Are Scotland (and the Scots) really a country of depressing, depressed people who “celebrate failure”? (ouch) More arguments to that effect this week: “Jenny Brown, a former director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “In an age where readers are looking for feel-good novels, Scotland excels at feel-bad books.”
Blog
Musicians Support Overhaul Of Failing Utah Symphony and Opera
Musicians of the combined Utah Symphony and Opera have voted 63-1 to endorse a consultant’s report on how to turn around the financially ailing organization. The report is critical of executive director Anne Ewers, who has overseen the controversial merger of the opera and symhony. “There is no question that we had deficits far larger than I ever would have hoped,” Ewers said. “I take full responsibility for the fact that we struggled to put a staff in place and restructure. There is no question that it took away from the fund-raising effort.”
La Scala’s Winter Of Discontent
La Scala has been wracked with dissent – strikes, resignations, a firing. “Last week staff at La Scala staged strikes and demonstrations in protest over the theatre’s management. A banner suspended from the top of the building read ‘Tradesmen out of the Temple of Opera’ – a protest at the perceived market-driven running of the theatre.”
Judge: Rachmaninoff Manuscript Case Goes Forward
A judge has ruled that a challenge to the ownership and sale of a Rachmaninoff manuscript can go ahead. “The Russian composer’s score for his Second Symphony was expected to fetch around £500,000 at the Sotheby’s sale. But the 300-page work was withdrawn after members of Rachmaninov’s family claimed to be the true owners. Sotheby’s sought to have the case dismissed but a judge ruled both sides could win so the case must proceed.”
Musicians Lobby Supreme Court To Spare File-Sharing Services
A group of prominent musicians is urging the US Supreme Court not to crack down on file-sharing services. “Musicians are not universally united in opposition to peer-to-peer file sharing as the major records companies claim. To the contrary, many musicians find peer-to-peer technology . . . allows them easily to reach a worldwide online audience. And to many musicians, the benefits of this . . . strongly outweigh the risks of copyright infringement.”
Chicago Tenor Stabbed To Death
A veteran tenor with Chicago Lyric Opera has been found dead in his apartment. Detectives were investigating the apparent stabbing of Richard Markley, 45, who lived alone. His Lyric co-workers found his body about 11 a.m. Sunday, police said.
How We Move – Making Contemporary Dance
A new study looks at the creative process of making dance. “The publication, Thinking in Four Dimensions: Creativity and Cognition in Contemporary Dance, is the first to address the cognitive processes behind the creation of new works of contemporary dance.”
Springer – Still Coming To Broadway?
Though plans to bring Jerry Springer the Opera to Broadway have been delayed, producers still intend to bring the show. “While the widely covered but small scale religious protests in the UK surrounding Jerry Springer—The Opera have not been helpful in the completion of raising the capital for the Broadway production, they have by no means brought an end to our New York plans. We are looking to complete the finance process over the next six months and are planning a Broadway opening in the first half of 2006.”
Glasgow: Squandering Cultural Capital?
Did Scotland’s politicians waste the momentum and creative good will wrought by the city’s year as the European Capital of Culture? That’s what the country’s creative community believes, says a new study. “Research into the cultural impact of the event in 1990 which brought Luciano Pavarotti to the city and generated up to £14m for the local economy reveals policy-makers being blamed for an exodus of talent and concentrating on quotas rather than quality.”
Of Protests And Pressure Groups
Pressure groups are protesting over the content of TV shows. But should they be allowed to influence what gets shown? “It is now relatively easy for small numbers of protesters to organise what may appear to be mass protests. It is not clear how many emails originated from Britain and how many from America. But more important, we are not running some kind of Pop Idol competition in which the greatest number of votes gets a programme pulled from the schedule.”