Zachary Woolfe has a conversation with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composer/conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen about the new concerto the latter has written for the former.
Author: Matthew Westphal
In The New Political Environment, Theatres Are Becoming Town Halls
“Something theatres have always done well is bring people together. Traditionally people gather to see a show and maybe stick around after for a talkback, but increasingly, and especially since the 2016 presidential election and the inauguration of Donald J. Trump, theatres and theatre people have been looking for ways to bring those people together to make a statement, start a discussion, or support a cause independent of a particular theatrical production, with some initiatives being more openly political than others.”
Ballet Begins, However Slowly, To Address Its Diversity Problem
Says Dance/USA executive director Amy Fitterer, “I’m feeling every encouraged in the past two years because the conversation has gone from trying to convince people that there is a problem, (to) now we’re finding the directors are really on board.” (includes video)
Read ‘The I.O.U.’ – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Never-Before-Published Story
“The above is not my real name – the fellow it belongs to gave me his permission to sign it to this story. My real name I shall not divulge. …”
How The Newly-Discovered Story By F. Scott Fitzgerald Fell Through The Cracks, And How It Was Found Again
A conversation between New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman and Margaret Daniel, the editor of ‘I’d Die for You’ and Other Lost Stories.
Never-Before-Seen Rodin Work To Be Displayed For First Time
Absolution (ca. 1900) has a quality most people would never associate with Rodin’s muscular sculpture – it’s fragile, made up of three plaster pieces with fabric draped on top. Emily Sharpe reports on how conservators stabilized the piece and transported it (very carefully) to the Musée Rodin in Paris.
BBC Interview Hijacked By Toddlers Becomes Battleground In Culture Wars
When the video clip went viral, an incorrect assumption made by a lot of viewers on social media – and several media outlets – raised quite a few hackles. As Roxane Gay tweeted, “Today one of the funniest, most charming videos showed me that we have way more work to do than I ever thought.” Caroline Davies explains. (includes video)
Totenberg Strad, Stolen And Long Missing, Is Played In Concert For First Time In 37 Years
The Stradivarius violin that troubled music student Phil Johnson stole from violinist Roman Totenberg (yes, Nina’s father) in 1980 was recovered after Johnson died in 2012. After years of careful restoration, it was returned to performance by former Totenberg student Mira Wang on Monday night in New York. Geoff Edgers reports.
While ISIS Was Busily Wrecking Mosul, It May Have Uncovered The Lost Hanging Gardens Of Babylon
Of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid of Giza survives to this day and the fate of five others is documented. But what became of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon has remained a mystery; some scholars aren’t certain they even existed. But ISIS’s destruction of a shrine on the ancient site of Nineveh may have revealed the key to that mystery. Or perhaps not. The connection involves a chain of historical references that may not hold up – but Noah Charney explains that chain and how it might be plausible.
SoCal’s Pacific Symphony Musicians Get New Contract – With A Real Raise
The agreement, which was agreed-on in principle in late October but took until mid-February to draft, increases musicians’ pay by 10.4% over its five-year term.