Robert Lennon is “becoming the first writer in 50 years to have his fiction serialized in the pages of Harper’s Magazine. While the serialization is noteworthy—the magazine will run Lennon’s Happyland over the course of five issues starting in July—how Lennon’s novel wound up at the magazine is almost more so.”
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Daring You Not To Have An Opinion
In an era when classical musicians are heavily marketed and encouraged to appeal to the widest possible audience at all times, baritone Matthias Goerne stands out as a performer unwilling to compromise for the sake of pleasing everyone. “You are either fascinated by Goerne or repelled by him. Like Ian Bostridge he polarises opinion. Both singers have pronounced mannerisms, both have highly personal ways of colouring the music, both have a timbre that lends itself to some repertoire but sounds ungainly in the ‘wrong’ music. The bottom line is: the German baritone, like his English tenor counterpart, does not allow you to remain indifferent.”
The New English National Opera (Uh-Huh)
“Watching English National Opera calls for nothing less than a complete renunciation of the critical faculties if one is to imagine that the company has turned a corner since the past year’s upheavals that swept away two music directors, a chief executive and a chairman in less time than it takes to make an opera.”
Mourning Indie Bookstores – Just Nostalgia?
“Ever since the rise of the book superstore in the 1990s, we have been flooded with lamentations for the rapidly disappearing independent booksellers. The real change in the book market is not the big guy vs. the little guy, or chain vs. indie stores. Rather, it’s the reader’s greater impatience, a symptom of our amazing literary (and televisual) plenitude.”
National Gallery Admits Copyright Violation
The National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC, has admitted copyright infringement and agreed to pay two Edouard Vuillard scholars $37,500 for publishing a catalogue that uses their research without authorisation or acknowledgement.
Barnes Hits Capital Target, Extends Campaign
The Barnes Foundation has hit its $150 million fundraising target, and now has enough money to complete its controversial move to Center City Philadelphia. But the foundation isn’t stopping there, announcing an extension of the campaign, and a new target of $200 million, to be raised from “national and international” donors. The extended campaign may be due in part to rising construction costs – the Barnes’s proposed $100 million facility is likely to end up with cost overruns, and the museum wants to be prepared.
What Accounts For The Turner’s New Conservatism?
“The Tate has been unhappy about the tabloid hostility the prize encounters, not thinking that all publicity is good publicity, though it was vicious attacks that made the Turner an institution.”
What Makes Cannes Great?
Cannes is on, and with it comes the usual litany of complaints regarding the supposed commercialization of the festival, the Hollywood exploitation, and, on the other side of the coin, the continued insistence on pushing a bunch of low-budget, esoteric art films that no one understands. “But both forms of grousing miss the point and the glory of this festival, which since the beginning — this is its 59th edition —has mingled the lofty and the crass with particular Gallic flair.”
Battling The Ghosts Of Opera
Opera fans are a notoriously conservative crowd, and they tend to have very specific ideas concerning what voice is “right” for what role in the repertoire. But why does there have to be a right vocal type at all? Why shouldn’t a great singer be encouraged to sing any role within her/his range, and to be creative in the interpretation, rather than bowing and scraping at the altar of the past?
Dia Loses Another Top Exec
“Adding to doubts about his institution’s direction, Leonard Riggio, the [New York-based] Dia Art Foundation’s biggest benefactor, has decided to step down as chairman of its board… The decision comes as the institution is reeling from the loss of Michael Govan, its director for 12 years, who resigned in February to run the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. And six weeks ago, Dia lost its vice chairman, Ann Tenenbaum. She resigned after 12 years on the board, saying she was stretched too thin by family responsibilities and board commitments at other arts institutions.”