“Who reads poetry, what does it mean to ‘understand’ poetry, and who cares about poets? According to The New Yorker (or to the critics it quotes), the Poetry Foundation’s mission to broaden the audience for poetry is a lamentable one, for with popularity comes mediocrity.” The Poetry Foundation answers back…
Tag: 02.15.07
Walker Stung In Loan Dispute
A piece by Huang Yong Ping was loaned to an exhibition at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and then abruptly pulled from the show following a dispute over restoration costs. Then it was quickly sold at auction. “We had already promised the piece to other museums on the exhibition tour so we had to find a work to substitute it. People who behave like this are not interested in art or artists. They are only interested in making money. Museums are powerless to prevent these abuses,”
The Difference A Concert Hall Makes
The Chicago Symphony played back-to-back concerts in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. “The Monday night program at the auditorium-like Broward Center for the Performing Arts was certainly an enjoyable evening, with a range of sound and contrasts in volume and tone audible at least from the first balcony. Tuesday night, however, it was as if the switch had been flipped from mono to stereo, starting with the way you could almost hear the silence that surrounded each work and movement.”
“Follies” Perks Up Broadway – A Move To Broadway?
“The Encores! concert version of ‘Follies’ that ran over the weekend has jolted Broadway out of its midwinter slump. Not since “Chicago” came roaring out of City Center 10 years ago has an Encores! production generated this much excitement.”
The Royal Ballet’s Heroic War Years
“The Royal didn’t just continue dancing through the war years – it heroically danced for Britain. The company, still at that time called the Vic Wells Ballet, was kept in business largely because the government decided it could be useful for morale.”
Komische Oper In Berlin Hires St. Clair
Berlin’s Komische Oper has announced that when Kirill Petrenko’s contract expires at the end of this season, Carl St. Clair will succeed him. For 17 seasons St. Clair has headed California’s Pacific Symphony, including a noteworthy European tour.
What’s Behind The Louvre’s Foreign Rentals Plan
“It is obvious that [this deal] is about petrodollars and military relations. It came from the [French] finance and foreign affairs ministries and [Louvre director] Mr Loyrette, a man of culture, has had to support it even if he doesn’t believe in it.”
Drawing A Bead On The Dan Brown Formula
“The much-borrowed Brown formula involves some very specific things. The name of a great artist, artifact or historical figure must be in the book’s story, not to mention on its cover. The narrative must start in the present day with a bizarre killing, then use that killing as a reason to investigate the past. And the past must yield a secret so big, so stunning, so saber-rattling that all of civilization may be changed by it. Probably not for the better.”
Wanna Be A Video Star? (And Get Paid For It?)
“As video sites look for ways to attract higher-quality content, they are dangling cash, usually offering to cut creators in on the advertising revenue their work generates.” And some of the more popular performers are making good money.
NY Times Names A New Chief Dance Critic
“Alastair Macaulay is to be the next chief dance critic of The New York Times, the newspaper announced to its staff today. Macaulay, chief theater critic of the Financial Times and previously chief dance critic of The Times Literary Supplement, succeeds John Rockwell, who “retired”(his word) in December after 26 years with the newspaper, the last two of them as chief dance critic.”