“Unplugged, the Japanese distributor of [Oscar-winning documentary] The Cove, said three cinemas had cancelled screenings amid fears they would be disrupted by ultra-nationalists, who have denounced the film as ‘anti-Japanese’.”
Tag: 06.08.10
Jennifer Higdon Gets Wired With A Sextuple Concerto
“On a Wire begins with the six musicians” of the ensemble called eighth blackbird “gathered around the open-lidded piano, most of them ‘bowing’ the interior strings with horsehair (it worked better than fishing line) to eerie, almost electronic-music effect.”
Dramatists Guild: NY Musical Theatre Fest Bad For Writers
“In a letter sent last week to members, the guild explained that NYMF’s new contract entitles the festival to 2 percent of the applicant and author’s gross ‘on all income received from the play in excess of $20,000 over 10 years.'” The guild says that’s “too high for a presenting festival that already asks participants to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.”
English Nat’l Ballet Loses Guest Star To Visa Snafu
Polina Semionova was supposed to make a triumphant return to London in ENB’s 60th anniversary production of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall. But she “is stuck in her home city of Berlin, the apparent victim of a new visa system.”
Where Wagner Went Wrong: How The Ring Ruined Modern Opera
“[Some of his] basic ideas have been part of operatic writing ever since, and they don’t strike me as very good ones a lot of the time – in particular, the tendency to have the melody in the orchestra and the singers sort of noodling away on top of it.” Tchaikovsky nailed the problem back in 1876.
Polish National Museum Backs Gay Rights With Show
Already threatened with demonstrations, the exhibition about homoeroticism will mainly “feature classical works from the National Museum’s collection, juxtaposed with contemporary art. The director, Piotr Piotrowski, said its emphasis will lie on eastern Central European art because ‘here the battle for equal rights for homosexuals continues’.”
Arts Advocacy’s Rhetorical Deficit
“Arguments that used to work on behalf of the arts no longer always do. And the arguments advocates are using instead all too often miss the point, by making roundabout claims that ignore what makes art appealing on a gut level.”
Fashioning Drama Out Of Female MPs’ Words
“With 22% of its MPs female, Britain is number 50 in the league table of women in parliament, a dubious distinction it shares with the Czech Republic, Eritrea, Latvia and Uzbekistan,” playwright Gillian Slovo writes. “But what I needed to understand was why the mother of parliaments came so low in the table.”
The iPad’s Marginalia Problem
“One of the guilty pleasures of an actual, ink-on-paper book is the possibility of marking it up–underlining salient passages, making notes in the margins, dog-earing a page. While it’s true that some electronic book platforms for the iPad allow highlighting,” and some e-readers “allow you to type notes, they barely take advantage of being digital.”
Spain To Reopen ‘Sistine Chapel Of Prehistoric Art’
“A cave complex boasting prized prehistoric paintings will reopen after eight years of closure, despite scientists’ warnings that heat and moisture from human visitors damage the site … [V]isits to the Caves of Altamira in the northern Cantabria region will resume next year, although on a still-unspecified, restricted basis.”