“Kurt Sanderling, who led the Leningrad Philharmonic and the East Berlin Symphony Orchestra under Soviet rule and won admirers in the West later in his career as a guest conductor for orchestras in London, Los Angeles and elsewhere, has died” – two days short of his 99th birthday.
Category: people
Garth Drabinsky Parties Right Up To The End (And Jail)
“To his friends, Mr. Drabinsky’s bravado in the face of prison is precisely the kind of persevering spirit that has made him so popular in cultural circles.”
Title Fight: Chinua Achebe Defeats 50 Cent Over Name of Movie
“50 Cent has been undone by one of Africa’s greatest novelists, Chinua Achebe. The rapper’s latest movie has been renamed ahead of its release, due to a conflict with Achebe’s most famous work.”
Two Great American Critics And Their Conflicts Of Interest
As his first play, Satchmo at the Waldorf, opens in Orlando, Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout reminds us that such legendary critics as art maven Clement Greenberg and composer Virgil Thomson were ethically compromised in ways that would not be accepted today.
Former Theatre Titan Drabinsky Could Lose Canadian Honors
Former media baron Conrad Black and theatre mogul Garth Drabinsky could both be stripped of their Order of Canada awards.
John Calley, 81, Producer Of Hollywood Landmarks And Savior Of Studios
He “was known for his unusually artistic approach in running three major Hollywood studios and overseeing some of the most successful movies of the last 50 years … Rather than cranking out franchise films and other safely commercial fare … Calley believed that successful moviemaking boiled down to one thing: making good films.”
One-Sentence Letter By J.D. Salinger For Sale On eBay
“Owners of a handwritten one-sentence letter by reclusive writer J.D. Salinger hope to sell the document for $50,000.”
Where Did Mark Morris Get The Urge To Conduct?
“From getting what I want.”
Who Was The First Scientist?
“Predictably there is little agreement, but popular candidates, such as Galileo, Archimedes and even Pythagoras, displayed many of the qualities now deemed essential in modern science.” One author now suggests that “this place in history belongs to little-known Greek philosopher Anaximander. ”
Lady Gaga – Pop’s Leading Conservative?
“None of Gaga’s supposed transgressions – from the near-nudity onstage to the risqué-ish lyrics … to the ritual oversharing – had not already been made in 1972. She is touted for her boldness in becoming an outré bisexual icon, even though David Bowie, literally old enough to be her grandfather, carried that flag in more treacherous times.”