A few months back, Emma Barber suggested in an interview that “no straight man ever willingly goes to the theatre.” Since the interview was published, Barber has met every straight man in the UK who enjoys the theatre, and one of them turned out to be her editor, who promptly assigned her to start going to some plays herself. Five evenings of theatre later, Barber is unmoved: “Where do you start listing what is wrong with it? The booking? The building? The queues for the loos? The surly bar staff? The undrinkable wine? The rip-off programmes? The torturous seats? These can all be summed up in the feeling that from the minute you embark on this excursion you have set yourself up for a sucker.”
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When Elvis Costello Wrote For Orchestra
Terry Teachout comes away impressed with Costello’s skill with an orchestra. “It’s not cut-rate Prokofiev or Bernstein, but a lively, ingratiating piece of mainstream modernism, with decorous snippets of symphonic rock and jazz thrown in from time to time to spice things up.”
The Other Barnes Debate
There is more to the great battle over the future of Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation than just an argument over the location of the permanent collection, says Edward Sozanski. In fact, the future of the Barnes’s educational program is the subject of a debate that truly gets to the heart of the foundation’s mission. “The Barnes gospel of aesthetic analysis, which the founder expounded in a number of books, letters and public utterances over three decades, contains the key to the collection. Yet over the last six years, the Barnesian doctrine, which remained reasonably intact for more than 60 years through several administrations, has been strained by what amounts to a theological schism.”
Greece’s New Temple Of Athleticism
“The Olympic Games are returning to Greece. And Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish genius of Parnassian accomplishments, has redesigned a sports complex that now embodies the tensile strength of athletes in their glory… Some engineers criticize Calatrava because prominent features of his buildings are structurally inessential. They serve purely expressive purposes. Architects, meanwhile, fault his work for appearing to be stuck in the 20th century. But the appeal of Calatrava’s work, if you are susceptible to it, lies in its hybrid quality. Rather than fusing architecture and engineering, the designs arise from the struggle between them.”
Costello’s Ballet Score – Deeply Boring
Alex Ross concedes that Costello’s score shows evidence of technical skill. But he was deeply bored: “After half an hour, I did something I’ve never done in twelve years of reviewing concerts in New York: I got out a book and started to read. There was nothing for my brain to grasp on to — I felt like I was clawing the air and falling.”
Looking For The Line
As U.S. TV and radio broadcasters continue to tread an unusually cautious route through the latest “obscenity” minefield laid out by politicians and the FCC, the impact such crackdowns can have on popular culture is beginning to be assessed. No big media company wants to be made an example of for crossing the Puritanical line being toed by FCC chairman Michael Powell, but at the same time, no one seems to be terribly clear where that line is.
It Looks Good, But The Sound Needs Work
The on-stage acoustic of Frank Gehry’s new Jay Pritzker Pavilion in downtown Chicago is a vast improvement over anything the Grant Park Orchestra has known before. Musicians can hear each other, and the overall quality of sound on the stage is something previously thought to be impossible on an outdoor stage. But for the audience, the acoustic “remains a work in progress. Indeed, the quality, depth and presence of sound still varies dramatically from place to place; ironically, the sonics are best at the back of the seating area and on the first half of the lawn.”
Liverpool Orchestra Decides Not To Renew Music Director’s Contract
The Liverpool Philharmonic has decided not to renew music director Gerard Schwarz’s co ntract. “The Philharmonic board’s decision to terminate the existing contract two years before Liverpool becoming Capital of Culture has been condemned by politicians and funders.” A few months ago the orchestra’s musicians voted not to renew the contract.
Millennium Park Makes Its Debut
One of the most controversial civic art projects in recent U.S. history opened to the public this weekend, and Blair Kamin was bowled over. “Remember the dusty pit that sat for decades amid the beaux-arts splendor of Grant Park, Chicago’s front yard? Well, it’s gone, turned into a joyful park that’s sprinkled with smile-inducing sculpture and mind-bending ‘wow-chitecture.’ This is the miracle of Millennium Park, the $475 million fusion of old-fashioned world’s fair and newfangled cultural spectacle that opened Friday. Yes, there have been huge cost overruns and delays, and they have resulted in some less than ideal park spaces. But get real: Did anyone ever ask Eiffel whether he busted the bud-get on his tower? The park is found ground — a no place that is suddenly a someplace.”
Daley’s Park, For Better Or For Worse
Millennium Park will be many to things to many people, but to Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, it will be his legacy. “When Mr. Daley took office 15 years ago, the site, north of the Art Institute and east of Michigan Avenue, contained old railroad tracks and gravel parking lots.” Mr. Daley’s vision for a useful public space became the biggest civic art project in the city’s history, and depending on whom you ask, it is either a testament to the skill and vision of the designers and fundraisers who brought it together, or an overpriced boondoggle spearheaded by a mayor who cut the public out of the process.