“For the first time ever, a download-only release has topped the Billboard classical chart. The DG Concerts release of Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic (where he will soon be musical director) features Berlioz’s Symphonie fantatastique. Billboard just changed its rules to allow downloads, so this is not only the first such recording to top the charts — it’s the first to appear at all.”
Month: June 2008
Art Fairs Everywhere (And A Downside)
“When art fairs work, and they often do, news of a beautiful painting or a ground-breaking sculpture flashes through a crowd with the excitement and urgency of the first few notes of a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo at Woodstock. But the art-fair explosion has a real dark side, and a real downside.”
Idaho Library Removes Sex Ed Books
The public library board in the Idaho town of Nampa has “voted to permanently remove two sex education books from library shelves, storing them instead in the library director’s office and making them available only on request.”
Another Top Publishing Exec Steps Down
“Jane Friedman, the president and chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, is stepping down from her post, becoming the second high-profile publishing executive to leave the top slot in the last month.”
New James Bond Book A Hit
“Waterstone’s alone sold over 19,000 copies, with the £100 special souvenir edition selling out in one morning. Queues began outside the chain’s Piccadilly store from 4.30pm the previous day. A luxury edition, designed by Bentley and costing £750, also sold out its 300-copy print run in under two hours in the UK.”
When We Can Live Forever
“The majority of scientists and thinkers in this area now consider life extension and even medical immortality possible and likely. Not long ago, most would have said it was out of the question, that death at or well before the absolute maximum age of something like 122 was inevitable.”
Words About Art That Mean Nothing?
“Most texts which accompany contemporary art production are so alarmingly twisted and woolly that they could easily pass for self-parody. Texts on art rarely explain what they profess to explain; they simply simulate the explainability of their theories.”
Can You Build A Ballet Audience With Celebrities?
Traditional dance isn’t drawing crowds. So some companies have been offering celebrity productions to up the comfort factor. But “pretending that ballet isn’t really ballet, that it’s just an upmarket sister to Strictly Come Dancing, won’t lure any new viewers into the theatre the next time the Kirov dance Balanchine.”
Authors Protest Plan To Classify Children’s Books
“Publishers’ plans to introduce age ranging guidance onto children’s books have met with fierce opposition from authors including Philip Pullman, Anne Fine and Michael Rosen, following a report of the growing protest last week on guardian.co.uk.”
Dickens Desk Sale Exceeds All Expectations
“The desk where Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations and his final correspondence hours before his death fetched £433,250 [over $845,000] at auction on Wednesday, around seven times its pre-sale estimate.”