“By the end of the century, linguists predict, half of the world’s languages will be dead, victims of globalization. English is the major culprit, slowly extinguishing the other tongues that lie in its path… In the next two weeks, however, some of these endangered idioms can be heard at two international literary festivals that celebrate languages big and small, as well as the power and resilience of words themselves.”
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Philip Roth’s Preemptive Disclaimer
Lest his new novel suggest anything else, Philip Roth would like you to know that he’s feeling just fine, and he’s invited some photographers to snap a few shots to prove the point. “The reason for Mr. Roth’s pre-emptive photographic strike is that ‘Everyman’ is a book about mortality. It begins in a graveyard and ends on the operating table. And Mr. Roth is hoping that the pictorial evidence on the book’s jacket will stave off autobiographical interpretations.”
Tribeca’s Obsession With Reality
To judge by the entries in this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the days of movies as America’s grand escape from difficult reality may be over. “In the shadows of [a few] glittering billboards seethes a mass of films, many taped on digital video or filmed with hand-held cameras, in which reality is the thing. An immersion in this year’s festival might be described as an intensive course in compassion, suffering and outrage. For a festival born out of the ashes of 9/11, could it be any other way?”
Remaking Downtown LA, Gehry Style
Having received accolades for his design of Los Angeles’s Disney Concert Hall, architect Frank Gehry is now planning to transform the look of America’s second-largest city further, with the aim of creating a viable downtown on LA’s Grand Avenue. “The $750 million project, which includes the first high-rises he has ever designed for his hometown, is the first phase of a $1.8 billion development plan by the Related Companies that will remake Grand Avenue as a pedestrian-based gathering point.”
Refco Collection To Hit The Block
A world-famous photography collection owned by the bankrupt brokerage firm Refco is to be auctioned off at Christie’s New York. “Photographs in the Refco collection, known to art experts worldwide, have had pride of place on the walls of the company’s New York and Chicago offices for decades… Highlights include Richard Avedon’s photograph Andy Warhol, Artist, New York City, August 20, 1969, which has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. And William Eggleston’s Memphis, from 1969-70 has an estimated price of $40,000 to $60,000 on it.”
IU Music School Mourns Its Loss
The plane crash that killed five students at the University of Indiana’s School of Music has rocked the Bloomington campus, and students and faculty are just beginning to assess the impact of the disaster on the school.
The Face of Curtis, Looking Ever Inward
In 20 years of running the Curtis Institute of Music, Gary Graffman has raised the school’s international profile, boosted its endowment, and expanded the school’s training beyond simple pursuit of orchestral jobs, traditionally considered the plum positions in the classical music world. “Behind the scenes, Graffman also managed to keep the school tuition-free and mostly deficit-free during a challenging time.”
Harvard Author Admits Plagiarism, But Not Guilt
“Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard sophomore accused of plagiarizing parts of her recently published chick-lit novel, acknowledged yesterday that she had borrowed language from another writer’s books, but called the copying ‘unintentional and unconscious.’… On Sunday, The Harvard Crimson reported that Ms. Viswanathan, who received $500,000 as part of a deal for [two books,] had seemingly plagiarized language from two novels by Megan McCafferty, an author of popular young-adult books.”
Graffman’s Legacy: If It Ain’t Broke…
As the Curtis Institute of Music prepares to transfer its top leadership post from pianist Gary Graffman to violist Roberto Diaz, Graffman says that all he ever tried to do was maintain an already outstanding level of musical achievement. He also feels that his whatever legacy he may have as longtime leader of one of the world’s most prestigious conservatories is wrapped up in the quality of the school’s students. “We try to adjust to the students, that they should not fit into a preset mold. We have to rein them in once in a while… The technical level of incoming students is obscenely high. It’s scary in some cases.”
Seeking A New Revolutionary
A hundred years ago, British playwright Harley Granville Barker revolutionized the stage with his embrace of the political and his embrace of realism. In recent years, London theaters have been leading a revival of Barker’s plays. But are the revivals missing a crucial point? “Today, Granville Barker’s ideas have been assimilated into the mainstream – and now we must go beyond him in our new work. The kind of theatre he advocated – essentially the tentative beginnings of social realism – has been embraced for over 40 years. We need to move on again, and realise that if theatre is evolving beyond this, it is for a very good reason.”