Terry Teachout: “Mr. Fischer-Dieskau was also one of the most controversial artists of his age, or any other. For every vocal connoisseur who praised him to the skies, another dismissed his singing as ‘mannered’ and ‘croony,’ and it was not until after he retired in 1993 that the carping ceased and he came to be regarded as above criticism.”
Month: May 2012
Proustian Mind-Pops Get Attention From Researchers
“Sudden, unannounced memories might help people make connections between disparate ideas more quickly – but they might also be the building blocks of hallucinations.”
Baz Luhrmann Releases First Great Gatsby Trailer – And The Interwebs Object
“The frenetic, high-drama preview promises sweeping shots of Jay Gatsby’s West Egg soirées, immaculate set design, and period-perfect costumes – but also what appears to be a hyper-stylized, extended-music-video treatment of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic,” set to Kanye West and Jay-Z.
Gertrude Stein’s Alphabet Book
“Z is a nice letter, and I am glad it is not Y, I do not care for Y, why, well there is the reason why, I do not care for Y, but Z is a nice letter. I like Z because it is not real it just is not real and so it is a nice letter to you and nice to me, you will see.”
Questions With No Answers As China Continues To Imprison Art Shippers
“The director of a China-based art shipping company that had two employees detained by Chinese customs officials at the end of March says he is concerned for their health and has not heard from them since police took them into custody. The pair are being held as part of a probe into alleged undervaluation of works of art imported into the mainland.”
The Dream Of Animation Is Alive In Argentina
“Picture what Pixar and DreamWorks are doing, but on a fraction of the budget, using a scrappy team and a startup mentality, and a decidedly Latin American flavor.” And soccer, of course.
Did MoMA’s Famous ‘Family of Man’ Exhibit Squash Dissent – Or Promote It?
“In totalitarian countries, they argued, mass media delivered propaganda
messages directly from the mouths of dictators; as a result, they undermined their
citizens’ abilities to reason and transformed them into automatons. When Steichen
and his team designed ‘The Family of Man,’ they sought to build a media environment that would have the opposite effect.”
Why Can’t We Leave Dead Musicians Alone? (There’s A Name For It)
“It’s called the ‘death effect’ and it’s the same for actors, authors and artists — whether it’s an increase in exposure or a supply-induced demand (no more painter, no more paintings), public hunger for a person’s work grows exponentially following their passing. When it comes to musicians, however, the situation has the added element of necromancy, a sort of pop culture-tinged resurrection.”
Apple: What? Us Fix E-Book Prices?
“Apple argued that its foray into e-books has actually fueled demand for e-books by forcing Amazon and rivals, including Barnes & Noble Inc, to compete more aggressively, including by upgrading e-reader technology.”
New Music Director For New West Symphony
“Marcelo Lehninger, the young Brazilian German maestro who serves as an assistant conductor for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has been named music director of the New West Symphony, which is based in Thousand Oaks.”