There has been no shortage of paeans to composer Elliott Carter over the last few years. But what is it that makes the 99-year-old composer so fascinating to so many? Perhaps it’s the remarkable fact that Carter has never settled comfortably into a single style or groove, and has instead continued to audibly evolve in his work when most composers would have long since settled for consistency.
Author: sbergman
Dumbing Down The BBC (Will All The UK Follow?)
Is the embrace of tacky pop culture killing the BBC and, by extension, hurting Britain’s cultural integrity? “When Britain is plummeting down the international reading rankings, possibly because children have too many tests and too little time to learn, it is fair to question whether the BBC is fulfilling its public purpose.”
A Composer Ahead Of His Time
“Stockhausen’s parsimonious control of his own music and his disastrous public statements have hurt his present-day reputation enormously. And yet I can think of few late-20th-century composers who are more likely to be explored and debated by whatever passes for the musical intelligentsia of 2057.”
The Rumors Of Our Death… Oh, Never Mind
“Mark Twain’s new comedy opens on Broadway tomorrow night… A Stanford University professor named Shelley Fisher Fishkin found Is He Dead?, Twain’s never-staged melodramatic farce, in a file of the writer’s material at the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley five years ago.”
A World Without Satire Is A Politician’s Heaven
With the TV world’s comedy writers on strike, there’s arguably never been a better time to be a politician in America. “Political analysts are scrambling to sort out what this could mean for the candidates themselves, and suggesting that the humor void could change the way the public views the still-wide-open race.”
National Classical Music Initiative Launches In UK
“Britain has, in the past 30 years, transformed its relationship to visual culture, with art, architecture and design hugely popular, leaving aural culture trailing in its wake… Now a large-scale project organised by the Royal Philharmonic Society and Classic FM hopes to get the British to learn to retune their ears – and listen to classical music.”
Young Musicians Go The Well-Rounded Route
The days when classical musicians were deadly serious devotees of their craft with little interest in the broader culture around them, if such days ever really existed, are gone. A look at the younger generation currently rising in symphonies around the US shows a broad range of musical and cultural interests, and a level of pop sophistication that might surprise many audience members.
Is Florida Grand Opera Poised For A Shakeup?
Insiders at Florida Grand Opera are whispering that major changes may be in store for the company. Music director Stewart Robinson’s job is reportedly in danger, due to concerns over the low quality of the FGO’s resident orchestra.
Composer Andrew Imbrie, 86
“Andrew Imbrie, the composer of many arresting and impeccably crafted musical works and a generous teacher to several generations of younger composers, died Wednesday at his Berkeley home after a long illness.”
OSHA Investigating Ballet Accident
Last weekend, a 17-year-old dancer with the Atlanta Ballet took a tumble off the stage while wearing a bulky panda costume and fell 12 feet into an empty orchestra pit during a performance of The Nutcracker. “She remains in critical but stable condition… after spinal surgery,” and now, the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating the incident to determine whether the company was at fault.