Andrew Druckenbrod is dismayed to learn that his precious CDs may be self-destructing. “Indeed, what does it say that a music box metal disc made 150 years ago or a paper piano roll from the turn of the previous century may outlive a digital product of today? It makes me want to pack a 19th-century survival kit: Dangnabit, where are my lard candles, salt pork and wool undergarments?”
Blog
Exercised By Reading
“As book sales fall flat and a national study suggests fewer people than ever read literature, the benefits of pleasure reading are far from obvious to overscheduled Americans with MTV attention spans. Teachers and public-service announcements pound the reading-is-good-for-you message into children from an early age. But by the time many people reach adulthood, they’ve lost sight of what marketing gurus might call the “takeaway value” of books.”
Controversy Mars World Air Guitar Championships
The World Air Guitar Championships end in controversy in Finland this weekend, and two winners are declared after votes are miscounted. “This shouldn’t happen in the world championship level. I am devastated. We can’t do anything else but to apologize for the mistake and congratulate both winners. At least you can’t say that this year’s contest didn’t offer tons of excitement and drama.”
Slatkin At 60
Condustor Leonard Slatkin has transformed Washington DC’s National Symphony, which he has led since 1996. “He is probably the best public “explainer” of music since Leonard Bernstein, able to prepare a dubious audience for even the most recondite new composition; he speaks in full paragraphs, with wit and incision. In short, Slatkin is what the trade calls a “good citizen” — and in a time when classical music is struggling on almost every level, his steady, friendly advocacy takes on renewed importance.”
A Look At Who Made The Booker List
“The longlist is conventional enough in many ways – there are no obviously attention-seeking moves, such as the inclusion of sci-fi, crime, thrillers or overtly comic novels, which will add fuel to the usual criticisms that the prize’s definition of ‘literary fiction’ is too narrow. But it is, at least, far from being a list of predictable literary London insiders.”
Non-Fiction – The New Rock Stars
What’s happened to fiction? “Until recently, fiction was the more dashing, glamorous side, where arguments broke out and fortunes could be made. Those who wrote and published factual books would never have expected stardom, glamour or fame; rather, they were more like craftsmen. Things have greatly changed. Although fiction still sells in great quantities and continues to produce stars, the attention of publishers and booksellers has moved elsewhere. Everyone in publishing agrees it is getting harder to sell a new novel, even by a distinguished name, in this country; book buyers seem interested only in non-fiction.”
Chicago Symphony Contract Talks Go To Wire
The Chicago Symphony is running out of time in its contract negotiations with musicians. “With only two weeks remaining until the present labor agreement between the musicians and management of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is due to expire, both sides are bracing themselves for what is expected to be the most contentious cliffhanger in the orchestra’s 113-year history.”
Chicago’s Next Big Director
“Dexter Bullard, 38, is an anomaly in Chicago: a major director, steeped in improv, who has yet to work with Steppenwolf (beyond a couple of workshops) or the Goodman, the Court, Writers’ Theatre, Victory Gardens or Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Nor has he really tried to work at any of those places, keeping busy at other venues, including A Red Orchid, Famous Door, Next Lab, American Theatre Company and other low-paying, high-freedom outposts.”
Brazil Proposes Culture As Basic Human Right
Brazil’s Minister of Culture has challenged the 35 member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) to include culture on the list of basic policies to promote economic development and foster social inclusion. “Government policies for culture can no longer be secondary, fragile, peripheral. They represent the social and infrastructure policies of the 21st century.”
An American Conductor in Britain (A Bumpy Road)
In general American conductors have not done well with British orchestras. But why? “In Britain, one problem has been the resistance, by management and musicians alike, to the American model of the music director, which in turn is a watered-down holdover from the dictatorial maestros of yore. According to many London critics, British orchestras are adept sight readers and can rip off a plausible performance at the first rehearsal. But they apparently balk, by and large, at the hard work, directed from the podium, that would allow them to reach the exalted level of several American orchestras — or, indeed, of such self-governing Continental bands.”