“For the first time in nearly two decades, since the 1987 ‘Moonstruck’ and its rhapsodic scene from ‘La Bohème,’ a movie is being filmed at the Metropolitan Opera. The rarity is a result of the Met’s busy schedule as well as of the general absence of opera from movies and most of popular culture. But the filming is emblematic of the Met’s future reign, in the person of Peter Gelb, who made his mark in the classical recording industry partly with crossover projects and movie soundtracks.”
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Why My DVD Won’t Copy
“Call it collateral damage in the ongoing war against copyright infringement. Technologies that were designed to combat file sharing and copyright infringement have also limited the average consumer’s ability to make personal copies of legally purchased media.”
Copyright – Liberators V. Protectors
“Challengers of copyright and patent legislation often portray themselves as liberators, bravely opposing a greedy global corporate culture that tries to claim each bit of intellectual property for itself the way imperialist explorers tried to plant the motherland’s flag on every unclaimed piece of land. Meanwhile, advocates of tighter control over copyright see things very differently, viewing this attack as an assault on the rights of inventors and writers, undermining those who invest their time and labor to answer human needs and desires.”
Prize Possession: Competing For Taste
Prizes have shaped and transformed our taste over the years. “It’s not just the Oscars, the Emmys, the Pulitzers and the Nobels. It’s the film festivals, best-of lists, poetry contests, architectural competitions and international pressure-cookers that serve up the next piano star.”
Richmond Committee To Study Performing Arts Center Plans
Richmond Virginia mayor Douglas Wilder has formed a new committee to study controversial plans for a new downtown performing arts center. “Wilder and the arts foundation have clashed in recent months over the foundation’s plans to expand and renovate the Carpenter Center and surround it with additional arts venues.”
Securing The Walrus
“The Walrus Foundation has finally obtained charitable status from the federal government, assuring the future of The Walrus magazine. The award-winning magazine, when launched in Sept. 2003, had proclaimed itself Canada’s Harper’s, Atlantic and Mother Jones — essential U.S. periodicals that are also supported by non-profit foundations. The Walrus was underpinned by $1 million annually for five years, to come from the Montreal-based Chawkers charitable foundation. But the money could not flow to the Walrus Foundation until its charitable status, too, was confirmed by Revenue Canada.”
Questions Mount About NY’s Landmarks Commission
New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission has not acted on helping to decide the fate of 2 Columbus Circle. “Once considered the most powerful agency of its kind, the commission has lost the confidence of many mainstream preservationists by repeatedly refusing to hold a public hearing on the building’s fate. At the urging of those preservation advocates, a city councilman, Bill Perkins, has introduced a bill that could force the commission to hold public hearings on potential landmarks. The implication is that the commission cannot always be trusted to protect the public interest.”
TV Show Snubs Scottish Sculpture
A British TV show holding a contest to find the 100 best public sculptures has decided nothing in Scotland is good enough to be considered. “The programme makers told Scotland on Sunday that when they looked for the nation’s 100 best public sculptures they decided that, compared with England, Scotland had failed to invest in public sculpture, especially in the 20th century. The humiliating snub has sparked outrage in Scotland, with experts north of the Border accusing Artsworld of ‘geographical snobbery’ and ‘cultural ignorance’.”
The New MoMA – Modernism As Elevator Music?
It’s been a year since the new Museum of Modern Art opened. Jerry Saltz has come to an unhappy conclusion about the place. “The more I go to the new MOMA—and I’ve been there over 50 times since it reopened a year ago this week—the more I think this crown jewel is becoming a beautiful tomb. At MOMA the unruly juice of art history, the chaos, contradiction, radicality, and rebellion, are being bleached out. Instead, we’re getting the taming of modernism—modernism as elevator music.”
Shulgold: A Second Listen To Denver’s Opera House
Marc Shulgold has some misgivings about Denver’s new opera house. It’s a cold space, for one. “Acoustically, the Ellie is quite nice. But then, great pains were taken to create a natural, unamplified space for singers. Still, this was not the vibrant, room-filling sound we had expected. From downstairs, the singing and talking during Carmen often faded away if the performers didn’t project out to the house or put some oomph in their delivery.”