To Anthony Tommassini, the New York Phil’s two-pronged music director strategy “looks like a public relations move dressed up as an artistic policy… Is the Philharmonic feeling defensive as several major orchestras reap credit for having shaken up their institutions by appointing risk-taking artists as their music directors?”
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First-Time Author Wins BBC Book Prize
“Debut author Anna Funder has won the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize for her book about the hardships endured by people from the former East Germany. The book, titled Stasiland: Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall, earned Funder £30,000 in prize money.” The Samuel Johnson Prize is now in its sixth year of recognizing non-fiction works of all varieties, from travel writing to biography to the arts.
iTunes Europe Launches, But Selection Is Spotty
The much-heralded launch of the European incarnation of Apple’s iTunes music download service was marred a bit yesterday when consumers signed up for the service, only to find that the company’s song selection is missing some key artists. The omissions, which include The Beatles, The White Stripes, and Franz Ferdinand, are due to Apple’s ongoing dispute with more than 800 independent record labels.
Screenwriter Brutally Murdered; Suspect In Custody
Hollywood screenwriter Robert Lees, 91, was found decapitated in the backyard of his Los Angeles home this past weekend. His neighbor, a retired doctor, was stabbed to death as well. A homeless man is in custody and will be charged in the killings. Lees wrote dozens of films in his career, and may be best known for the comedy classic Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.
MTT Does It Again
Michael Tilson Thomas could accurately be said to be the populist heir to Leonard Bernstein, a conductor of a major American orchestra who is as determined to make music accessible to the general public as he is to please the usual concertgoing crowd. His latest project with the San Francisco Symphony is a multi-part PBS documentary exploring how music is created, what it means, and who exactly those tuxedo-clad individuals frowning from the stage really are. An extensive web site and a companion radio documentary produced by Minnesota Public Radio will make Keeping Score the largest music/media project ever undertaken by a symphony orchestra.
Grand Jury Impaneled In Kurtz Case
The case of the chemical-hoarding art professor gets serious today, as a grand jury begins hearing testimony to determine whether charges should be brought against Steven Kurtz under the U.S. Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act. Kurtz’s friends and colleagues remain incredulous that the government is even remotely suspicious of him, since he has a long history of using agricultural chemicals in his work.
PA Ballet: From Ugly Duckling To… Well, You Know
When Pennsylvania Ballet commissioned a new version of Swan Lake from Christopher Wheeldon, the company was hoping that its $1.5 million investment would bring a significant return in increased prestige and ticket sales. The gambit appears to have worked, with the new production garnering wide critical praise, and amazing audience support.
Arts Groups Jump Into Canadian Election Fray
For the first time in ages, Canada’s Liberal Party, which dominates national politics, is in serious danger of losing its grip on power, and arts organizations are getting worried about what a Conservative victory could mean for them. The current Liberal culture minister has been fanning the flames, implying that the Tories would adopt “a scorched-earth policy” towards national arts funding, but some independent observers say that such dangers are being grossly overstated. Still, there’s no doubt that the Conservatives are strongly in favor of lower government spending and open markets, which arts advocates fear could further sink Canada into the ocean of American culture.
There’s No Irony In The TV Business
An upcoming Canadian TV show depicting the hard life of artists in Toronto is soliciting actual works of art by the city’s actual artists to hang on the set. But there’s a catch: “Although Bang! is a drama about the difficulties of living off one’s art, the producers see no reason to actually pay real artists for their work. The chance to reach a large audience, they argue, is payment enough.”
Troubled Or Not, That’s A Great Name For a Theatre Company
“The Soulpepper Theatre Company broke ground yesterday morning for a new $12-million theatre and school in Toronto’s Distillery District… The 13-acre site of the historic Gooderham’s Distillery has been made over as an arts and entertainment district, which opened a year ago. But the project has been troubled, with disappointing public attendance and financial conflict among its developers.”