“Neoromanticism has almost always been regarded with suspicion by critics, even though it has been embraced by at least as many composers as has neoclassicism. (The second edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians devotes twice as much space to neoclassicism as to neoromanticism.) Is this because neoromantic music is inferior in quality? Or is it merely the last gasp of the same prejudice in favor of innovation for its own sake that once led avant-garde composers and their critical sympathizers to dismiss all tonal music as “useless”?”
Blog
Australia National Gallery To Close One Day A Week
To save money, Australia’s National Gallery of Victoria will begin closing one day a week. “The decision by the gallery’s board of trustees comes months after the Victorian Government granted it an extra $1.2 million a year for three years. But the costs of running the two new complexes meant the gallery recorded losses of $1.9 million last financial year and $6.8 million in 2003-04.”
More Authors Going Green
“A small and growing number of authors are asking publishers to print their books on environmentally friendly paper…”
Pompidou Expands With Satellite Museum
The Pompidou is planning a new satellite museum in the shape of a Chinese peasant hat. “The Pompidou Centre Metz in eastern France, due to open in 2008, will show rotating exhibitions from the museum’s 56,000-strong collection. Only about 1,300 works can be shown at one time in the Paris museum.”
Downtown New York – It’s Surreal
There’s no dominant Downtown dance style in New York right now. But a group of surrealists is worth paying attention to, writes Joan Acocella. “As yet, none of them have performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the major channel by which downtown work meets uptown ticket buyers.”
Will New UK Law Kill Live Music?
A new law governing live music venues in the UK threatens to decimate the country’s live music scene. “New research shows that almost seven in 10 owners or managers of small music venues are unaware of the implications of the 2003 Licensing Act, which requires them to reapply for their live music licence by August 6. The research warned that at least 56,700 venues face possible closure if they do not reapply by the deadline. Almost half of those those currently stage live music, and it is predicted that the number of gigs taking place every day in the UK could fall from 4,500 to fewer than 2,250.”
A Small LA Theatre Gets Big (And Finds Trouble)
LA’s Colony Theatre was a small theatre that grew big and got successful. “Yet recently, the troupe has been involved in a bitter power struggle between many veteran company members and artistic director Barbara Beckley, contributing to the departures of more than half the actors in the group.”
Public Broadcasting Plan To Teach History Stirs Commercialization Fears
America’s Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced a plan to increase middle school and high school students’ awareness of history. “But an emphasis by corporation officials on how corporate investors could profit from the project has provoked controversy about the role commercial interests will play in the initiative and hints at new areas of conflict in public broadcasting’s reliance on private-sector support.”
A Paint Roller That Paints Images
A new high-tech paint roller allows images to be transfered in the paint. “The Pixel Roller picks up paint from a tray, like any other paint roller, but is controlled electronically by a computer to transfer pixilated images onto any surface — floors, walls, ceilings, brick, concrete and glass — and at just about any scale.”
Ode To Jock Soto
“Jock Soto, leading dancer of the New York City Ballet, has taken partnering into realms of sleight-of-hand undreamed of before him. Short and solidly built, inscrutably dark-featured, half-Navajo Indian and half-Puerto Rican, this man does not resemble the usual slender-lined ballet prince, yet throughout his career ballerinas queued up to be partnered by him, and when he gave his final performance at the age of 40 last month in New York’s State Theatre, they were queueing up again, to shower him with red roses.”