Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her company Rosas have long inhabited the post-modernist world of alternative spaces. Buter her new work “Rain”, writes Tobi Tobias, “makes them fit for an opera house—the venue, laden with tradition, on which postmodernism originally turned its back in contempt. Such a development is both ironic and inevitable—the mainstream is a magnet for the work of its rudest antagonists—and De Keersmaeker’s piece is very handsome indeed.”
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Iraq Symphony’s New Home
Iraq’s National Symphony moves into a new home. “The 63-member orchestra met Friday with U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer III, who welcomed the musicians to their new practice space at the Baghdad Convention Center. The building is inside Baghdad’s ‘Green Zone,’ an area guarded by U.S. troops and surrounded by concrete walls, rolls of razor wire and sandbag bunkers.”
One Of The UK’s Largest-Ever Private Gifts To The Arts…
A London businessman is giving £20 million to be split between the Royal Opera House and the Wales Millennium Centre and form a partnership between the two. It is one of the largest single private donations ever made to the performing arts in the UK. “The gift comes with strings: as well as cooperating with one another, both will be expected to work with opera and ballet companies in South Africa”
Rattle + Berlin In America
A season after he took over as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle is bringing the orchestra to America. “Today’s Berlin, Rattle has found, is a lively, slightly dangerous place in which to live. The Russian Mafia, a holdover from the Cold War era, is still in evidence in this gateway to the East. In a strange way the BPO mirrors this rough-and-tumble society, he says. ‘They tend to hire musicians that other orchestras reject as being too extreme – people who are chamber musicians rather than orchestra musicians. One of them said to me, `Simon, we’re sick of experience. What we want is talent.’ However, because the Berlin Philharmonic of 2003 is more heterogeneous in its membership than ever before in its 121-year history does not mean it has lost its distinctive character.”
Museums: Let Me Sell You Something With That Show
Museum stores are increasingly an important part of any museum’s bottom line. “A survey of more than 800 institutions published in May by the American Association of Museums in Washington showed that the median gross income of museum stores contributed more to total operating budgets (6.8 percent) than admissions (6.2 percent) and membership fees (5.8 percent).”
Rattle Takes Carnegie
Anthony Tommasini reports that Simon Rattle’s first appearance with the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall was a big success. “Judging by the smiles on the faces of the cellists as they plucked some pizzicato bass line in the slow movement, the way the violinists kept rising off their chairs as they dug into the rustic theme of the scherzo and the overall energy of the playing, it’s clear that the Berlin Philharmonic musicians are excited by their new conductor. So were the audiences at Carnegie Hall.”
Role Reversal – Michael Grandage On Top
“Ten years ago, Michael Grandage was a struggling actor who could barely afford to go out for dinner with his friends. Today he has arguably the best job in British theatre, having last year succeeded Sam Mendes as artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London.”
Ia LA Becoming A Dance Capital?
“October represented something of a turnaround for Los Angeles, a city with a reputation for failing to support dance. In sheer numbers, there were more dance performances here last month than anyone could remember — more than 50. But such activity was not a lone anomaly; there is plenty more ahead, from an ever greater diversity of companies.”
Angelic Indictment
Okay, so fans of Ronald Reagan got CBS to dump a biopic from its schedule. Frank Rich writes that an upcoming TV version of “Angels in America” is far more searing and controversial. “This epic is, among other things, a searing indictment of how the Reagan administration’s long silence stoked the plague of AIDS in the 1980’s. If “Angels” reaches an audience typical for HBO hits, it could detonate a debate bloody enough to make the fight over “The Reagans” look like an exhibition bout. That’s not such a big if. “Angels” is the most powerful screen adaptation of a major American play since Elia Kazan’s “Streetcar Named Desire” more than a half-century ago.”
Proposal: Hard Time For File Traders
A proposed law in the US Congress would punish those who distribute copyrighted movies or music ahead of their release dates with jail time of up to five years. “Unauthorized copies of movies often turn up in flea markets and online ‘peer to peer’ networks, such as Kazaa, shortly after they are released, thanks to audience members who smuggle camcorders into theaters. In other cases, industry insiders post movies and albums online before they are officially released, throwing promotional plans into disarray.”