“In Cleveland, the players were bewildered during the first read-through of the score. Tensions flickered and were fanned by Boulez’s effortless, if glum, command of the music’s complexity. He could sing any instrumental part with exact precision … [He] could instantly hear if a note or a player’s timing was off, and he had no inhibitions about locating the exact source of error.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Manti Te’o And The Girlfriend Hoax – Did His Samoan Culture Make Him Susceptible?
As an ethnographer who spent two years doing fieldwork among Samoan migrants, Ilana Gershon observes that many aspects of the saga that seem incredible to most Americans make sense in the context of Te’o’s background and likely upbringing.
What Would George Orwell Be Writing About In 2013?
“If Orwell was fighting in a war akin to the Spanish civil war in 2012, where would he be – Syria? Would he write Homage to Aleppo, perhaps? … Would he be working in a call centre rather than going down a mine?” Or might he have become a food writer – a Ruth Reichl or Michael Pollan?
How Bernini Outshines Even Michelangelo
“When Donatello and Michelangelo sculpted David, they transmuted his rock-throwing dynamism to monumental potential. Bernini’s David actually swings the sling, his face all screwed up in concentration like yours or mine would be, with every little muscle picked out and straining. One tends to think there is a dimension missing, when in fact there is an extra dimension present: natural humanity.”
Benjamin Millepied To Head Paris Opera Ballet
“Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer and a former principal at New York City Ballet, will be the new director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet, starting in September 2014.”
Royal Shakespeare Co. To Stage Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell Novels
“The RSC [has] won the rights to stage versions of Hilary Mantel’s two blockbusting novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. … The books are being adapted for the stage by Mike Poulton and will be directed by Jeremy Herrin in the Swan theatre [in Stratford].”
US Court Considers ‘Last Great Holocaust Art Restitution Case’
“The unusual case was brought by heirs and relatives of a legendary Hungarian art collector in a dispute over possession of more than 40 artworks valued at $100 million – including some paintings in the collections of Hungarian museums – that were stolen by the Nazis during World War II.”
Why People Care Whether Beyoncé Lip-Synched At The Inauguration
“Beyoncé’s performance makes us nervous when juxtaposed with the earnest idealism of the inauguration. … [Her] fakery, it seems, implies some larger fakery at the heart of the whole enterprise. … We don’t want to be reminded that we’re watching mere mortals who might trip on their way to the podium, stutter through the oaths of office, shiver in the cold, or worse, err in judgment and lead the country on the wrong path.”
Iowa Court Extends Free-Speech Protections To Online Publishers
“The Iowa Supreme Court has given protections against libel lawsuits to Internet publishers but declined to extend them to average citizens, a ruling that media lawyers called significant Monday.”
New York Times Classical Music Editor Steps Down
“Classical musical critic [sic] for The New York Times James Oestreich has accepted the paper’s buyout and will retire at the end of the month … but will continue to advise the Times on classical music coverage through the spring and write for the paper on a freelance basis.”