A campaign is being mounted to nominate Leonard Cohen for a Nobel Prize. “I surprised myself when I suddenly figured, in a sort of watershed moment, you know this guy actually does deserve the Nobel Prize. It’s the sort of wry, self-irony there. This man is an amazing poet. He’s not just a good poet; he’s an amazing poet. Cohen, whose first love is poetry, enjoyed later success as a recording star. A companion to the Order of Canada, Cohen had published two internationally acclaimed collections before the age of 30 and went on to write six more. ‘He’s a universal poet in a way that I can’t think of anybody since maybe Homer – in western tradition anyway. And Homer, by the way, was a singer too’.”
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Art Institute – Taking A Whack At American Art History
Before the middle of the last century, American art lived in the shadow of Europe. Now the Art Institute of Chicago is attempting to tell the story of American art in a more completely historical way. “In what may well be the first time in the history of the museum, American paintings, sculptures and decorative arts occupy a sequence of beautifully installed galleries that clearly and exclusively unfolds about 250 years of American art history.”
Why Boulez Rules The World
Is it odd that Pierre Boulez has gone from being a subversive on the outside to a revered elder statesman? “His 80th birthday this year is being celebrated by Deutsche Grammophon with new recordings and reissues of his own works. He’s the only modernist, living or dead, whose music is widely available on a major label. Critics love that. Here he is, at the tippy-tippy top, and he hasn’t compromised. We will never see “The Pierre Boulez Tango Album.” We’re talking about a guy whose idea of slumming is hearing Richard Strauss’ symbolism-laden opera Die Frau ohne Schatten.”
Broadway – The Great Hitless Way
Broadway musicals used to crank out hits. No more. “Shows just aren’t giving us any new hit songs. Sure, you can hear top 40 hits along Broadway. But the songs were composed 20, 30 or 40 years ago, and they weren’t written for the theater. Instead, they’re shoehorned into shows like “Mamma Mia!” (ABBA), “Movin’ Out” (Billy Joel), “All Shook Up” (Elvis Presley) and “Good Vibrations” (the Beach Boys). Next up is “Lennon,” which opens in July.”
How Radio Will Reinvent Itself
The retiring manager of New York public radio station WBAI says radio is about to undergo big changes: “Internet radio is the future. I don’t mean traditional radio will disappear. But Internet radio can solve the biggest problem of a WBAI: that there isn’t enough airtime in a week to carry everything you want to carry. With the Internet, capacity is limitless. Once Internet radio becomes as accessible and easy to use as ‘regular radio,’ everything changes.”
Denver Rep Loses A Home
Denver Repertory Theatre is only two years old. And now the company finds itself out on the street after an inspection of the company’s theatre resulted in a list of violations that would cost more than $100,000 to fix…
NY Phil – Stars Of Colorado
Three years ago, the director of the Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado had to pitch hard with an idea to bring the New York Philharmonic for an annual summer residency. But the orchestra has been a huge hit, with sold-out concerts and overall festival attendance up 23 percent. So deciding to renew the relationship with the New York band was easy despite the $1 million annual cost.
Is The British Film Industry Dead?
“It makes no difference how often government ministers and quangos like the UK Film Council talk up the British film industry, it doesn’t exist. Let me repeat that: the British film industry doesn’t exist. It hasn’t existed for more than 30 years. In the past few decades we’ve had some very nice arts ministers, but they’ve been unable to help British films because of the impotence of their departments. The only route to a British film revival is through legislation, but no arts minister has had the power in Cabinet to make this happen – though some have tried.”
Who Wins In Today’s Recording Climate?
The recording business is hurting. “This crucial arm of the serious music industry is not so much in a state of flux as complete turmoil. Technological advances, corporate monoliths and charming (and sometimes wily) cottage industries are all part of a simmering broth of conflicting issues, the outcome of which is, frankly, anybody’s guess. At the moment, the only clear winner is the consumer, offered the widest possible range of attractive offerings at often irresistible prices, but whether there is any prospect of that continuing indefinitely is just one more of those unanswerable questions.”
Billionaire Cancels Museum Plans Outside Paris
A billionaire businessman says he’s canceling plans to build a spectacular new museum of contemporary art outside of Paris because of his annoyance over red tape and official inertia. “François Pinault, owner of one of the finest private contemporary art collections in Europe, is now likely to put it on display in a magnificent 18th-century palace in Venice.”