Aaron Copland would have been 100 years old this year. “Listeners who think of Copland’s style as bland or ingratiating are relying on the faulty filtering of memory, compounded by an awareness of the composer’s famously warm and congenial personal demeanor.” – San Francisco Chronicle
Author: Douglas McLennan
SHAWN FANNING
Never heard of him? Six months ago the 19-year-old invented Napster, the digital music download software that has turned the music recording world upside down. Now he finds himself at the middle of the music upheaval and he’s being sued by his favorite band. – The Observer (UK)
STAGE REVIVAL
In the digital age, theatre seems so old-fashioned, so not of the future. But maybe we need it now more than ever. How did the art of theatre fall into such neglect? – The Observer (UK)
SEVENTY AND SAD
Stephen Sondheim is 70 this year and sounding a bit glum. His most recent project failed to get out of workshop and onto Broadway. But “his works constitute a show business force of nature, unmatched and unapproached in their ardor, stylistic variety, intelligence, complexity, thematic depth, wit and stirring expansiveness.” – San Francisco Chronicle
CHILD’S P(L)AY
Damien Hirst has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to two children’s charities to settle a copyright suit sparked by his latest work, “Hymn,” a 20ft bronze sculpture (which recently sold for £1m) that is a larger-than-life replica of a well-known child’s anatomy set. – BBC
VINTAGE FAKES?
Some of Louise Hine’s vintage master photographs appear to have been forged. Experts are investigating. – Chicago Tribune
MAN OH MANN
The governor of Virginia has objected to a slide show by photographer Sally Mann given earlier this month in a state-owned museum. In his letter to the museum’s interim director the governor wrote he was ‘shocked and dismayed that this type of exhibit occurred on state-owned property.'” – Fox News (AP)
HEY – IT’S ONLY A BUILDING
“And the opening of Tate Modern. My reaction? Stunned. Literally stunned. Suddenly, London has become the greatest city the world has to offer, the city that is positively buzzing with energy and optimism and sheer in-your-face modernity.” – The Guardian
TOP OF 1000 YEARS
Four American museum curators each have a go at picking their top ten artworks of the past 1,000 years. Two of them pick Chartres as No.1. – Christian Science Monitor
I THINK I CAN
No. 3 auctioneer Phillips comes back with another auction – and has better luck selling it after last week’s disaster. – New York Times