Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts has been open for less than four years, but an internal report by the acoustic engineer of Verizon Hall, the center’s main stage and the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, suggests that a major interior renovation will likely be necessary to fix what are described as “serious acoustical problems.” The hall has received mixed reviews from critics since its opening, but the concept of a major renovation is likely to face opposition, and debate has not even begun about who would pay for such a project.
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Strathmore Concert Hall Sets A New Suburban Standard
” Most serious concert halls can be found in big cities. That’s where the audiences are; that’s where orchestras tend to make their homes. The Music Center at Strathmore, which opens Saturday in Montgomery County, [Maryland], is a rare exception… From the beginning, its designers set out to demonstrate that a suburban concert hall can be just as successful as its urban counterparts, in serving audiences and performers, and in showcasing classical music…From the standpoint of architectural design and construction, this music center measures up to the finest concert halls of the past 20 years – warm, intimate, visually sumptuous.”
And It Sounds Pretty Good, Too
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has been test-driving the new Strathmore concert hall for several weeks, and so far, everyone seems to be thrilled with the acoustic. “It’s too soon to know the extent of long-range public relations or financial benefits the BSO will accrue from having an additional performance venue. But, on purely artistic grounds, Strathmore, opening Saturday, looks – and sounds – like a can’t-lose prospect.”
Opera, The Official Soundtrack Of Death
Opera can be about a lot of things, but more often than not, it ends up being about death, and dying, and what happens to the bereaved after someone dies. Mortality is a natural human obsession, of course, but there does seem to be something about the operatic form that causes composers and librettists to linger on the subject.
There’s Still Some Substance In There Somewhere
As Sundance ’05 steamrolls its way to a star-studded conclusion, Geoff Pevere decides that he has seen some spectacular films, but notes that it’s the little Hollywood overindulgences that will likely stay with him: “Slumming superstars. Californians in general. Recovery junkie Californians in particular. Movies about making movies. Ordinary people with extraordinary abdominal muscles. Dysfunctional families (is there any other kind?). The 1970s. The Tarantino Factor. Quirk. Handheld. Emo-folky soundtrack music. Freeze-frames. Creative swearing from cute kids.”
Just Like A Book Tour, Only Without The Tour
Margaret Atwood loves being an author, and – don’t get her wrong – she loves meeting her fans and hearing about how her books affected them. But the whirlwind nature of the modern book tour has been wearing on her lately, and as a result, she “is developing a remote autographing device that will allow authors to sign books for devoted readers from afar, without those awful tours writers often dread. No, it’s not clear whether she has spoken to Donald Rumsfeld lately.”
Is Saatchi’s New Direction Profit-Driven?
As famed UK art collector Charles Saatchi revamps his collection and turns his focus away from the cutting-edge conceptual art with which he has been identified for fifteen years, many in the art world have begun to wonder exactly what drives the enigmatic Saatchi’s tastes. “Some art critics have long accused Mr. Saatchi of being more dealer than collector, less art lover than marketing genius who exhibits his collection to increase its value… In the 1980’s he built up a major collection of postwar American and European art. He then sold it at great profit and channeled his resources into a new generation of British artists.”
Oscar Snubs Mel & Moore – But What Does It Mean?
“The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 might have been the year’s most talked-about movies, cultural watersheds that produced hefty lines at movie houses and a mother lode of pundits yapping about the inevitable divide between red America and blue America. Yet one group that seemed curiously uninterested in the religion, politics and controversy the two pictures embraced was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which opted to leave both off the shortlist for best picture.” So is Hollywood out of touch? Are moviegoers easily seduced by mediocre films that play to their preexisting beliefs? Maybe both.
Ebert: Why Attack A Film That Raises Real Issues?
A storm of criticism has enveloped the new film, Million Dollar Baby, with right-wing commentators and disabled activists calling for critics to reveal (and condemn) the movie’s controversial surprise plot twist. But Roger Ebert says that such demands miss the point of both the film and a critic’s role in the cultural sphere: “Most movies have no issues and inspire no thought. A movie like this forces you to think about its issues. If you leave it and discuss what Maggie should have done, what you would do, and what you would wish for your loved ones, then the movie has served a purpose, whether you agree with it or not. A movie is not good or bad because of its content, but because of how it handles its content.”
Boston Ballet Cuts Salaries
“After a disappointing holiday Nutcracker run, Boston Ballet has cut the salaries of virtually all its employees, with some workers taking short, unpaid leaves. The move is part of an expense-cutting plan meant to keep Boston Ballet on track for a balanced annual budget.” The company’s holiday struggles were due in large part to increased competition from the big-budget Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which forced Boston Ballet to move its Nutcracker to a much smaller theater. The company is assuring its employees that no one will be laid off.