“Roth is more measured than he once was, when notoriety and controversy seemed to dog his every move. In 1959 — before his career had even had a chance to get started — his short story “Defender of the Faith” ignited a firestorm over what Jewish writers should and shouldn’t reveal about their culture… To see Roth now, though — contemplative, elegant, almost professorial, wearing a black V-neck sweater, blue pants and worn brown walking boots, thinning hair brushed back from his prominent forehead — is to recognize just how long ago that was.”
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The Perfect Partner
Accompanists spend their careers working on being complete partners. But what happens when star soloists fill in on the supporting role? Is the music better served by specialist accompanists or soloist-collaborators?
In Texas – An Old Museum Gets A New Home
Austin, Texas’ Blanton Museum opens a new $83 million gallery. “For a museum that claims one of the country’s oldest and largest Latin American collections and a vast selection of prints, the upgrade could not be more welcome. Previously the Blanton’s displays were crammed into a bland, boxlike area in the university’s art building. At least that was its own space: until 2001, the collection occupied two floors of the humanities research center.”
Hispanic American Media Speaks Up
“For those who have closely followed the steady progress of Spanish-language media in the United States, the agenda-making potential of broadcasters and, lately, of radio show hosts, comes as no surprise. ‘Radio is very big now. But when you talk about Spanish-language media in this country, you’re mostly talking about television, and when you talk about television, you are mostly talking about Univision, which means you’re mostly talking about Jorge and María Elena.”
Globalization And The American Indie Film Maker
Some independent American filmmakers are making movies that don’t look American. Is this the beginning of a globalized movie aesthetic? “The idea of national cinema doesn’t make sense the way it used to. I find it frustrating when people expect a certain country to produce a certain kind of cinema. There’s economic and cultural globalization, but also physical mobility. People move around more.”
Measuring Joseph Volpe’s Metropolitan Opera Career
“During his tenure, the Met mounted 4 world premieres, 22 house premieres and 47 new productions, a record not seen since the tenure of Giulio Gatti-Casazza, from 1908 to 1935. The endowment tripled to about $300 million. The house installed titles. Customer care — including automated ticket sales and easier ticket exchanges — improved, he said. Labor peace was maintained, with contracts often settled ahead of schedule. The Met was widely seen as an extremely well-run house. But one thing Mr. Volpe could not achieve was halting an overall decline in ticket revenues…”
Does Your Movie Theatre Have A Future?
“People don’t seem to gather (in public) as often as they did 50 years ago. I think that’s a gradual thing that’s been happening since World War II. But amusements at home — the web, DVDs, satellite television, video on demand — must be outdone as an experience, via comfy chairs, friendly staff and top-notch presentation.”
DVDs Over Theatres? Why Not?
“Today, screenings in a theatrical setting are merely one part of the commercial life of a studio release. As DVD sales figures testify, people are twice as likely to see a movie on disc than in a theatre. And why not? When one factors in the ticket cost of seeing a first-run movie, the divisive nature for many of the multiplex experience (which older patrons, in particular, can find noisy and uninviting), the speed at which movies reappear on DVD, and the number of alternative viewing options (DVD players, computers, TiVo, iPod, etc.), you can hardly blame people for choosing to pass on the formerly glorious big-screen experience.”
Saatchi’s Free-For-All
Charles Saatchi has launched a new section on his website where artists can post samples of their work. “Saatchi’s website has a healthy readership with a daily online magazine, London gallery listing, reader-contributed essays and discussion forums devoted to debates over issues such ‘what is bad taste in art’?”
Pitched By Pitchfork
The indie band website Pitchfork has become a major force in the promotion of alternative music. “Pitchfork has achieved a sort of mythical status, like an indie-rock yogi: Readers climb the digital mountaintop to see what wisdom (and written weirdness) its team of freelance writers might dispense about this off-the-radar band or that one, and then they act accordingly…”