“The Atlanta Opera, one of the metro arts groups hardest hit by the struggling economy, is receiving a $9 million bequest from longtime board member Barbara D. Stewart, who died last year … The bequest is believed to be the largest gift in the opera’s history and one of the larger gifts known to a North American opera company.”
Tag: 02.17.11
Cezanne’s Subversive Card Players
“The first thing Cézanne did was to suck all the merriment out of such scenes, and substitute instead an atmosphere of quiet, almost reverential, absorption. [He] was no puritanical killjoy. His business was to restore artistic vitality to subjects that had hardened into cliché and class-based prejudice.”
Is Anna Nicole Smith a Worthy Subject for Opera?
Librettist Richard Thomas: “What’s ‘worthy’? And who gets to decide? Everything is a fitting subject for an opera. Every life lived contains glory and tragedy. If we live our lives on a scale of one to 10, then most of us, most of the time, experience something between three and seven. Anna was ones and 10s from beginning to end.”
Google Trumps Apple’s Content Subscription Service With Plan Of Its Own
“Google’s service, called Google One Pass, is a way for online publishers to sell digital content on the Web and through mobile applications using Google’s existing payment service, Google Checkout. Readers will be able to get access to that content on many devices using their Google e-mail address and password.”
Marin Alsop Appointed Director Of Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra in Brazil
Alsop, who succeeds Yan Pascal Tortelier in the Sao Paulo post, plans to remain as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which she joined in 2007.
Do We Really Need Libraries In An Age Of E-Books?
“Public libraries are accessible, multi-generational, classless, community spaces providing free access to books, information and an increasing range of services. With or without ebooks, this country cannot afford to lose them.”
Is Reading Over-Rated?
“One might argue that literacy is unalloyedly a good thing – yes, I can think of counter-examples, but then again one always can – but it is pretty clear to me that reading, as in reading of literature, is not. What we read can affect us vitally, penetrate, stimulate and inform us, but not always in the right ways, or at the right times, or about the right things.”
Oscar Redesigns Its Envelopes
The envelopes and announcement cards that herald the winners of the Academy Awards have gotten a glam facelift thanks to designer Marc Friedland. The envelopes are such an integral part of the Academy Awards, yet there has never been a dramatic, specially designed envelope and card to announce the Oscar recipients,”
Grammys Show Indy Music Labels Are Mainstream
“A lot of the jaws that hit the floor when those two categories were announced were those of independents. Independent artists winning against Eminem? A lot of people were thinking, ‘This is insane!’ “
Stolen Egyptian Museum Artifact Found Outside On Ground
“A statement from Hawass’ ministry said a protester had found the 7 centimetre (2.8 inch) long limestone statue lying on the ground outside the museum in central Cairo during the demonstrations.”