It was 1976 when the New York Philharmonic, in an effort to improve the acoustics of Avery Fisher Hall, gutted the place and mounted a huge renovation. It didn’t help much, and last year, the Phil, not wanting to run the risk of another unsuccessful construction project, attempted a merger with Carnegie Hall. The merger fell through very publicly when the boards of the two organizations couldn’t reconcile their schedules and goals, and the orchestra was once again stuck with Lincoln Center. Now, the plan for a new renovation of Avery Fisher is back on, at an expected cost of $300 million. Construction won’t begin until 2009, and the Phil will have to find a new temporary home for a couple of seasons during the renovation.
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No Guarantees
The New York Philharmonic has no guarantee that a new Avery Fisher Hall will be any acoustically better than the one it has now. Still, it’s a $300 million risk worth taking, says Anthony Tommasini, and not only for acoustical reasons. “The Philharmonic is exploring a bold plan to remove some 350 of its 2,738 seats to make room for a smaller recital hall. Quite apart from acoustics, the hall has long seemed an impersonal and inefficient public space. So these changes would be welcome, perhaps even exciting.”
All That Fuss Over A Hunk Of Wood
The science of violin-making hasn’t changed much since the days when Antonio Stradivari cranked out some of the greatest instruments known to man. But the music world has changed, in ways both subtle and obvious – top-quality instruments are now bought and sold for unthinkably high prices, and the science behind them is examined in all its minutiae by individuals hoping to unlock the secrets of the great masters. For one American luthier, the quest for the perfect instrument is quixotic, but fulfilling nonetheless.
Seattle Library – Building As Art
Seattle’s new Rem Koolhaas-designed central library is winning raves from the critics. “High-end architecture is often a monument to the architect. Rarely is it art. This library is rooted in its functions, blooms where it’s planted, is art in itself and is going to be a huge hit with the mass audience that is its principal customer.”
The Koolhaas Factor
Architect Rem Koolhaas was a longshot to design the Seattle Public Library. He almost didn’t enter the competition to design it, almost didn’t win the competition. “The new Central Library is an instant landmark for Seattle, a 21st century global architecture icon and a testament to this city’s futurist impulses. But for the 59-year-old architect who designed it, the new Central Library may represent even more: a major force in redemption of his reputation.”
Library As New Urban Star
“The number of visits made to libraries nationwide more than doubled between 1990 and 2001, according to the most recent data available from the American Library Association. Sixty-two percent of adult Americans surveyed in that 2002 study said they had a library card, and they visited libraries an average of 13 times per year. Part of the draw results from the depressed economy. “Instead of paying $24.95 for a best seller, they say, ‘I think I’ll get it from the library.’ But a bigger increase, some analysts believe, comes from libraries’ nimbleness in adopting new technologies. Rather than becoming obsolete in the Internet age, they have expanded their role.”
Comeback of the Moog
What would classic rock music have been without Bob Moog? The New York engineer’s musical invention – the world’s first playable music synthesizer – revolutionized the genre when it debuted in the late 1960s, and helped keyboardists to emerge as important figures in rock music. “After a long legal battle, Bob Moog not long ago won back the rights to start marketing synthesizers in his name. The timing couldn’t have been better. After years in the shadows of digital keyboards and software-based synths, the fat bass and piercing highs of analog keyboards have re-emerged — big time.”
Today’s Teachers – Making Illiteracy Look Good
“Today’s educational establishment is making actual illiteracy look good, like an act of humanity and rebellion. Writing, which ought to nurture and give shape to thought, is instead being used to pound it into a powder and then reconstitute it into gruel. The thoroughly modern grade-A public-school prose style is not creative or interesting enough even to be wrong. The people who create and enforce the templates are, not to put too fine a point on it, people without understanding or imagination, lobotomized weasels for whom any effort of thought exceeds their strength.”
Art: A Great Place To Park Your Money (Conspicuously)
Everyone is talking about the hot art market that has seen record prices for contemporary art. “So what gives? The declining dollar and inflation fears certainly make art a decent, demand-driven place for the rich to park their money. In these faux gilded times, the wealthy use art as a Veblenite way to advertise their fortunes — witness gaudy spreads on the Dallas scene in the current Art + Auction and on Los Angeles collectors in the new Art Review and the New York Times. There’s nothing like showing off that boob job or eye tuck in front of a Frank Stella or Cindy Sherman.”
Milwaukee Symphony – Good And Bad News
The Milwaukee Symphony picks up an influential new chairman for its board. The orchestra has also extended music director Andreas Delfs’ contract by three years. “These positive developments come at a low point in the MSO’s fortunes. Attendance has fallen for several seasons, the value of the endowment has slipped to $28 million from a high of over $40 million in 2000, and contributed income has been soft since the economic downturn in 1999. As of March 31, the symphony’s debt stood at $7.1 million, with a credit ceiling of $9 million. That debt includes a projected $3 million shortfall for operations during the current season.”