Category: people

In a classical music world where soloists are almost forced to lean dramatically towards the conventional, and seem to exist mainly to lend star power and attract cash to the box office, soprano Dawn Upshaw has carved out an unlikely niche for herself as the diva of new music. In the process, she is changing not only the way that the public thinks about contemporary music, but how the critical press perceives performers who play it.

Jack Vettriano may be the most unpopular painter of the last 50 years – unless, that is, you measure popularity by what the general public thinks. “Vettriano is far and away Scotland’s most successful contemporary painter… But critics tend either to ignore Mr. Vettriano or to swat him lazily away with the backs of their cultured hands.” Is it pure elitism on the part of the critics, or is the public simply blind to such niceties as painting skill?

“Forensic scientists claim to have proved a bust and a death mask are the exact likeness of William Shakespeare. Scientists in Germany scanned the sculptures using computerised imaging techniques to show that they match up with portraits of the Bard. The systems, used by police, map out a person’s face to identify whether they tally with known pictures. Elizabethan experts deny the claim, saying busts and portraits were not true likenesses [and] often look similar.”

After almost 20 years of weekly front-page appearances in the New York Observer, Hilton Kramer – “one of the most outspoken, not to say controversial, figures in art criticism” has moved on. “The constant demand of traveling back and forth to New York and writing on deadline was interfering with the rest of my life.”

The controversial president of Harvard University has resigned under pressure, bringing to an end a stormy 5-year tenure. Lawrence Summers drew the ire of many Harvard faculty and alumni during his time at the helm, but many students were disappointed to hear of his departure.

“When the Harvard Corporation chose [Lawrence] Summers to lead Harvard in 2001, there was a sense among its members that the nation’s most prestigious university had become complacent. Summers was brought in to shake things up, and he didn’t disappoint.” His record on fund-raising (one of a university president’s most important duties) was less than stellar, and yet, his big plans and blunt leadership style endeared him to many outside the institution, who saw in Summers a populist dedicated to bringing the famously elite school into the larger Boston community.

Barretto, a percussionist and bandleader who was a pioneer of the Latin jazz and salsa movements, has died. “Known as ‘King of the Hard Hands,’ Barretto recorded at least 50 albums in a career spanning more than 40 years. Collaborating with singer Celia Cruz, Barretto won a Grammy in 1990 with the album Ritmo en el Corazon.”

British historian David Irving has been sentenced to three years in jail for his statements denying the Holocaust. “Austria has Europe’s toughest law criminalising denial of the Holocaust. Irving went on trial for two speeches he delivered in the country almost 17 years ago. He was arrested in November last year after returning to Austria to deliver more speeches despite an arrest warrant against him and being barred from the country.”

In the 17 months since he jumped to satellite radio from NPR, “Edwards has displayed more range and reportorial chops than some at NPR had given him credit for. As Howard Stern is learning from his new home at Sirius Satellite Radio, speaking to a much smaller audience takes some adjusting. But it’s also liberating: On XM, Edwards has produced full-hour documentaries, long-form profiles and lyrical tributes to musicians and other artists, along with the newsier interviews that were his coin on Morning Edition.”

Charles Tomlin is 90 years old and is still a regular member of his church choir in Glauster. Why? He’s the only chorister left. Mr Tomlin formed the choir in 1946 when he moved to nearby Tewkesbury.