That’s what two elder statesmen of American literature claim. Literature is dying. Novels will become “a footnote to our technological and advertising age,” warned Norman Mailer. “Literature is an endangered species,” intoned Lawrence Ferlinghetti. But is it?
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Making It Big As A Small Orchestra
“About 600 professional orchestras now operate in the United States, according to a new study done at the University of Cincinnati. That would seem to be an astounding figure for an art form many industry experts predicted would be extinct by now. A higher percentage of smaller orchestras are operating with balanced budgets than the larger orchestras. The bigger orchestra’s cost structure is more rigid; the small orchestras are much more flexible. They can adjust to financial difficulties much more quickly.”
Lost In The Middle Of The Pacific
Orange County California’s Pacific Opera and Pacific Symphony have a problem. “Now in its 20th season, Opera Pacific, which produces opera locally, is suffering from something of an identity crisis, and the financial woes that result. Seems that a relatively high percentage of people don’t know that we have our own opera company here behind that Orange Curtain. The Pacific Symphony has discovered the same thing. In a survey taken several years ago, the orchestra found that only 10 percent could name the group as resident here, and only 5 percent knew the name of its music director, Carl St.Clair.”
Earl Wild At 90
The pianist celebrates his birthday with a recital at Carnegie Hall. “That Mr. Wild can still play beautifully was clear during his recital in July at the Mannes College of Music. He was coming off quadruple-bypass surgery and operations on both eyes, and he needed a steadying hand to mount the steps to the stage. But once seated before his piano, he played through demanding works by Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin without so much as unbuttoning his sky-blue sport coat. Some of his passagework was sketchy, and he had lost some of his rhythmic bite. But his pianism still had plenty of verve, fluidity and grace.”
Polishing That Musical Backstory (Does It Matter If It’s True?)
“Record labels in recent years have made a point of introducing new, little-known acts as protégés of established stars. In some cases the two musicians might have grown up on the same block. Or perhaps they had shared the struggle of performing in the same unknown group. Either way, it’s a rich backstory that can be woven into any future marketing effort. But what if the new singer doesn’t have any long-lost pals who’ve gone platinum? For an increasingly desperate industry, that is but a minor obstacle. These days, label executives routinely shop their new prospects around from one star to another, trying to convince them to act as a mentor.”
The Louvre Goes To Atlanta
The Louvre is sending some of its art to Atlanta. “It will mark the first time in the Louvre’s 212-year history that the museum has agreed to share entire collections with another museum for an extended period. The arrangement breaks new ground in the international arts world and scores a diplomatic success among tense Franco-American relations.”
Does Fat Make The Opera Voice Strong?
“In recent weeks, the name of Peter Osin, a consultant at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, has been popping up in newspapers and on arts-related websites because the doctor has a new theory: Chubby opera singers — ladies as well as gentlemen — may be the victims of their own art form.”
In France: The Walls Of Unrest
“Over the last few weeks of civil unrest in France, life at times has felt as if it was becoming art. The government declared a state of emergency and imposed curfews nightly in areas where cars were torched by the hundreds. There was even talk of shutting down Paris proper in the evening to prevent any treachery. Although a physical wall around Paris was torn down centuries ago, over the last decades, walls of distinctions dividing people by race, ethnicity, religion and neighborhood have become increasingly apparent. Successful French artists, writers and performers of African and Arab descent have been straddling them for years.”
Historian Jailed For Holidays For Lying About Holocaust
“David Irving, the discredited British historian of the Nazis, will spend Christmas and New Year in a Viennese jail after yesterday being refused bail and being remanded for four weeks pending trial for allegedly lying about the Holocaust.”
Changing Values – Is It Right To Exorcise The Offensive?
“If we consider it reasonable to apply a modern evaluation of what is offensive or prejudiced to a script written nearly 40 years ago, why is it so complex to apply it to a text written 400 years ago? Should we allow contemporary revivals of Shakespeare and Marlowe to repeat attitudes and language considered acceptable at the time of writing, but untenable now, or should we attempt more culturally sensitive rereadings?