“Charles Rosen has built a career as both a front-rank concert pianist and a leading writer about music. As a pianist, his 60-year career has been notable for a vast spread of music that has taken in the core classical and romantic repertoires while also fruitfully engaging with Bach, early 20th-century French music, Martinu, Bartók, the second Viennese school, Boulez and Elliott Carter.”
Tag: 04.08.11
Movie Theatre Chains Battle Studios Over Video On Demand
“With the launch of a new premium video-on-demand initiative that will get movies from the theater to the TV screen a lot quicker around the corner, the nation’s largest theater chains are waging a public war with the Hollywood studios involved.”
A First: Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Sells A Million Digital Copies
The Stieg Larsson trilogy is selling at a clip of more than 500,000 copies a month in all formats. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” which went on sale in the United States in September 2008, has sold more than 300,000 copies in hardcover.
Would you Pay $30 For Video On Demand In Your Home?
“The issue is more about the shifting balance of power between studios and theatres. If 60 days works, why not reduce it to 30, or even video on the same day as the theatrical release? By cannibalizing their own profits early, the studios could be hurting the entire film business in the long run.”
When The Meanings Of Words Change
“We all know that words change their meanings all the time, sometimes glacially (the prescriptivists have been fighting on behalf of the original sense of disinterested for centuries), sometimes relatively quickly (that nonplussed thing snuck up on me). But this fact raises a question (it doesn’t beg the question–that means something else): How long should we hold on to a word’s old meaning?”
The Canadian Prime Minister, The Opera
“The timing of its arrival, just before Canadian voters go to the polls, could hardly be better. It will have its world premiere on the big screen on April 16 at 72 Cineplex theatres across Canada. An encore screening is scheduled for April 27. But take it from me, this won’t be anyone’s idea of a conventional Saturday afternoon at the opera.”
Study: Smartphones Transform The Ways People Think About Mass Transit
“The point is for transit agencies to provide enough information to put riders in control of their experience and have greater choice in when and where to ride. People don’t want to feel they are at the mercy of paper schedules, even if they are, and there’s nothing worse than waiting for buses that may or may not be on time.”
Last Year’s Summer Concert Tour Season Was A Disaster. An This Year?
“The importance of the summer concert season can’t be overstated for artists leaning on touring revenue, as CD sales continue to fall and audiences fragment. The industry is frantically brewing up new mixtures, trying to find something for everyone.”
The Evolution Of Simon Rattle (He’s Becoming More Conservative)
“I have learnt endlessly,” he says. Now, “when I go back to a favorite group in America, like Philly [the Philadelphia Orchestra], they say ‘Simon, just occasionally, a beat wouldn’t be a bad thing–if you can remember how to do that.”‘
Prominent UK Actors Protest Arts Funding Cuts
“Sir Patrick Stewart, Penelope Wilton and Samuel West are among the stars who have signed and delivered a petition to Downing Street calling for a “coherent” arts policy. Last week, more than 200 organisations lost out on annual funding from Arts Council England.”