“Four months after the death of George Plimpton, the Paris Review announced yesterday that interim editor Brigid Hughes will permanently run the literary quarterly… Hughes, 30, takes on a role that Plimpton, who died in September at 76, assumed with tireless enthusiasm for half a century. In deference to Plimpton, his official title – editor – will not be filled. Hughes has the newly established title of executive editor.”
Blog
The Rebirth Of Mutanabi Street
Baghdad’s Mutanabi Street has, for centuries, been one of the centers of Iraqi intellectual life, as reflected in the avenue’s bookshops. Dissidents, professors, religious clerics, and ordinary Iraqis gathered together at Mutanabi’s open-air book marts to trade ideas and debate philosophy. “In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein crushed intellectual life, forcing Mutanabi Street’s alternative ideas and books underground. Secret police informants infested the cafe tables, ready to overhear whispers of dissent. But six months after the U.S. occupation, Mutanabi is again in ferment.”
Is Art Sneaking Back Into The Mainstream?
“Emerging from the domain of museums, galleries and textbooks, art seems to be a hot topic these days, appearing all around us in everyday culture. Walk into a bookstore, hit a movie, go to a play – and you may find yourself thinking about art.” From movies with titles like Mona Lisa Smile to bestsellers like The DaVinci Code to a new wave of novels whose plots evolve from the experience of looking at a single painting, fine art is sneaking its way back into middlebrow American culture.
Government Arts Funding On The Rise (In Canada)
Even as America’s state governments slash their arts funding to the bone or beyond, Canada is moving in the opposite direction. “Government spending for the arts and culture has continued to rise, with Ottawa coughing up more than $3-billion for the first time during the fiscal year 2001 to 2002… all three levels of government contributed that year to the fastest rate of increase in cultural spending in a decade, with Ottawa, the provinces and cities together providing $6.8-billion in 2001-2002.”
The Little Film That Couldn’t
The strange saga of Atom Egoyan’s controversial film, Ararat, continues apace in Turkey. “Turkish newspapers were reporting yesterday that the Istanbul-based distributor of [the film] is in contact with associates of a right-wing nationalist group that forced the distributor this week to postpone Ararat’s screening in Turkey.” Officially, the Turkish government is still allowing the film to be screened, but plans for its debut were scrapped this week in the wake of violent threats from the nationalists. Egoyan considered traveling to Turkey himself, to make the case for his film, but has scrapped the idea as “foolish.”
The CDs That Could Save The Industry
A new CD technology which creates a fuller, more ambient sound for the listener is being hailed as the technology that could reverse the slide in international record sales. Super-Audio CDs (SACD) have two different layers of music embedded in them: one for “normal” CD players, and one for players equipped with the special digital capabilities that unleash layers of music previously unheard of in digital media. For audiophiles, its the best development in recording technology since the vinyl record. For the rest of the world, even the “normal” CD layer is a vast improvement over the current standard.
Changing The Orchestra Paradigm
“In a move unprecedented among full-time American orchestras, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is eliminating the position of music director and replacing it with a handful of ‘artistic partners’ of international renown. Among the first batch of partners are superstar violinist Joshua Bell and Italian conductor Roberto Abbado.” The decision to overhaul the SPCO’s business model comes in the wake of a controversial contract, signed last summer, which cut the SPCO musicians’ salaries by more than 20%, but also gave them an unprecedented leadership role in the organization. Orchestras around the country will be watching the new St. Paul model closely.
US State Arts Funding Cuts Not As Bad As Feared
Florida, California and Michigan are among the states that drastically cut public arts funding in the past year. But it could have been worse nationally. “Many other state arts agencies were expected to suffer comparable reductions this year, but did not. Sixteen states kept their cuts to less than 10 percent, and in 18 other states the arts budget actually increased or stayed the same.”
How Balanchivadze Became Balanchine
History left many such vivid marks – coincidences, close calls and fateful meetings – over Balanchine’s career, and none was more crucial than the timing of his birth. If he had been born in a different generation he would probably have remained Balanchivadze and stayed in Russia. During his last years at school, however, the gilded world of the Tsar’s Imperial Ballet was overturned by revolution. To a young choreographer, the resulting artistic fomentation was enthralling, but along with it came the risks of starvation and political chaos, and in 1924 Balanchivadze left for the west.
Tobias: Balanchine 100 Begins
“The trap in talking about Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream—with which the New York City Ballet has just opened the winter repertory season of its Balanchine 100 Centennial Celebration—is comparing it to Frederick Ashton’s The Dream. (Balanchine’s take on Shakespeare’s play and Mendelssohn’s music was created in 1962; Ashton’s, in 1964.) The discussion quickly becomes a contest of merits—and Ashton usually wins. His one-act ballet is not merely more succinct and cohesive, it also harbors more emotional resonance. But what if we considered the delights of the Balanchine—and they are many—on their own?”