Luciano Pavarotti sang his last performances in opera at the Metropolitan this week. Richard Dyer: “This is not the occasion to survey Pavarotti’s nonoperatic career in concert, arena events, on film and television, with the Three Tenors, and as a newsworthy talk show celebrity; all of that continues. What is important is that Pavarotti let all of his outside activities feed back into opera. He could have left the opera house decades ago and made even more money than he has, but he chose not to. The musical world needs its celebrities because they vouch for the validity of the art.”
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Pacific Northwest Ballet – What Next?
Pacific Northwest Ballet directors Francia Russell and Kent Stowell are leaving the company after 28 years. In that time they built a struggling regional ballet into one of the country’s best. So what happens when the guiding forces of one of Seattle’s primary arts institutions move on?
Back To The 50s: Renegades Of Cool As Pitchmen
Fifties icons of cool such as Miles Davis, James Dean and Jack Kerouac are being used in commercials to promote various products. “Sure, nothing’s sacred. And certainly there’s more to the enduring appeal of ‘cool’ – an attitude that says, ‘I know who I am, whether you know it or not, and I really don’t care if you do’ – than the marketing strategies that threaten to cheapen its legacy. But there’s a bitter irony in the fact that Davis, Dean and Kerouac were anything but unquestioning, lock-step consumers.”
Gopnik: I love The Whitney Biennale, I Love…
Blake Gopnik attempts the Whitney Biennale with a positive attitude: “If art lovers are almost always disappointed by the Whitney’s survey, maybe the problem lies in our expectations rather than in the show itself. Though it features more than 300 works chosen from across the nation in something like nine months, we still somehow imagine that the biennial should be a tight, coherent show of excellent art. In fact, it can never be more than a grab bag of whatever work happens to have been made since the previous edition of the show. Great exhibitions come about when curators identify important art that speaks to them, and then spend many years shaping it into a show that will speak to us. The Whitney Biennial comes about because another two years have gone by and someone’s got to pull something together, fast.”
Roos – The Music Critic Who Didn’t Like Editing
James Roos was the classical music critic for the Miami Herald for 31 years before being diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was a tough critic who didn’t much like to be edited. “Jim was notorious for going to the composing room after the evening edition to restore his pieces to their pre-edited state. Consequently, he was banned from the composing room. That was a long time ago.”
Should Indie Filmmakers Worry About Piracy?
Major movie studios are worried about piracy. But how about smaller, indie films? Since indie films don’t open with “event” releases, there’s no rush for pirates to copy movies and sell them. Still, a popular indie movie can find itself being undercut at the box office by bootleg copies.
How Woody Allen Fired Me
Last year actress Annabelle Gurwitch was hired by Woody Allen for his new play. She was thrilled. But quickly after rehearsals began, he changed his mind. “I just couldn’t believe Woody Allen was ruining my Woody Allen experience!” she cried. Less than two weeks after rehearsals began, she was replaced – fired – and she slunk back to L.A., “like a small-time crook.” Now she’s taken the experience, and in true show biz fashion…
Ottawa Tax Revolt Threatens Arts Funding
Taxpayers in Ottawa are revolting over plans to hike taxes. “The tax-freeze movement finds itself pitted against members of the arts community who are banding together to fight council over proposed cuts. The proposed budget would wipe out funding for 28 major festivals, fairs and events. Critics of any cuts charge that arts spending in Ottawa is among the lowest for a municipality in Canada, at $3.89 per capita. A report by Toronto’s culture division last year found that Vancouver spends $17.71 per capita; Montreal tops the list at $26.62; Toronto spends $14.64.”
Buy Canadian? How Hard A Sell Is That?
“Ask a literary agent about the prospect of selling Canadian fiction at an international book fair, and what would you expect? A gleam in the eye as they talk about the chance to hustle in the big leagues? An adrenalin-fuelled soliloquy as they praise new discoveries? A dazzling grin as they recall the Champagne downed to celebrate the deals they’ve brokered? Try suicide metaphors.”
For Writers – the Best Of Times
Things have changed in the publishing business in the past decade. “That’s the real cultural revolution: the shift in the balance of power from the publisher to the bookseller. Thatcherism, which made the market king, empowered the bookseller and put the publisher on the defensive. For the past 10 years at least, most published writers in Britain and America have enjoyed a golden age of remuneration, publicity and, yes, sales scarcely dreamed of before. In 2004, the author’s lot, though far from ideal, is better than it has ever been.”