Auden At Centennial: Popular, And Still Defiant

A century after his birth, W.H. Auden “resists the efforts of readers to delimit him or publishers to comfortably sell him…. The poet who makes me go to his beloved OED to find out what those obscure, toothsome words mean is the same poet who demanded that the poems in his first Collected Poetry in 1945 be printed alphabetically according to the first word of each poem rather than chronologically, so as to frustrate readers’ preconceived notions about him.”

The Complexity Of Expectation

Thomas Adès is frequently championed as the “savior” of British music, a label he is not the least bit comfortable with. “It’s clear the weight of expectation on him has been a mixed blessing… He has an uneasy relationship with the media. His publisher Sally Cavendish explains that an early interview implied unfairly that he was comparing himself to Mozart, while another opened by asking him if he was the new Britten.”

Growing Up On Stage

“Daniel Radcliffe’s powerful stage debut in ‘Equus’ suggests he’s heading for a career beyond the ‘Harry Potter’ films.” But for many child actors, the road to adult success proves to be a harsh dead end. So why can some make the transition while others falter?

Pinter’s Moment At Last

Harold Pinter is hot again in the UK, and after a relatively quiet 75th birthday year for the playwright, it seems that everyone in theatre wants to make up for lost time. “One sign of any genuine creative artist is that he or she is always ahead of the game: they see or hear something that the rest of us don’t. Both artistically and politically, Pinter has persistently been ahead of the pack; and now the public and critics are at last catching up with him.”

Sonning Prize Honors Pärt

“Arvo Pärt, whose meditative, spiritually-themed music has made him among the most popular and recorded of living classical composers, has been named the winner of the 2008 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, Denmark’s top award in the field.” The award pays just over $100,000.

Reviewing Films, The Christian Way

It’s been clear for a while that conservative Christians in America aren’t exactly satisfied with the menu of entertainment options being served up at our national trough, and a mini-industry catering to the needs of the pious has even sprung up. But did you know that writing movie reviews from a Christian perspective has itself become a profession? Nearly 100 critics around the country offer such reviews, ranging from dire warnings against the evil of Harry Potter to simple cataloging of offensive language and sexual content.

Writing Is Good. Talking About Writing Is Better.

It can be ridiculously difficult for unproven authors to attract the attention of a publisher, not to mention an audience of readers. Increasingly, authors are turning to technology – specifically, the podcast – to get their name out there. The literary podcast has even become widespread enough for a dedicated download site devoted to the subgenre to spring up.

Turner Painting To Remain In UK

“One of JMW Turner’s finest watercolours will remain in the UK after the Tate launched a campaign to keep the masterpiece in the country. The Blue Rigi was sold at auction last June to an anonymous bidder for £5.8m – a record for a British watercolour. The culture minister put a temporary bar on the painting leaving the country to give the Tate time to raise the £4.95m it needed to buy it back. The total has now been reached after members of the public donated £550,000.”

Sex & Violins Violas

The UK music magazine Muso recently commissioned a study on the sex lives of classical musicians, and while musicians themselves were all too willing to participate, the usual array of pretentious classical critics has lined up to take shots. But really, who cares about them? What everyone wants to know is, in which section of the orchestra will you find the most promiscuous sorts? (It’s the viola section, of course.)

Subscribers Revolt Against Seattle Ticket Hikes

The Seattle Symphony is being blasted by its subscribers after instituting huge price increases for some seats in its concert hall. “Although there were only modest price increases, from this season to next, for most of the seats in Benaroya Hall — generally 10 percent and less — the third tier (fourth level) was hit, in some cases, with increases of more than 300 percent.”