Jennifer Edwards: “I hate to be a kill-joy, but the vast majority of classical art pieces were designed as product placement ads paid for by monarchs and religious institutions. The Sistine Chapel is an advertisement, just like Shakespearean plays and Swan Lake – all were bought and paid for by the wealthy for a purpose.”
Tag: 08.26.10
Hollywood Gives Godard an Honorary Oscar. He Shrugs.
“[A]fter two days of frantic effort, the Academy has failed to track down Godard to inform him of his good fortune. Letters, faxes and calls have all gone unanswered, and they now suspect that the reclusive film-maker may be deliberately ignoring them.”
‘The Most Celebrated Homosexual Since Oscar Wilde’ and How He Changed Ballet
“[This] gay Pygmalion was most galvanized when he could turn these male Galateas” – Nijinsky, Massine, Lifar – “into artists the world would worship. Ballet had hitherto been essentially a heterosexual art glorifying femininity, but now a long series of Diaghilev ballets cast more luster on hero than heroine.”
The Great Punch & Judy Treasure Trove, Now at the V&A
“A vast archive telling the story of a hunchbacked, self-satisfied monster who regularly attacks his wife, drops the baby, assaults a police officer and fights a crocodile for sausages, has been acquired by the V&A.”
A Creative Map Of Toronto
“While the service class makes up the largest share of jobs in Toronto, creative class workplaces have significantly better access to the city’s fastest transit infrastructure.”
Two Competing Visions For The Internet
“This discussion sees the collision of two very different concepts of freedom. One side insists that individuals should be able to freely access information at any time. The other calls for the companies operating the system to have the freedom to devise new business models.”
Ozawa Makes Tentative Recovery
“Japan’s most famous orchestral conductor, Seiji Ozawa, has concluded esophageal cancer treatment but will only conduct one piece in September concerts since his health remains frail, organizers said.”
Emmys Ponder Awards Future On TV
“The current agreement, reached in 2002 and expiring this year, created an annual network rotation that brought the ceremony to ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, and gave the TV academy a huge boost in its license fees.”
Another Music Critic Down – Orange County Register Assigns Classical Critic To Celeb Beat
Tim Mangan: “Beginning on September 13, I will be writing the People column for the Orange County Register five days a week. I’ll be covering the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dr. Laura (did I spell those right?) and all the other worthies whom readers can’t get enough of. Drunken tirades, courtroom dramas and sex scandals will be the grist of my mill. No joke.”
The Joys of Broadway Replacement Casting
“Although it may be disappointing for those who live outside New York to see replacement casting, there is such a wealth of theater talent in the city – and such a dearth of new material for them to perform – that you can see some pretty amazing performances fairly deep into the run of a long-running musical.”