The éminence grise of Indian classical music unveils the first release on East Meets West Music this April 7, his 90th birthday. The label will begin with a series of Shankar’s own archival concert recordings; future plans include the release of Raga, George Harrison’s documentary on Shankar, as well as music of other artists and, eventually, other genres.
Tag: 02.03.10
The Graph That Should Alarm Orchestra Administrators
“You can see clearly how various generations experienced a bump in participation as they got older. The so-called Generation X, however, has yet to exhibit an upward spike as it moves into middle age. Every classical organization in America should print out this graph, pin it on the bulletin board, and ponder what is to be done.” Alex Ross, a Gen X-er himself, holds out some hope.
Landmark 1948 Film of Indian Dance-Drama To Be Restored
Kalpana, a filmed dance-drama by Uday Shankar (Ravi’s oldest brother, and considered the father of modern Indian dance), will be reassembled and restored by Martin Scorcese’s World Cinema Institute. No complete print of the film exists in India.
Portions Of Ancient Roman Law Book Discovered In 16th-Century Book Binding
“Fragments of a lost ancient Roman law text have been rediscovered in the scrap paper used to bind other books. The Codex Gregorianus, or Gregorian Code, was compiled by an otherwise unknown man named Gregorius at the end of the third century A.D. It started a centuries-long tradition of collecting Roman emperors’ laws in a single manuscript.”
Evelyn Haas, Leading San Francisco Arts Patron, Has Died At 92
The widow of Levi’s Jeans mogul Walter A. Haas, Jr., she led the family foundation in giving more than $364 million to such Bay Area organizations as SF-MOMA, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (she underwrote the restoration of Crissy Field), and the San Francisco Symphony (she funded the series Keeping Score: MTT on Music).
Tear Down The National Theatre!
Andy Field: “The National as an organisation is a wonderful, vital idea. The national theatre as a building is an anachronism: a brutal(ist) articulation of one narrow and archaic vision of theatre that, if not obsolete, is certainly one-dimensional.”
Late-Night Shocker: Woman Lands Letterman Writing Job
“The writers’ rooms on several late-night shows — including Mr. Letterman’s, Jay Leno’s and the one for Conan O’Brien’s ‘Tonight Show’ — were described as male enclaves in recent reports about the male dominance among comedy writers.” Letterman’s new writer has been a staffer since 2001.
Pop-Culture Smackdown: Indianapolis Vs. New Orleans
One city is “famous for its sinful food and its scrumptious music and its freewheeling spirit, for legendary jazz performers such as Jelly Roll Morton. The other is a stolid, serious and responsible locale famous for … well, Jared, the Subway guy. … But America loves an underdog. And Indianapolis is no slouch in the cultural realm.”
Someone Had To Open Salinger’s Mail — And Answer It
“The letters came from Sri Lanka or the Netherlands or Arizona. They included deeply personal admissions–cancer diagnoses, bankruptcy, divorce–and were often written in Salinger’s own brash style or, at the very least, incorporated the slang of the period he chronicled. ‘Dear Jerry, you old bastard,’ they tended to start. ‘I gotta tell you.'”
Pasadena Playhouse Gets Monetary Pledges
“[I]t remains unclear how substantial those offers are and whether they are enough to save the institution. In its most recent blog post, the company stated that it has ‘been inundated with generous messages of support and many have offered to pledge money to help keep this venerable institution operational.'”