Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria has a Van Gogh hanging on its wall that is fairly transparently not a Van Gogh. Still, it’s probably not a hoax, either, so what exactly does the gallery have? Germaine Greer is making the “completely mad” suggestion that it might just be a Rubens.
Author: sbergman
How To Recycle A Church
“Selexyz Dominicanen – a store created from a merger between [a Maastricht bookseller] and the Dutch Selexyz bookshop chain – is housed in the thrilling setting of a 13th-century Dominican church… Church and bookshop look as if they might have been made for one another.”
Your Violin Will Drive You Mad
“While pop musicians and classical composers alike are always going on about computer software, acoustic instruments and the people who play them are a far more cultish affair. They’re still doing things by hand in traditional, sometimes outlandish, sometimes messy ways.”
The Color Of Music
The music site Guitarati unveiled a unique new way of categorizing music this week: they’re using colored dots to organize dozens of genres and thousands of songs. “To find music that suits your current mood, you first decide which color best represents it. Clicking on the color ostensibly brings up music that fits your state of mind.”
Lloyd Webber To Be Honored At Classical Brits
“Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber will be presented with the outstanding achievement prize at the annual Classical Brits awards.” As near as anyone associated with actual classical music can tell, there is no ironic intent.
RSNO May Not Finish Hall Renovation On Time
“Scotland’s national orchestra yesterday admitted it was having to prepare a Plan B’ should the late-running redevelopment work at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh mean the removal of its vital winter season from the venue.” The orchestra has delayed ticket sales for next season until the construction timetable is solidified.
Now Playing: The Evolution Of Broadway
Three revivals playing on Broadway this season illustrate a unique age in which musicals went from light entertainment to serious theatre. “In this Darwinized musicology, Hammerstein’s avowed disciple Sondheim ranks as the natural culmination; Rodgers and Hammerstein themselves are viewed as the glorious moment just before Sondheim, when the musical first stood upright.”
Record Store Inherits Classical Collection For The Ages
A tiny record store in Devon, England, has received an unexpected donation of more than 4000 LP records, covering “a near-comprehensive record of four decades’ worth of recorded classical music… The music spans the ages, from Mozart and Haydn to Stravinsky and Ligeti.”
World Premiere Canceled For Being Too Loud
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra has canceled the premiere of a new work by Dror Feiler after orchestra members said that it was simply too loud to even contemplate performing. “The 20-minute composition starts with the rattle of machine-gun fire and gets louder.”
Distilling 40 Years Of New York Art
“The canon is antithetical to everything the New York art world has been about for the past 40 years, during which we went from being the center of the art world to being one of many centers.” But if there were a select group of artworks chosen to define the whole of the New York art experience over the past 40 years, what would make the cut?