“Imagine how fear drives people in the TV business to figure out what the hell has gone wrong when ratings are down, demographics are down and viewership in the broadcast world is, yes, down. It makes them say that ‘these declines are unacceptable and obviously we haven’t given the people what they really want and a dramatic restructuring of the industry is at hand’ and blah de blah de blah. But here’s the plain truth: Nobody knows what to do.”
Tag: 01.21.04
On-Screen Opera – You Have To Admit It’s Getting Better
Opera on the small (or big) screen has generally been a disappointing experience. But advances in technology have changed things. “With the use of fiber-optic lines, sound-friendly cameras, and any number of things opera people enjoy rather than understand, all roles can be sung on camera while maintaining excellent sonic quality. With that comes a subliminal sense of dramatic truth: You see a singer’s musculature creating a musical phrase at the moment you’re hearing it.”
Philadelphia Orchestra Cuts Staff
The Philadelphia Orchestra has cut seven jobs from its administrative staff, and more cuts are likely on the way. “I would say only that as we’re in the middle of our fiscal year, we have become aware that there have been some unexpected revenue shortfalls, some of it in ticket revenue and some of it in support of the [forthcoming] European tour, and so even though it’s the middle of the year we decided to do it now.”
What’s To Be Done With Scottish Opera?
So Scottish Opera is once again in financial crisis. And support for bailing it out is waning. What’s a company to do? “Critics calling for wholesale changes at the opera have suggested either the Scottish Chamber Orchestra or the Royal Scottish National Orchestra could play in the pit at opera performances.” But the company’s director dislikes the idea: “We currently do 130 performances a year and we couldn’t do that and play for the opera at the same time. It’s a very extreme solution. What they need is breathing space, rather than drastic cutting.”
Smithsonian Chief To Plead Guilty To…
Smithsonian head Lawrence Small is expected to plead guilty later this week to a misdemeanor violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Yes birds. Small is a collector of Brazilian tribal art and he was charged after his art collection was found to “contain feathers from several protected species, including the jabiru, roseate spoonbill and crested caracara.”
West End: Protesting The Virtual Orchestra
Musicians in London’s West End are protesting the planned introduction of a “virtual orchestra” machine that would replace some musicians in pit orchestras. “Champions of the device, called the Sinfonia, maintain that it “gives more bangs for the buck” than musicians. Musicians say it “steals jobs and cheats audiences”. In the US it has cut orchestral jobs on some shows – including Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera – by between a half and a third.”
Scottish Poll Finds Little Public Funding Support For Arts
A poll conducted by the Glasgow Herald finds that there is little public support for public funding for opera, classical music and ballet. “Out of five art forms, opera and ballet polled lowest, with only 2% of respondents wanting to see money spent on them above the others. More than 35% of those questioned believed theatre should have the most funding, with 31% voting for traditional Scottish music. The poll echoes recent research by the Scottish Arts Council showing a large appetite for drama in Scotland. Around 38% of adults polled by the SAC attended a theatrical event at some point during the previous year, 15% a classical music event, 13% an opera or operetta, 10% a ballet and 20% a traditional music event.”
On The Trail Of Stolen Ivories (Not So Glamorous)
What will become of the le Marchand ivory cameos stolen last week from the Art Gallery of Ontario? “The image of big illicit business in freshly harvested antiquities, theft to order, the encouragement of site looting for profit, and money laundering is today mainly restricted to the pages of improbable detective novels.”
Yowzuh! Whatta Wintah!
It’s been a crappy winter for New York’s intellectual class. “If ever there was a moment of generational split, this winter of our discontent is it. One need only consider the contrast: The struggling freelancers for a now-defunct journal of ideas are handed court papers, while the professional intellectuals, the ones with coveted staff jobs and 401(k)’s, are using prime literary real estate to lament their middle-aged romantic failures. The old guard is unraveling, the new guard is being sued.”
The Year Of The George
There are celebrations all over America this year in honor of George Balanchine’s 100th birthday. “All this is for the man who transformed ballet as surely as Pablo Picasso did painting or Balanchine’s collaborator, Igor Stravinsky, did music. Balanchine made an Old World art form new by dropping the frills and pantomime. He was about pure dance. Ballet did not have to tell a story: “When you have a garden of pretty flowers, you don’t demand of them, ‘What do you mean?’ ” he said.”