Author: Douglas McLennan

SUBJECTS THAT MATTER

Filmmaker Ken Burns’ ten-part jazz series is to be aired beginning in January. But he’s already hearing from critics. “When ”The Civil War’ aired, several months passed before a few historians published objections to the series; with ‘Baseball,’ it took several weeks before some sportswriters weighed in with objections over what they thought were grievous omissions. Two years before I finished `Jazz,’ I was getting letters from jazz critics telling me where I went wrong.” – Boston Globe (Baltimore Sun)

WAGNER ON ITS OWN TIME

It’s a staple of aesthetics that great art should have no dispensable parts, no padding or extra material. Wagner’s operas are filled with lots of dispensable bits that, paradoxically, can’t be dispensed with. One paces oneself during Wagner, expecting events and reactions at a fundamentally different rate. And this pacing produces part of the hypnotic effect: anticipation and relief are extended, heightening the effect of both.” – Washington Post

BOCELLI GAINING ON THE CRITICS

“Andrea Bocelli’s fans have snapped up the new recording despite mixed reviews in the press. Some writers think the recording is an abomination, even in principle; others, including this listener, have heard sophisticated musical impulses and genuine feeling in his singing. Internet opera chat groups have turned nasty, with some lambasting Bocelli as a pop singer who has no business defiling the temples of operatic art. The fact is, however, that Bocelli became a pop singer wholly by accident, and all his life he has wanted to sing opera.” – Boston Globe

RESIDING IN THE MUSIC

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has benefitted from a string of stellar composers-in-residence. The latest is 33-year-old Julian Anderson. “I happen to be the kind of composer who gets a lot of compositional energy from the idea of knowing who is playing. It allows me to be even more musically adventurous. I don’t just want to arrive with my notes and give out the parts.” – The Guardian

MOSES ONLINE

The cleaning and restoration of Michelangelo’s “Moses” is being done live over the internet. Viewers can tune in any time and see how the project is progressing. “We don’t just want to clean and restore the monument. We want to make it even more well known than it already is. People will be able to follow the whole process of restoration minute by minute and day by day. It’s a way of letting them feel a part of it.” – CNN

HOW WE MAKE CULTURE

Is there such a thing as “the culture?” “In some ways our thinking about nature on the one hand and ‘the culture’ on the other has undergone a reversal within a matter of decades. It used to be that the cultural aspect of ordinary reality was, by definition, the part most amenable to human transformation, whereas the natural aspect was seen as having a dynamic of its own, which was largely out of our hands. ‘The culture’ is today the more fearsome realm, or at any rate the more convenient scapegoat, and the notion that we have only limited influence over it appears to be widespread.” – The Atlantic 11/00

LANGE’S TRIUMPH

In contrast to the string of American film stars who have taken on London stage roles in recent months and met with tepid (if not downright surly) reviews, Jessica Lange has bowled over critics as Mary in “Long Day’s Journey into Night” – in a performance being lauded as a masterpiece. – The Times (UK)