“We should probably, after giving the thing a slow clap for its bold attempt to transform the Death of the Big Idea into a Big Idea of its own, just dismiss it as so much linkbaitery, and then get on with our (ever more trivial, ever more egotistical, ever more tweet-addled) lives. But the essay’s wrong, actually, in an interesting way.”
Tag: 08.15.11
Pittsburgh Symphony Music Director Takes Same Pay Cut As Musicians
“On the heels of the Pittsburgh Symphony musicians taking a 9.7 percent pay cut for their new contract, PSO music director Manfred Honeck announced today he will take a 10-percent reduction in his salary.”
Shammi Kapoor, 79, ‘The Elvis Of Bollywood’
With his first hit film in 1957, Kapoor “changed the face of Bollywood cinema … By dancing in the big musical numbers, the hip-swinging Kapoor bucked the Bollywood trend of a stationary hero” and a decorous, innocent approach to romance. He “became arguably the first male pin-up of the Indian subcontinent.”
Creating The National Ballet of China’s Peony Pavilion
“Adaptor and director Li Liuyi, choreographer Fei Bo and producer Zhao Ruheng talk to Andrew Dickson about the piece and the company’s tumultuous history, and describe their hopes for the future of dance in China.”
The World’s Latest Landmark Arts Center Is In … Iceland
Harpa, the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center, is made of more than 10,000 glass windows, including a south-facing double glass façade that refacts sunlight like a prism. The building officially opens this weekend, but preview performances in May attracted 100,00 visitors, equal to nearly one-third of the entire country’s population.
New York Philharmonic Launches Joint Venture With Shanghai Symphony
“In what appears to be a pioneering venture for both parties, the New York Philharmonic has signed an agreement with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to collaborate on a new orchestral training institute in Shanghai, as well as a series of touring exchanges and joint commissioning of new works.”
A Robot Head That Reads Music And Sings
“Try to fight your sense of rising panic: robot heads like this could soon be serving you in restaurants and serenading you with music.”
Woody Allen Casts Paparazzi To Play Paparazzi
“‘Being paid by a celebrity to take pictures of a celebrity was unusual,’ said Vitaliano Napolitano, a 20 year, moped riding veteran of Rome’s celebrity circuit. ‘And it became surreal when paparazzi not involved in the film showed up on set to snap us paparazzi as we played paparazzi in the film’.”
Tony Kushner Talks About The Honorary Degree Kerfuffle
“It didn’t leave permanent wounds because the response was so remarkable. I admit that when it first happened, I was horrified. … What really annoyed me was that it all happened in the week my new play was opening, and so deprived me of my usual agony and distress about the reviews.”
Thailand And Cambodia Battle Over Ownership Of Dance Gesture
“[A] new irritant has emerged that is stirring nationalist sentiment in both countries: ownership of a graceful hand position that is part of traditional dance and shadow plays.” The gesture is called the jeeb: “the thumb touches the index finger and the three other fingers are fanned out.”