The sexual memoir has been gaining steam (no pun intended) as a literary form in recent years, and far from being near-porn, many of the books read like throwbacks to an age when sex was allowed to be beautiful, and not simply an animal act. “At a time when so much sexual writing aims… to demystify and de-emotionalize sex — to reduce it to a physical and hormonal process not much different from, say, scratching an itch — [the author] belongs to the old tradition of hyperbole and overwriting, the tradition of Lawrence, Norman Mailer, Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin, which sees sex as an avenue to spirituality, to the mystical and sublime.”
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Kisselgoff Out (Sort Of), Rockwell In At The Times
John Rockwell has been named as the new chief dance critic of The New York Times, replacing Anna Kisselgoff, who will continue to contribute to the paper. Rockwell is the author of several books, and has been the Times’ jack-of-all-trades over the years, serving as “chief rock critic, classical music critic, European cultural correspondent and Arts & Leisure editor. Most recently, he has been senior cultural correspondent and author of the Reverberations column in the Weekend section.”
Jazz Finds A Home At Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center’s new $128 million performing arts center has finally brought jazz officially into the fold at New York’s flagship musical institution. “No longer will it be squatting in someone else’s territory, as it was at Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. Now Jazz at Lincoln Center can create concerts with a much greater sense of freedom in the practical aspects of scheduling and staging than it could in the past. The new complex, within the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, includes three performance spaces,” ranging in size and style from a 140-seat nightclub to a full-size hall seating 1,200.
Reports Of Our Demise…
Is the Broadway musical dead, or just hibernating while the theater world decides on the best way to revive the form? After all, in the 500-channel world, it’s difficult to determine whether an art form as broadly based as the musical should be trying to find its niche market, or still seek to appeal to all corners of an increasingly fractured audience. But even if the musical does make a comeback, it’s unlikely that Broadway’s melodies will ever again be recognized as “America’s soundtrack.”
Brits Can Force ISP Reveals
“The British music industry has been granted a court order forcing internet service providers (ISPs) to reveal the names of illegal music swappers.” The ruling comes only days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a federal decision prohibiting the American recording industry from using the same practice.
Will Safe Programming Be The Orchestral Death Knell?
Orchestras seem to be pulling away from adventurous programming as a knee-jerk reaction to short-term fiscal problems. But Norman Lebrecht fears that such decisions will only hasten the demise of orchestral relevance. “While a programme of family favourites may stabilise finances and reassure creditors, it casts into acute doubt the survival of the symphony orchestra in the modern world. Who, after all, needs so many orchestras if they all play the same music and none of it is new? It is a question that is starting to trouble hardcore supporters of live music.”
Lucerne’s All-Star Orchestra
There was a time, not too long ago, when the Lucerne Festival was only a minor blip on the classical music scene, but these days, the Swiss town is among the most important stops for the world’s top touring orchestras. But it wasn’t until Claudio Abbado came on board in 2000 that the festival developed the idea to create its very own dream ensemble. “What Abbado proposed was for the festival to have its own orchestra once again, but one of a very special nature… Its 40-odd members would be supplemented by players from the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, as well as front-rank chamber musicians and soloists. Indeed, the orchestra’s roll-call was astonishing.”
Getting Political, Without Words
As artists, pop stars, and authors leap headlong into the political fray, why can’t composers do the same? Obviously, it’s a bit tricky for artists who work with notes and rhythms alone to make it explicitly clear that their latest symphony is meant as an endorsement of a particular candidate or policy, but some are trying anyway. “Although we rarely hear about it, the new music community is actively challenging convention, as it always has, using a wide range of artistic means to engage in a civic dialogue that stretches well beyond the scope of the upcoming election.”
Where’s The Anger?
Composer Phil Kline, who has penned a song cycle based on Pentagon briefings and anti-war material, worries that composers aren’t angry enough about the state of the world to really make a difference. “I have a feeling that as far as the pain and the anger and the alarm in the music, we probably haven’t heard anything yet, because I think a lot of us are just beginning to wake up.”
Gee, They Always Say Such Nice Things About You
Prominent operatic and theatrical director Jonathan Miller is taking shots at the audiences at large venues such as London’s Royal Opera House, saying that “when people pay £150 a seat to see a production funded by the state, there is a sort of desire to see, reflected from the stage, an image of their own wealth.” Miller prefers small theaters packed with devotees, where “you don’t feel like you are waiting for the interval to go to the crush bar where you’ve ordered very grand drinks, and you bear your wife there like an ornamental hawk on your wrist. That’s when I hate the arts. When it’s enjoyed by a group of people who are there to display their privilege.”