The musicians’ union gets a ton of credit for vastly improving the lot of players who used to toil for low pay under dictatorial conductors. But in the early days, the union was almost universally segregated by race, with blacks forced to join separate locals from their white colleagues, even in supposedly enlightened Northern cities.
Author: sbergman
Beat Some Sense Into ‘Em
It’s an old complaint – the annoyance of trying to enjoy a play or a concert while all around you fellow patrons are talking, unwrapping crinkly candy, or forgetting to turn off their cell phones – but no one’s ever really come up with an effective way of making the clueless aware of their own thoughtlessness. One Twin Cities director “sometimes makes a pre-show announcement asking that the six audience members closest to the guy with the ringing cell phone beat the living expletive-deleted out of him until he can get there.” That might do it…
We’re Fighting Illegal Book Piracy Now?
“A file-sharing website has been ordered to reveal the names of users who posted illegal copies of JRR Tolkien’s novels online by a US court. Several of Tolkien’s works, including The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, appeared on the eSnips site last year. The site agreed to remove the documents but the author’s estate is worried that people will simply resubmit them.”
Is New World Symphony Abandoning The New?
“The New World Symphony’s discerning programming and mix of standard repertoire with the edgy and offbeat has been one of the main glories of its history the past two decades. Yet the Miami Beach orchestra appears to be suffering from artistic growing pains, for its 20th anniversary season is offering the most conservative, even reactionary programming in its history. Populist standards, familiar guests and conventional repertoire dominate the New World schedule to a degree that alters one’s perception of the organization.”
The Phantom Menace
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera may not be a serious theatregoer’s cup of tea, but there’s no denying the show’s drawing power. Back in the 1990s, Phantom turned Toronto into a major theatrical destination. But when the show closed in 1999, Toronto’s theatrical fortunes dried up. Now, a revival is opening, but some wonder whether the city can recapture its commercial success.
AFTRA Strike Nears An End, But The Issues Remain
The Canadian actors’ strike may finally be over, after both sides agreed to a new deal under which rates are set for new media distribution, which had been at the heart of the dispute. Making matters more complicated was the fact that the major Hollywood studios were putting pressure on Canadian producers not to agree to anything that might allow U.S. actors to demand more money when similar agreements expire in Hollywood next year.
DIA Nearing The End Of A Marathon Renovation
“The Detroit Institute of Arts is entering the final phase of its six-year, $158 million renovation and expansion that is increasing its gallery space by about 30 percent. The museum recently announced that is has raised more than $80 million of its $180 million goal for the ‘Great Art, New Start’ capital campaign, which is supporting the renovation as well as the museum’s endowment.”
When Housing Becomes A Moral Issue
A proposal by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to demolish four public housing complexes in New Orleans has set off a fierce battle over issues of race, class, and equality. Nicolai Ouroussof sees a huge Washington-style mistake about to insert itself into already chaotic post-Katrina New Orleans. “In its rush to demolish the apartment complexes — and replace them with the kind of generic mixed-income suburban community so favored by Washington bureaucrats — the agency demonstrates great insensitivity to both the displaced tenants and the urban fabric of this city.”
Goudstikker Collection To Hit The Block
“A year ago the settlement was hailed as one of the largest restitutions of art seized by the Nazis. Now about 170 old master paintings returned to the heirs of Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Dutch dealer who fled Amsterdam in 1940, are to be offered at Christie’s in three sales, beginning in April in New York. The auction house says the paintings, many on view in Dutch museums and government buildings since the 1950s, could fetch from $22 million to $35 million.”
Maazel Going Back To The Met (Finally)
It’s been 45 years since Lorin Maazel last stood atop the podium at the Metropolitan Opera, but the New York Philharmonic’s music director will be returning to the Met next season, leading five performances of Wagner’s “Walküre.” Maazel was approached after music director James Levine, a well-regarded Wagnerian, declined to conduct the production because of scheduling conflicts.