“Why? While most books can survive centuries or even millennia, Tunglið – as its two employees tell me – ‘uses all the energy of publishing to fully charge a few hours instead of spreading it out over centuries … For one glorious evening, the book and its author are fully alive. And then, the morning after, everyone can get on with their lives.'”
Author: Matthew Westphal
France’s Longest-Serving TV Anchor Abruptly Fired By State Broadcaster
For 16 years, David Pujadas has been the face of primetime news on [France Télévisions] … In a surprise announcement, France 2 said Pujadas’s long broadcast career with the channel would be coming to an end. … The news came the day after Pujadas’s 8pm news programme recorded its highest audience of the season, beating its closest rival, the private channel TF1.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.01.17
Belonging gone bad
The idea of “belonging” has long been a key point of aspiration and advocacy for the arts. Art builds empathy. Art builds community. Art infuses a sense of belonging into a world so desperate for … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2017-06-01
Other Matters: Meet The Stamps Quartet
As I was writing liner notes for the next album by Cyrus Chestnut, the research led me to a remarkable performance of its title song. Published in 1989, “Sweet, Sweet Spirit” by … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-06-01
Charles Isherwood Argues That The Age Of Trump May Be Good For The Arts
The precipitously departed theater critic of The New York Times resurfaces in the pages of Town & Country: “History isn’t a flawless guide, but periods of economic and political dislocation can actually inspire an efflorescence of culture.”
An Explanation (Sort Of) For The Sudden Mass Exodus From The Brooklyn Rail
In mid-May, the respected culture journal announced, with no explanation, that the entire board of directors and senior staff, as well as half a dozen other staffers, were leaving the following week. Since then, Rail co-founder Phong Bui has reclaimed his former title of Publisher and said that he has hired new staff and plans to double the pay for freelance reviewers by the end of this year. As for his former colleagues, Bui says, “I think people agree that stepping down is the way to let me rebuild the Rail the way I see it.”
How The Right Sound Effect Can Transform A Movie Scene
“This video from The Royal Ocean Film Society makes a compelling case that sound is every bit as important as picture in cinema. … ‘Storytelling With Sound’ lays out some of the ways audio makes films better, and includes an interview with one of the masters: Ben Burtt, the brilliant sound designer behind the Star Wars saga who gave us R2-D2. He’s also the voice of Wall-E.”
How On Earth Do You Notate A Meredith Monk Piece And Teach It To A New Group Of Musicians? She And They Are Figuring That Out
“In the 1970s and ’80s, when current classics like Dolmen Music were new, they weren’t written down, at least not in a form even close to complete. Ms. Monk and her group were too busy singing them – living them, you could say – to sit and score them. It’s only in the past 15 years or so that Ms. Monk has turned some of her attention to preserving the pieces that she wants to survive her.”
What’s Not Okay To Ask A Dancer To Do?
“When your instruments are human beings, is there a limit to how far you should go? Five choreographers open up about where” – and when and why – “they draw the line.” (Elizabeth Streb’s answer is, of course, that she doesn’t.)
Looking Back At 20 Years Of Being A (Female) Theatre Critic
Susannah Clapp of Britain’s The Observer: “Strangely, given the fawning on female actors and the sneering at ‘luvvies’, the theatre is the most male world in which I have worked. Far less women-driven than publishing or literary journalism or broadcasting. In all areas: writers, directors, designers, heads of theatres. That is changing. It is hard to overemphasise the difference that one thing made to this.”
Donmar Warehouse’s All-Female Shakespeare Trilogy Headed For Cinemas
“Filmed versions of Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and starring Harriet Walter, will be released throughout [this] year.”