“Philip Glass and John Corigliano are both regarded as classical composers first and foremost despite their work for the cinema. But both, as Jed Distler found out, find that the lines between classical and film music are by no means clear-cut.”
Tag: 02.20.17
General Director Who Stabilized Bolshoi Theater Gets Term Extended By Putin Himself
There was even more backstage drama than usual at Russia’s flagship opera and ballet theater earlier this decade – most famously, the acid attack on former ballet director Sergei Filin, but also on the opera side. Vladimir Urin was hired in 2013 to bring order to the house, and the President seems pleased with how Urin has done it.
Unknown Novel By Walt Whitman Rediscovered
The Life and Adventures of Jack Engle, published without a byline, was serialized in the New York Sunday Dispatch 165 years ago. Jennifer Schuessler tells how a graduate student at the University of Houston found the novel and figured out its authorship.
‘Moonlight’ And ‘Arrival’ Win Writers Guild’s Best Screenplay Prizes
At the last of the big awards ceremonies before the Oscars on Sunday, “Moonlight won for best screenplay, and Arrival for best adapted screenplay; it was based on the Ted Chiang novella Story of Your Life.”
How Herbert Blomstedt Keeps Up His Busy Conducting Schedule At 90
“Some journalists want me, of course, to say it’s because I never smoked, or because I’m a vegetarian, or because I keep the Sabbath.” [Blomstedt is a Seventh-Day Adventist.] “But that’s not the reason. …. Churchill drank lots of whiskey and smoked enormous big cigars, and he lived to be 90 or so.”
A ‘Rescue Mission’ To See If Anything Can Be Rescued After ISIS’s Destruction Of Nimrud
“An Iraqi archaeologist who was recently given emergency training by the British Museum is leading a rescue operation in Nimrud, the Assyrian site which was almost totally destroyed by [ISIS] extremists. The archaeologist has been appointed by Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to investigate the damage and stablise what can be saved.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.20.17
On Entrepreneurialism and Publicness (or Whose Theatre Is It, Really?)
I was disquieted when I encountered [Richard Swedberg’s] discussion of cultural entrepreneurship a few years ago; however, it took completing a case study on the Margo Jones Theatre last year for me to identify the source of my unease. … read more
AJBlog: Jumper Published 2017-02-20
The president who hated Marcel Duchamp
A historian friend of mine reminded me the other day that Theodore Roosevelt attended and wrote about the 1913 Armory Show, the first major exhibition of modern art to be held in America. What’s more, … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-02-20
PDX Jazz Festival: Heath Bros, Jackson, Ulmer
Jimmy Heath is 90 years old. His kid brother Albert (Tootie) is 80. They don’t act or sound their ages. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-02-20
Larry Coryell Is Gone
Guitarist Larry Coryell died over the weekend in New York City. He was 73. A pioneer of jazz-rock and fusion, throughout his career Coryell was capable of delicacy and softness in guitar … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-02-20
Jazz Guitarist Larry Coryell, 73
“Coryell was still performing more than 50 years after his first recordings. He played at New York jazz club Iridium on Friday and Saturday night, and had plans for a summer tour with his fusion group The Eleventh House.”
Simon & Schuster Cancels Yiannopoulos’ Book
“Simon & Schuster received a hefty backlash to their decision to publish Dangerous in the first place, given Yiannopoulos’ history of xenophobia, misogyny, and hate speech. Some critics threatened to boycott the publishing house in response, and Roxane Gay withdrew her upcoming book from the publisher in protest.”
Just Six Months After The Olympics, Rio And Brazil Are A Disaster
“The budget disaster in Rio could be attributed to many factors, such as the fall in the oil prices, the expansion of the government payroll and the general recession. But there’s no doubt that reckless spending on the World Cup and the Olympics played a role. The city of Rio will be paying off the debts it amassed for years, while it also now has to maintain the arenas it built.”