“I think you’re irritated by your youngers and tend to be respectful of your elders. When I hear about some sensational new writer I sort of think, Shut up … you’ve got to be around for a long time before you can really say you’re a writer. You’ve got to stand the test of time, which is the only real test there is.”
Category: people
The Hochhausers: Fifty Years Of Bringing Russian Artists To London
“The day of [Stalin’s] death we started working with the Russians. That meant we just missed meeting Prokofiev because he died the same day.” But the couple did meet – and present, and befriend – Shostakovich, Oistrakh, Richter, Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya, Plisetskaya – and Nureyev, the most difficult of them all.
Actor Dennis Farina Dead At 69
“With his silvery locks, craggy face, well-tended moustache and flattened Chicago vowels, Mr. Farina became one of the most readily identified supporting performers of the past 30 years. He appeared in dozens of movies, from big-budget productions to independent fare.”
Opera Diva Licia Albanese Turns 100
“Albanese began expressing herself on stage in her native Italy in 1934 when she took over for an indisposed Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. She would turn that Puccini heroine into a signature role with reportedly more than 300 performances, including 72 at the Met. Albanese sang more than 400 times for the company, holding the record for the most La traviatas (87).”
Lindy Hess, Who Reshaped The Publishing World, 63
“For more than two decades, Ms. Hess helped shape the publishing industry by training a good percentage of its new recruits in an intensive six-week summer course and by acting as an industry matchmaker.”
Can Canada’s New Minister Of Canadian Heritage Step Up For The Arts?
With budget cuts ringing alarms, the arts community is wondering if the former pregnant teenager, cop, and politician has the goods to help Canadian culture survive.
Debates About Stravinsky’s Sexuality
“Stravinsky’s sexuality is important because he wrote so many stage works in which he represents men, women and trans people in various ways. To understand this representation, we need to understand him. Stravinsky rarely presents gender and sexuality in a conventional way.”
T-Model Ford, Old-Time Delta Bluesman, Dead At 90-Something
Described by his record label boss as “the friendliest fun-loving psychopath you’ll ever meet”, Ford never went to school, lived the sort of epically hard life the blues are made of, never touched a guitar until he was around 60, and released his first record in his mid-70s.
Is Lynn Harrell “Destroying America?”
“In the words of Stephen Colbert on Monday night’s Colbert Report, Harrell, turns out, is one of the People Destroying America.”
Was The Young Stravinsky Really Bisexual?
In a new book, longtime Stravinsky assistant Robert Craft claims that Stravinky – for most of his life quite unashamed of his heterosexual philandering – Igor had several affairs with men. But a number of experts are unconvinced by the scant evidence Craft has provided.