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BBC Broadcasts “Silent” Work

The BBC has broadcast John Cage’s 4’33” – his famous work that includes no instrumental notes. “Despite having no notes to play, the musicians tuned up and then turned pages of the score after each of the three “movements” specified by the composer. The silence was broken at times by coughing and rustling sounds from the audience, who marked the end of the performance with enthusiastic applause.”

Vatican Orchestra Concert For Peace

A concert at the Vatican featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony and an international cast of performers was performed for the Pope with the purpose of fostering understanding between the world’s major religious faiths. “The inter-faith theme of the concert was echoed among the performers – a mixed choir consisting of singers from the London Philharmonic, from Turkey, from the Pope’s own home town of Krakow in Poland and from Pittsburgh in the United States. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra was under the baton of Gilbert Levine, an American who used to direct the Krakow Symphony Orchestra and who is a personal friend of the Pope.”

Experience Music Project Cuts 129 Jobs

The Experience Music Project in Seattle lays off 129 employees, among rumors of further downsizing. “It is the third time that the museum at the foot of the Space Needle has eliminated employees in January – 46 people were cut last year and 124 were laid off in 2002.” The $240 million museum devloted to music, designed by Frank Gehry, has only been open since 2000.

Returning Marbles To Greece Would “Distort” History

Salvatore Settis argues that returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece would distort history and shouldn’t be considered. “The Acropolis is the result of an operation that eliminated its Christian and Ottoman past. In order to reconstruct what is only one of the various possible forms of the Acropolis, all other forms are negated; this process would be crowned and legitimised by the return of the marbles. It would sanction the idea that of all the history that has flowed through the Acropolis (in fact, the history of Europe), only one moment matters and all others must be suppressed.”

Springer Opera Picks Up Olivier Noms

Jerry Springer the Opera has been nominated for eight Olivier Awards in London. The nominations include an unusual commendation: “The 20 actors in the line-up of the sell-out show at the Royal National Theatre were jointly shortlisted for ‘best performance in a supporting role in a musical’ in the final stage of the contest to be concluded on February 22.”

Will European Noise Regulations Kill Beethoven 9?

European Union noise regulations for workers might mean that symphony orchestras will have to quiet down. “The intriguing issue, though, is whether the directive will impose changes in the repertoire itself. The London Symphony Orchestra says that this is a real possibility. Loud works like Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and the symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler may have to be scheduled more rarely and surrounded by quieter pieces. Look up the European commission’s website and you will find a section mocking the idea that Beethoven’s Ninth symphony – the EU’s anthem – might even fall foul of the noise at work directive. But the idea is not so far-fetched.”

Dali, In Retrospect

As celebrations of Salvador Dali’s 100th birthday gear up in Spain, it’s interesting to note how he and his work are now perceived. “The truth is that the savage visions of Dali, once considered genuinely disturbing, have been comfortably absorbed into the cultural mainstream. This has meant, inevitably, a partial sanitisation of the artist’s more excessive expressions.”

Spalding Gray Still Missing

Spalding Gray was working on a new piece when he went missing last week. “His family last saw him Jan. 9, when he walked away from his SoHo apartment without his wallet after having seen the movie “Big Fish” with his wife, Kathleen Russo, and one of his sons. There have been subsequent reports that he was seen on the Staten Island ferry later that night, and Russo has said she fears he may have tried to jump off the boat.”

Dave Barry: I’m “Clueless” About Art

Dave Barry willingly acknowledges he’s a “clueless idiot” when it comes to art. But he doesn’t understand some of the art he saw recently at Art Basel Miami: “Anyway, in the corner of one container there was a ratty old collapsed armchair – worn, dirty, leaking stuffing, possibly housing active vermin colonies. I asked the gallery person if the chair was art, and she said yes, it was a work titled “Chair.” I asked her what role the artist had played in creating “Chair.” She said: “He found it.” She noted that “Chair” had been professionally crated and shipped to the art show.”