After international protests over Austria’s inclusion of Jörg Haider’s right-wing Austrian Freedom Party in Austrian government, organizers of the Vienna Festival feared a disruption in this summer’s festival. But after issuing an open letter strongly condemning Haider and the government’s inclusion of him, and appealing to artists not to boycott, the festival has gone on as usual. – New York Times
Author: Douglas McLennan
BEHIND THE BUBBLE
At a cost of $360 million, Beijing’s Grand National Opera House, now under construction, figured to be controversial. Its bubble shape and the fact it wasn’t designed by a Chinese architect makes for a triple whammy. But the real battle here is for the soul of the capital – protests erupt as old Beijing is cleared away to make room for the new. – Washington Post
SERIAL KILLER
When the history of post-war American music is written, which history will it be? “A widely held belief asserts that during these years a band of rigorous, cutting-edge composers, mostly based in prestigious East Coast universities, seized the intellectual high ground and bullied their colleagues and students into accepting serial procedures as the only valid form of modernism. Yet another, quite opposite take on that period holds that the 12-tone composers never wielded much influence, that they themselves were the beleaguered minority group marginalized by the majority of composers, who continued to write music that was essentially tonal and far more popular.” – New York Times
HAS AMERICA LOST ITS EDGE?
- Sure there’s lots of new opera these days. But American composers look back to the familiar if they want a production. “There’s a general notion [in Europe] that we’ve fallen so far behind in innovations. They say there’s nothing happening in America anymore. I jump to the defense of our artists. But it’s true that the primary institutions in the U.S. have been reluctant to embrace innovators. . . . Without a doubt, there’s been a chilling effect.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
PONDERING THE POPS
Nothing new about crossover music. But “it is increasingly difficult to define what, exactly, an orchestral pops concert should be. And many, if not most, of the classical pops concerts I’ve heard in the past few years have epitomized a sort of weird potpourri – a little of this, a little of that, and nothing very specific at all.” – Washington Post
MONEYDANCE
“As a cultural phenomenon, Riverdance has been closely parsed from top to bottom, hailed by some as an expression of a confidently globe-conquering new Ireland, dismissed by others as a pile of Celtic clichés. What has been ignored, however, is the gargantuan financial muscle that promises to make Riverdance the country’s biggest cultural export. The three Riverdance shows touring the world, along with their myriad merchandising spin-offs, have grossed an estimated £½ billion to date.” – The Sunday Times
NEW RELEASE
“Dancers are flocking to classes in a number of ‘body therapies’ or holistic systems that explore different ways of moving effortlessly and efficiently. Many of them started as a response to performance strain and injury. But now ‘release technique’ has begun to fuel an aesthetic shift that could be the next great swerve for modern and postmodern dance.” – Los Angeles Times
INCIPIENT ILLNESS
Shutting down the venerable Martha Graham Dance Company a few weeks ago was only another example of the difficult time dance is having in America. Everywhere dance companies are floundering. – Cleveland Plain Dealer
THE POLITICS OF CLICHE
In the old days (the 1990s), it seemed like every Irish film played on nostalgic stereotypes. Now a new set of stereotypes have taken over. “Perhaps the moguls have simply updated their clichés – and, just as every Hollywood success spawns a raft of imitations, Irish films come in thematic waves. Rural melodrama is out; Dublin-based drug barons with dubious accents are in. It may not be much of a new wave, but at least it’s more exciting than the old one.” – The Sunday Times (UK) 07/09/00
MAKE IT FREE AND THEY WILL COME
The British government proposes to make admission to museums free. But what about theatre? “An entire generation has got out of the theatre habit: education, prejudice and attention span are all partly to blame, but the biggest barrier is expense. As an incentive to people who don’t like theatre because they’ve never tried it, a proportion of seats should be free. There will always be those who save hard to afford the outrageous prices, but unless we make it easy and cheap for some of the others, those who grew up on cheap and easy visits will be dead and there will be no one to replace them.” – The Observer (UK)