What accounts for the popularity of recent books on grammar? “They are tapping into a widespread feeling that English is being debased by things such as computers, especially email, which have led some to do away with punctuation altogether. ‘Text messaging, of course, has just about wrecked the English language’.”
Blog
What Makes A Great Violinist?
What makes a great violinist? “The Genius of the Violin festival, which starts in London later this month, is designed to display the instrument’s extraordinary versatility in everything from Bach to bluegrass. It is a tribute to the impresario Joji Hattori’s powers of persuasion that three of the world’s top fiddlers should be participants.”
The Shostakovuch Question, Round 257
Time once again to play The Shostakovich Question. “The ‘Shostakovich Question’ is a debate is over the relationship between the composer and the triad of Stalinism, Mother Russia and Shostakovich’s own deep humanism. It asks: why did Shostakovich remain in the USSR, while others like Stravinsky left? Was he obliged by a love of country to acknowledge, if not accept, the government? Or was his life torn between a public and private self? Indeed, was every musical phrase a thread woven through a tortured tapestry of dissent, a passionate but coded cry of opposition?”
Opera On The Outside (Of London, That Is)
So where is the great opera happening in England these days? “Our regional companies, all of which tour way beyond their home bases, are currently setting standards at least as high as their better-heeled metropolitan rivals.”
The Art Gallery Of Ontario’s Pattern Of Woe
Last week, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s most important board member and benefactor quit. Disaster. “But this was only the latest in a series of plagues visited on the AGO over the past year. First there was plunging attendance, followed by its consequences: budget cutbacks and a confrontation with its employees’ union. Meanwhile, interminable discussions with Gehry were conducted behind a veil of secrecy befitting the CIA.”
Study: UK Book Industry Not Diverse
A new study of the UK publishing business reports that the industry is overwhelmingly white. “It says that nearly half those questioned felt they worked in a white, middle-class ghetto whose employees were drawn from a small ethnic pool. The findings in the survey, which was conducted by the Arts Council and the Bookseller, are supported by several senior publishing executives who say that nothing will change until recruiters look beyond Oxford and Cambridge.”
Booksellers Delay Deleting Book Prices From Covers
Major booksellers in the UK have delayed plans to stop printing the prices of books on their covers. “Authors and their agents fear the move would intensify the price cutting war between chain stores over a small number of bestsellers, marginalise most other books and drive down the already low income of writers.”
A New Chorus That’s Been Around Awhile
“When the Florida Philharmonic went bankrupt, it effectively meant the end of the Philharmonic Chorus as well. Yet in less than six months, a new organization has risen from its ashes to bring choral repertoire to local audiences.” It is an old, established organization, and yet as an independent newcomer, the challenges of setting up are formidable.
More Acropolis Museum Maneuvering (Will It Ever Be Built?)
A day after the Greek government ordered a halt to constuction of the Acropolis Museum, “court sources yesterday said that a senior prosecutor has ordered that criminal charges be brought against senior Culture Ministry officials who approved the project.”
Vendler Chosen For Jefferson Address
Helen Hennessy Vendler has been chosen by the National Endowment for the Humanities to deliver this year’s Jefferson Lecture. Vendler is “a leading interpreter of English language poets, a professor at Harvard for nearly 25 years, and has written extensively on William Shakespeare, William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney and John Keats.”