“No other American orchestra comes close to equaling the Minnesota Orchestra’s achievement as a recording powerhouse over the past quarter-century. Most orchestras in the U.S. are not recording at all or release only occasional live recordings, usually on in-house labels with zero support from major record companies.” But Osma Vänskä and the Minnesotans have been racking up rave reviews, awards, and sales figures with their CDs on the BIS label. Reporter Terry Blain looks at how they do it.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Colm Tóibín On ‘The Greatest Short Story Ever Written’
“When James Joyce wrote the ‘The Dead,’ which eventually became the last story in Dubliners, it was as though he sought to resurrect those whom he had buried with mockery and distancing in an earlier story for the collection, Grace. … The story was also based on an event in his father’s life, but this time instead of recounting it, Joyce began to dream it, reimagine it, and offer it a sort of grace that the previous story had significantly lacked.”
Six Broadway Lighting Designers Explain How They Work
“Lighting is in many ways the last creative act of the totally collaborative process that we call theatre,” says Peter Mumford (The Ferryman, King King). Says Les Dickert (Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet), “Light is a visual element that can ‘whisper’ into the eyes of the audience. It can shout as well, but it’s the whispering that I fell in love with.”
Man Checks Out And Burns LGBTQ Children’s Books From Library, Streams It On Facebook Live
On the day of the second-ever Gay Pride celebration in Orange City, Iowa, Paul Dorr, director of a “crisis center and pro-life, pro-family movement” called Rescue the Perishing read from a blog post titled “May God And The Homosexuals of OC Pride Please Forgive Us!” and threw the library books into a burning trash can. The public library and local police department are discussing legal action.
Arts Education Cuts In Britain Are Affecting Science And Medicine: Report
“Education charity the Edge Foundation has published a report claiming the narrow academic curriculum offered by the government’s English Baccalaureate is ‘not fit for purpose to tackle a 21st-century economy’. … Experts are claiming that some science students lack the ‘tactile general knowledge’ that can be gained from creative learning, despite exhibiting high exam grades.”
The 100 Greatest ‘Foreign-Language’ Films: BBC’s Worldwide Critics’ Poll
“As the poll exists to salute the extraordinary diversity and richness of films from all around the world, we wanted to ensure that its voters were from all around the world, too. The 209 critics who took part are from 43 different countries and speak a total of 41 languages – a range that sets our poll apart from any other. The result: 100 films from 67 different directors, from 24 countries, and in 19 languages.” (Interesting fact: the number-one film got no votes from any of the critics from its country of origin.)
River Phoenix Died 25 Years Ago – That’s Longer Than He Was Alive
He’s now a half-forgotten legend, compared (when he is remembered) to James Dean. Reporter Karen Heller looks back and reminds us that he was an actor with extraordinary gifts (and extraordinary mishegas), arguably the most gifted member of a group of young actors who lived to become major forces in the movie business.
Maria Callas’s Legendary Film Of ‘Tosca’ Act Two Has Been Colorized
Ton Volf, the filmmaker of the new documentary Maria by Callas has colorized the famous black-and-white film clip of her 1964 performance at Covent Garden as well as film of Callas in the final scene of Norma at the Paris Opera in 1965. Michael Cooper talks to Volf about why he did it.
Why Lucinda Childs Is Shutting Down Her Dance Company For A Second Time
“The postmodern choreographer and director came to prominence in the 1960s and ’70s, first with Judson Dance Theater and then with her own eponymous company. She shut down her troupe almost two decades ago to work as a freelance director, relaunched it nine years later to stage a couple of revivals … and then just kept going.” Rachel Elson talks to Childs about how having her own company has been different the second time around and why she’s decided to stop.
Institutions Around The World Offer To Help Rebuild Brazilian National Museum’s Collections
“This month, UNESCO launched an emergency mission to help the museum assess the scale of the damage and guide efforts to revive the building and its collection. Cristina Menegazzi, the UNESCO officer in charge of the project, says the museum’s displays could be reassembled with similar items donated from other museums with comparable holdings. … The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Royal British Columbia Museum, and the German, Italian, French, Swiss, Spanish, Argentine, Chinese, Portuguese and US embassies have pledged their support.” Indigenous communities have offered to make replacement items as well.