Ireland’s Wexford Opera Festival has anounced that it will contract with a low-cost Eastern European orchestra to play in its pit this year, snubbing the country’s own National Symphony Orchestra, but saving €150,000. “Irish musicians have accused Wexford of using cheap labour, and will picket the festival again this October in protest. The Arts Council has expressed its ‘serious concern’ at the festival’s failure to nurture Irish artists, and has made it a condition of future funding that the festival ‘respond with vigour to its concerns’.”
Blog
Adopting The Cuban Librarians
“Almost two years ago, about 11 independent librarians in Cuba were among 75 dissidents, journalists and others arrested and given prison sentences of up to 28 years for essentially collaborating with enemies of the state. Most are still in jail, despite an international outcry. Although New York is home to magnificent libraries, world-class publishers and fierce champions of free expression, the Cuban Cultural Center is the only group in the city so far to adopt an independent library. They hope their action will send a dual message. ‘It’s not just about sending whatever books we can, but we want the people in Cuba to know they are not alone and that someone here recognizes what they are going through’.”
America’s Invisible Composers
America’s classical music tradition might not stack up to Europe’s centuries of acheivement, but in the oft-overlooked area of film scoring, American composers have carved out an impressive niche. “When the film and the music are great, the results can be stunning – with a score that plays almost continuously for longer than most great symphonies. Picture Psycho without Bernard Herrmann’s electrified, staccato strings, or “The Third Man” without Anton Karas’ burbling zither… For nearly a century, movie scores have helped to propel a popular medium, and at the same time have surreptitiously exposed audiences of millions to the joys of the orchestra without requiring them to buy a ticket to the local symphony hall.”
Where New York Goes To Make Art
Where is the hot art scene in Manhattan these days? Okay, Soho has gentrified itself out of art. But the new art hotspots are compelling…
Art Of Collecting (When Just Money Won’t Do It)
These days it takes more than money to buy art from the hottest artists. “The contemporary-art market hasn’t been this overheated since Soho circa 1989. Nowadays, hedge-fund billionaires who stroll into Chelsea galleries seeking work by Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, or Cecily Brown quickly discover that money alone won’t help them get it. There is, more than ever, a waiting list, and more to the point, a pecking order within the list, which vaults some collectors above others.”
Chicago Takes Its Time
The Chicago Symphony doesn’t seem to be in any big hurry to choose a successor to outgoing music director Daniel Barenboim, but John van Rhein says that the orchestra can afford to take its time. “It seems that the more people who are heard from, the lengthier the job description for CSO music director becomes. Beyond being a superior conductor, a fine musician and a strong leader who’s respected by the orchestra, he or she should be thoroughly familiar with how American orchestras function in a changing social and economic landscape. And the next music director should be willing to help the organization stump for funds, a role Barenboim has declined to play but one that has become essential.”
Chicago’s Youth Movement
“Forget the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s hunt for a new music director, for now. The organization is moving on a parallel track that, while not likely to grab headlines, also relates closely to the CSO’s vision of its artistic future.The orchestra is developing relationships with a number of talented younger conductors, including Alan Gilbert, Mikko Franck, Andrey Boreyko and, next season, Daniel Harding. A few associations may bear fruit while others may fade. The important thing is creating opportunities for some of tomorrow’s potentially important conductors to refine their craft.”
Eastwood’s Second Act
Ask anyone in the movie business, and they’ll tell you that there is nothing worse for your career than getting old. And with a few notable exceptions – actors and actresses who are allowed to pop up in the occasional film past the age of 60 – most aging Hollywood legends are more or less expected to just fade away gracefully. “[Clint] Eastwood, though, has joined a highly selective group: long-successful artists who continuously tinker with their careers, who make changes in the fundamental nature of their work even at a time when they could safely kick back and relax, endlessly repeating past themes and proven methods.”
Important? Perhaps. Interesting? Oh, God, No.
Oscar night is of huge importance, not only to Hollywood, but to the entirety of human existence, at least according to Hollywood. But even if we concede that the Academy Awards are a valuable gauge of U.S. cultural sensibilities, one burning question remains: “How can something of such apparent importance be so incredibly tedious and trivial?”
David – A Question Of Anatomy?
Are “David’s” physical proportions correct? Michelangelo’s “towering sculpture acclaimed for its depiction of male physical perfection, has always been the subject of jokes among Florentines and tourists for the modest dimensions of his “pisello.” But according to a study to be published at the end of this month by the Dutch Institute for Art History, in Florence, David’s genitals are anatomically correct for a male body in a “pre-fight tension.”