“The small but established downtown museum was to have shared a spangled new building near the memorial with the International Freedom Center, a still-unborn institution that is trying to coalesce out of murky good intentions. Pressured by families of the 9/11 victims, Gov. George Pataki and a coterie of cringing officials at the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. tried to force both institutions to declare that their exhibits would not be used as a platform for anti-American views.” The Freedom Center agreed, and the Drawing Center said no thanks.
Tag: 08.12.05
Russia’s Greatest Living Composer?
Fifteen years ago, Sofia Gubaidulina was little-known outside the Soviet Union. But “With the fall of the Soviet Union and a spate of large-scale commissions from orchestras in Europe, North America and Japan, Gubaidulina, now in her 70s, has become one of the most sought-after composers in the world. Success has brought modest independence and a small house outside Hamburg, where she lives quietly and simply, with close friends nearby. All she wants is to write music.”