What determines whether a book will endure or be considered great? “It comes down to relevance, what people are looking for today and how they can apply what the author is talking about to their lives.”
Tag: 04.26.04
Peabody’s Renaissance
Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory unveils a $27 million redo of its campus. “It is a good time for Peabody. The endowment has reached $70 million, and an association with Johns Hopkins University has proved beneficial for both institutions. Not bad for a place that came perilously close to bankruptcy a mere 27 years ago. Much of the credit for Peabody’s renaissance must be given to Robert Sirota, a composer and conductor who has been the institute’s director since 1995 and oversaw the renovation.”
Downloading Up (Illegal Down)
A new study on music downloading reports that “an estimated 6 million people have stopped downloading copyrighted music from the Internet over fears that they may sued by the recording industry, but the overall number of Americans who download music is rising with the popularity of iTunes, Napster and other legitimate online music services.”
Springer Opera Coming To US
Jerry Springer – The Opera” is making its US debut in 2005 in San Francisco. “The show has the distinction of being the only one ever to win all four major London awards for best musical.”
Louvre: Mona Lisa Is Deteriorating
The Louvre said Monday that the Mona Lisa is deteriorating much more quickly than previously thought. “The thin, poplar wood panel on which the artwork is painted has become deformed since conservation experts last evaluated the condition of the painting, the Louvre said. The artwork is inspected every 1-2 years. The Louvre said the condition of the Mona Lisa was causing “some worry” and that a new study has been launched, but one that will allow the painting to remain in the public eye.”
Springer Opera To Broadway
Jerry Springer – The Opera will open on Broadway in October 2005. “The production, which features bad language, tap-dancing Ku Klux Klan members and a man wearing a giant nappy, may be something of a gamble in the US. Despite an increasingly conservative approach to indecency, producer Jon Thoday has vowed the material will not be toned down. Either it will be the most enormous hit or audiences will walk out in horror.”
Cultural Cross-Purposes – What Binds Europe?
As Europe’s countries tie themselves closer, one wonders about what ties them together culturally. “The union’s old and new members alike know surprisingly little about one another’s artistic inventiveness today. Creative life may be flourishing in widely different ways across Europe, but the most common cultural link across the region now is a devotion to American popular culture in the form of movies, television and music. In a Europe committed to seeking ‘ever closer union,’ where a dozen countries already share a currency, culture seems to have fallen out of step. Even as Europeans visit one another’s cities and beaches more than ever, national self-obsessions prevail in the visual arts, new plays, literature, contemporary classical music, pop music and movies.”
Timbuktu: City Of Letters
Timbuktu is legendarily at the ends of the earth. “But it is here that some of the most astonishing developments in African intellectual history have been occurring. In recent years, thousands of medieval manuscripts that include poetry by women, legal reflections and innovative scientific treatises have come to light, reshaping ideas about African and Islamic civilizations. Yet even as this cache is being discovered, it is in danger of disappearing, as sand and other grit are abrading many of the aging texts, causing them to disintegrate.”
Rinder Leaves Whitney… More To Leave?
awrence R. Rinder, curator of contemporary art at the Whitney Museum of American Art for four years, has resigned to become dean of graduate studies at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.” It looks like there may be further curatorial changes to come at the Whitney.
The Netflix Connection
In a world of human connections frequently reduced to brotherhoods of similar technological interests, the cult of Netflix is emerging as the new dorky connection point of the high-minded film buff. The online movie-rental service, which offers a nearly unfathomable catalog of foreign and independent films, is the hottest thing in movie rental, but can it be sustained in an industry so bent on constant reinvention?