In this age of corporate publishing monoliths and high-tech innovations such as on-demand publishing, is there any room left for those old, traditional leather-bound tomes that lined your grandfather’s library? Boston’s Harcourt Bindery thinks so, and its president is still running a highly profitable business by appealing to the indulgent side of the reading public. “In the world of handmade bookbindings in leather or cloth, tooled with gold, the line between classic and contemporary is hard to find. It’s all based… on ‘the economics of desire.'”
Tag: 01.29.03
Piling On At The ENO
“Music impresario Raymond Gubbay has attacked plans to axe jobs in the chorus and orchestra at the English National Opera. Mr Gubbay – one of the leading names in his field – described as ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’ the ENO’s proposals to reduce the number of 60 choristers and 83 orchestra members. His outburst followed chairman Martin Smith’s admission the ENO had been saved from going into receivership by a £4.2m grant from the Arts Council of England.”
The National’s Big Bold New Direction
Nicholas Hytner’s ambitious plans for London’s National Theatre, anounced last week, are a big hit. “Doing stripped-down productions, ‘with big, bold, simple strokes’ and a minimum of costumes and scenery, is a way not just of bringing down prices and attracting new audiences, but ensuring that great plays are freshly considered in one of the world’s most exciting theatrical spaces. Nor is he merely after the elusive ‘yoof’ to which our arts commisars are so enslaved.”
New London Car Tax May Impact Theatres?
After February 17th, cars entering downtown London on weekdays will have to pay a £5 “congestion” charge designed to help alleviate serious car gridlock in the capital. But this is likely to have an impact on theatre goers in the West End. Will the charge discourage lower-income theatre-goers from coming in for a show?
Big Cuts In Scottish Arts
The Scottish government’s new budget hacks away at arts budgets. The Scottish Opera, “which has had a number of financial crises in recent years, said it was ‘dismayed’ last night to receive, in real terms, a budget cut and it is expected that it will have to cut the number of operas it has planned. All three of the other national arts companies, and the National Theatre plan, also emerged as cultural casualties in the new budget announced yesterday.”
Standing Complaint
Standing ovations have become the automatic response for all too many performances. Doesn’t matter whether they’ve earned it or not. “This un-thought-through enthusiasm has become – pardon the expression – a knee jerk response. Call it ovation inflation, it is yet one more example of our society’s tendency to supersize every experience, emotion and commodity.”
Hard Times For Pittsburgh Symphony
The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and distinguished history. But the orcxhestra is in big financial trouble. “The leaders of the proud Pittsburgh Symphony are trying to portray its current situation as an opportunity, not a crisis. ‘It’s very clear that the symphony is at a defining moment in its history. It is time for new energy and new ideas. We have an opportunity for great change.”
The Art World Converging On Fort Worth
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has been a big hit since it opened in December. “Drawn by rave reviews in the press and by word of mouth, devotees of art and architecture are streaming here. More people turned up in one two-day period after Christmas than came in any entire month of 2001, when the museum was still in its 1954 building nearby. Taxis from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport bring passengers who have arranged layovers so they can spend an hour at the museum.”
Tomalin Wins Whitbread
Claire Tomalin wins the £30,000 Whitbread book of the year award for her biography of Samuel Pepys, “just as her husband Michael Frayn [also nominated] had predicted all along.”
Is UK Losing Its Masterpieces?
More and more of Britain’s great art treasures in private ownership are being sold abroad. “Experts fear that many other masterpieces in private hands will emerge on to the market and be sold to overseas collectors because owners are noticing the vast sums being fetched. Museums and galleries with paltry acquisition budgets are unable to compete.”