear.”
Month: April 2004
Billion-Dollar Suit Filed To Recover Nazi-Looted Art
An American lawyer is suing for $1 billion to recover art looted by the Nazis. “The suit, brought by a new group calling itself the Association of Holocaust Victims for the Restitution of Artwork and Masterpieces, calls on two leading Austrian banks, the Austrian government and Sotheby’s auction house to return paintings and other works allegedly sold without the permission of their original Jewish owners. ‘Not one painting has been restored — not one,’ Edward Fagan said, contending the missing artworks include paintings by Monet, Cezanne, Delacroix and other Impressionist masters. ‘These victims are suing to recover their property’.”
On Campus: Political Litmus Test?
David Horowitz is “spearheading a campaign to end what he calls discrimination against conservative faculty and students. At its core is an ‘academic bill of rights,’ written by Mr. Horowitz, that asks universities, among other things, to include both conservative and liberal viewpoints in their selection of campus speakers and syllabuses for courses and to choose faculty members ‘with a view toward fostering a plurality of methodologies and perspectives’.”
Lost Bach Manuscript Found
A lost musical score by JS Bach has turned up in the estate of a Japanese pianist. “The 1728 composition, called “Wedding Cantata BWV 216,” was found among the papers of Japanese pianist Chieko Hara, who died in Japan in 2001 aged 86.”
Who Was The Real Shostakovich?
“Was he a faithful servant of the Soviet regime, as his public behavior and official pronouncements might suggest? Or was he a secret dissident who expressed with musical signs and subtexts all the protest he could not make in words? Or did he live and work, like so many Soviet citizens, in a complicated gray area between those extremes?” Two new books revive the controversy but fail to deliver the definitive answer.
Architect Renzo Piano On The Artists Who Have Influenced Him:
“I’ve been a very close friend to people like Luciano Berio, John Cage, Pierre Boulez. This is what is great about art: there are no frontiers. You are friends among writers, and you steal from writers, the next day you steal from musicians, the next day you steal from a sculptor or a painter. It is always like that. It’s a continuous robbery one from the other. But it’s a robbery without a mask.”
Getty, World Monuments Fund, Team Up To Help Iraq’s Cultural Heritage
“The World Monuments Fund and the Getty Conservation Institute are to collaborate with Iraq’s Ministry of Culture and State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to repair the damage sustained as a result of the 2003 war. The initiative will not deal with the restoration or protection of Iraq’s museums, but with endangered buildings and archaeological sites. The goal is to mobilise international resources to help repair Iraq’s cultural heritage and to help build the infrastructure and expertise that are required in the country’s conservation and heritage management sectors.”
Get Your Red Hot Music Here…
Recording companies are trying all sorts of new ways to deliver their product to consumers. “Offerings for consumers that are already available or in the works range from free song downloads (awarded after buying a bottle of soda or a cheeseburger) to the ability to walk into a Starbucks and choose from thousands of songs to make a CD.”
Chicago – The Buildings That Worked (And Those That Didn’t)
City downtowns are the accumulation of building ideas that survive to be built. But there’s a shadow history too – the buildings that for one reason or another didn’t make it past the idea stage. “Lost opportunities like that make you cringe, and there are others, including unbuilt residential towers that blow away the monotonous condo high-rises now deadening the cityscape.”
Inconsistent Border Regs To Blame For McEwan Border Snafu?
It took writer Ian McEwan 24 hours to get across the border into the United States this week. Now he has a stamp in his passport that says he was denied entry, which could cause problems the next time he travels to the US. Inconsistent border procedures are being blamed on his delay. “What happened to Ian McEwan illustrates the inconsistencies in the process to enter this country, and this happens more often than most people think. The only reason that we are even aware of this incident is because Mr. McEwan is famous.”