“Tenor high C’s are scattered throughout the opera literature. Sometimes tenors transpose the aria down slightly or drop an octave, other times they fake it and edge into falsetto voice, where it is easier to sing. Just as often, they hit it, and hold it…. It is moments like those when opera, in addition to the aesthetic joys and emotional satisfactions, can seem like a spectator sport or a circus high-wire act.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
South Coast Rep Aims To Double Endowment
“South Coast Repertory on Saturday announced a fundraising campaign to nearly double its endowment to $50 million by 2010, a goal intended to secure the nonprofit theater’s financial future and safeguard its status as a leading incubator of new plays. The cornerstone of the effort is a $10-million gift….”
As Iraq War Rages, Hollywood Weighs In
“Hollywood didn’t seriously explore the Vietnam War until years after it was over. … Four decades later, filmmakers are responding to America’s various fronts in the ‘war on terror’ while the bullets are still flying and bombs exploding. Many of these stories are anything but black and white, with their murky moralities, shattered families and questioning of U.S. policy.”
With Latinos In Key Posts, Doors May Open In L.A. Arts
Three people recently named to high-profile L.A. arts positions — “Gustavo Dudamel, set to take the baton at the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009; Miguel Angel Corzo, in the newly created post of president and chief executive at the Colburn School; and Olga Garay, recently named general manager of the municipal Department of Cultural Affairs” — “have one thing in common: They all identify themselves as Latino.” The changes they bring to the city may well include more Latin programming.
Funeral Watched By Masses Reflects Pavarotti’s Reach
“Luciano Pavarotti, the Italian tenor, was eulogized on Saturday as a ‘great artist’ with ‘a profound sense of humanity’ in the same cathedral where he once sang in the children’s choir.”
Why Copy Protection Is A Fool’s Errand
“There are some fundamental truths in the universe. We cannot travel faster than light, and we cannot make a copy protection system that is uncrackable.” Here’s why software locks on music and movies don’t work.
Pre-Pub Date, Author Annotates Novel On Facebook
“Necessity is the mother of invention, the old saying goes. But boredom and the desire to experiment are powerful forces too, says Canadian author Michael Winter. That’s how he came up with the idea to ‘serialize’ his latest novel on Facebook, the hot social-networking site.”
The Secret To High Attendance: Let ‘Em In For Free
“The Philadelphia Orchestra has hit upon a way to firm up attendance for its concerts at the Mann: free lawn tickets. This past summer, attendance, measured on a per-concert basis, was up over last year by 42 percent. An average of 4,221 listeners heard the orchestra each night it played in Fairmount Park, up from last summer’s 2,968.”
Is Development Killing Cape Cod’s Artistic Heritage?
Provincetown’s Hawthorne School of Art, founded by Charles Hawthorne, is up for sale and “at risk of being swallowed by development” amid money troubles. “Some school advocates say the furor over its future reflects renewed concern in Provincetown about surging development and other threats to the artistic heritage of eastern Cape Cod.”
For The Uninitiated, A Visual Way Into New Music
“A graphic score is any musical score that isn’t (or isn’t entirely) written in conventional Western, five-line-staff notation. No two composers use the same system — if system is even the right word for what is often a very open-ended way of representing music — and a composer may invent a new language of notation for each piece he or she writes.” A gallery show puts the scores on view….