“For music where pitch specificity is extremely important,” – much contemporary and early music – “a variance of a semitone can be extremely disorienting. …[S]uch-and-such singer’s technique doesn’t effectively serve the music.”
Tag: 09.01.09
Sam Wanamaker, Communist Threat — Or So MI5 Believed
“Secret MI5 files released today show that the secret services intended [in the 1950s] to imprison Wanamaker in an internment camp ‘in the event of an emergency with Russia’, because of his communist sympathies. The Chicago-born theatre director and actor” — who’d “moved to Britain after he was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee” — “went on to raise millions of pounds to rebuild Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London….”
Never Mind The Kindle. How ‘Bout Reading On Your Phone?
“The full-colour, touch-sensitive screens of the latest handsets are winning over those who doubted whether screens could ever match the convenience of the traditional paperback, and setting off a race between publishers to get their authors into a new market.”
A Homeless Hostel With A Rare Amenity: Beautiful Design
“A long, low building snaking around three sides of a garden, the hostel’s clean lines and white walls hark back to the work of early modernists such as Le Corbusier or JJP Oud. But then what should a homeless hostel look like anyway? Before Spring Gardens, the first purpose-built homeless hostel in Britain, it was a question no one needed to ask.”
Alfred Hitchcock Offers Oscars A Cautionary Tale
“When there were more than five nominees for best picture between 1934 and 1943, the preferential ballot was used to choose winners,” which is why it’s being reinstituted now, likely leading to “schizophrenic and illogical” results. “One of the most notable disagreements between those races back in the old days led to one of Oscar’s greatest tragedies: the snubbing of one of Hollywood’s greatest directors, Alfred Hitchcock, who ended up going to his grave Oscarless….”
Redford, Rushdie, Ruscha Among Arts Awards Honorees
“The Americans for the Arts has announced the recipients of its 2009 National Arts Awards, which will be handed out on Oct. 5 at a ceremony in New York.”
Google Books Settlement Gains Another Foe: Germany
“Germany opposes the Google Inc. book settlement, claiming in court papers it would ‘irrevocably alter the landscape of international copyright law.’ The agreement ‘runs afoul of the applicable German national laws, as well as European public initiatives to create non-commercial worldwide digital libraries,’ the government said yesterday in federal court papers in New York.”
Beware Artificial Intelligence!
“Robotics expert Noel Sharkey used to be a believer in artificial intelligence. So why does he now think that AI is a dangerous myth that could lead to a dystopian future of unintelligent, unfeeling robot carers and soldiers?”
Oakland Ballet Alums Return To See Company Through Rough Spot
“Choreographer Michael Lowe couldn’t say no when the Oakland Ballet asked him to step in as a guest artistic director in the wake of founder Ronn Guidi’s sudden resignation in April. … Lowe and another Oakland Ballet veteran, ballerina Jenna McClintock, have been hired on an interim basis to keep the company dancing.”
Bath’s Historic Theatre Royal To Get Revamp
“Theatre Royal Bath is planning a major refurbishment scheme which it hopes will reintroduce the ‘wow factor’ back to the venue, reduce running costs and meet access[ibility] requirements … [The Royal] dates back to 1805 and is one of the few remaining theatres dating from the early 19th century that is still serving its original purpose.”