Is opera becoming too much the same wherever you go? “Travel to New York, Paris or London, and the similarity of the performances can make it difficult to tell one night at the opera from another. This is “international” opera – the type that could happen anywhere, any time, anyhow. Today’s top singers travel around with their latest roles in their baggage just as much as their illustrious predecessors did. No, the real problem today is that singers on the lower rungs of the ladder have started to travel just as frenetically. Those companies that still want to retain a resident ensemble are finding it impossible to hang on to the singers they need.”
Tag: 07.04.03
Defending BBC Arts
Why is anyone criticizing the BBC’s new arts show? It’s barely got to air. “Having recognised that in recent years we lost our focus with arts programming, the BBC is now injecting new energy and verve, along with extra money, into its cultural output. What makes me proudest of arts on the BBC right now is the increasing richness and diversity of its programmes, which are tailored for a range of channels and their specific audiences.”
Sydney Police Raid Movie Theatre
Police raid a theatre planning to show an American movie that has been banned in Australia. “The crowd was reported to be more than 500-strong with another 100 outside due to overcrowding. Organisers, under the banner of Free Cinema, said last night’s event was not just about one film, but rather a wave of films that had been banned in recent years. ‘Where does it stop? I hate what is happening as far as censorship in this country is concerned. We are not allowed to see a film that millions of people around the world have seen’.”
Experts Criticize Iraq Exhibition
Last Thursday, American authorities in Baghdad put objects from the Iraq National Museum on display. But only for two hours. “As propaganda stunts go it was not very successful. American archaeologists immediately accused the authorities of putting at risk the fragile 3,000-year-old golden ornaments by rushing them from the vaults of the Central Bank and back again to show that the looting of the museum had not been as bad as first claimed. ‘I think it is an act of propaganda. It is to show that nothing really happened to the museum. No curator in the world would allow this sort of exhibition unless ordered to do so’.”
Why Invest In Arts? Because Of “We The People”
California legislators are deciding whether to eliminate the California Arts Council. The state has a huge budget deficit, but doesn’t the state have a compelling interest in investing in culture, too? “Not as a matter of deciding what pictures get painted, not as a matter of supporting this or that artist, but as a matter of promoting excellence, the ‘common wealth.’ We certainly pay enough lip service to these ideals…”
NEA: Colorado Can Keep Grant Money
The National Endowment for the Arts has decided to let the state of Colorado keep this year’s NEA grant of $613,000. “The funding was at risk after the Colorado legislature reduced next year’s funding to the CCA from $1.9 million to $200,000, leaving the agency with just one full-time employee. In the past, the NEA has not funded states lacking a fully functioning state arts council.”
California Arts Council Fights For Its Life
The California Arts Council is in dancer of going out of business next week. “The arts council is listed on a seven- to eight-page document totaling $11 billion in cuts, and it includes things like hearing aids for people with hearing disorders – so when you’re looking at things that are sustenance for the elderly, the blind and the disabled, you have to keep that in mind when you’re looking at the arts council.”