Time Magazine art critic Robert Hughes survived a traumatic accident in Australia, then watched as Aussies took him to task. It’s part of the country’s love/hate attitudes about high culture, Hughes believes. “The whole Aussie experience has left him seriously considering throwing in his citizenship – renouncing the country he has so often defended. ‘What’s the point of going back? It’s like a dog returning to smell its vomit,’ he told me in our most recent telephone call.” – New Statesman
Tag: 09.11.00
EATING TO SUCCESS
Four years ago it looked like Joshua Reynolds was about to make his big breakthrough as a playwright. It didn’t quite work out though, and now, in his new role as a writer about food for the New York Times, Reynolds “finds himself in the literary tradition of Marcel Proust, finding in food the key to the recovery of lost times.” – The Idler
SCHWANN GOES WEBBIE
The venerable Schwann Catalog, the bible of recordings releases, ceases quarterly publication to go annual with ongoing web updates. “One of the reasons we’re doing this is that new releases come out so frequently that a quarterly catalog wasn’t timely enough. Also, the Schwann Opus quarterly was exceeding 1,200 pages. Over the years we’ve tried all sorts of tricks, abbreviating record label names, changing fonts, abbreviating instruments. But the size of the catalog made it very costly to print.” – New York Times
MUSIC MARATHON
The Berlin Festival is attempting the the most comprehensive survey of 20th Century music ever mounted – 83 programs in five weeks featuring 83 composers. “The festival is an awesome undertaking, and it provides a fascinating glimpse into how one of the world’s most musically important cities views recent history. It also shows the ferocious determination in Berlin to keep classical music a powerful and dominant art form. The lineup of concerts is no less than staggering.” – Los Angeles Times
MAHLER’S GO AT BEETHOVEN
The National Symphony performed Mahler’s redrawing of Beethoven symphonies last week. “What we heard was an interpretation that was obsessed with microscopic details of color, timbre and phrasing, one that added exclamation points to all the notes that Beethoven had already outlined in bold. Tempos fluctuated wildly to accentuate the arrival of dramatic or lyrical themes. Pregnant pauses heralded melodramatic climaxes. Altered bowings dissected phrases for closer scrutiny.” In short – it was magnificent. – Washington Post
REALPOLITIKS
- Al Gore and Joe Lieberman issue an ultimatum to the entertainment industry: “Mr. Gore said he would give industry officials six months to ‘clean up their act.’ If they do not, and if he and Mr. Lieberman win the November election, the vice president said he would encourage the Federal Trade Commission to move against the industry by using its power to prohibit false and deceptive advertising. – New York Times 09/11/00
BERLIN’S STRUGGLE FUNDING CULTURE
Why are Berlin’s cultural institutions in such difficult financial straits? Trying to support the culture of the former East Berlin has taken its toll. Now the city will get an extra 100 million DM a year from the federal German government on condition that certain elite Berlin institutions come under national control. – The Art Newspaper 09/11/00
HOW NUREYEV TRANSFORMED THE ROYAL BALLET
“Until Rudi came along all a man had to do to get into the Royal Ballet was, more or less, turn up and show willing. Nureyev completely changed the pace. He engaged with female dancers, manhandled them. It was exciting, virile.” – The Telegraph (London)
FTC TAKES AIM AT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
“This Big Tobacco-type drubbing comes from the Clinton-Gore administration just 28 days – long enough for the checks to clear? – after the same entertainment industry whooped the city of Los Angeles into one, huge week-long fund-raising party for Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and the Democratic Party.” – Inside.com
- NEXT UP – CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS: “Wednesday, Lynne Cheney, wife of GOP vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney and a longtime leading figure in the culture wars, will be called to testify. And she is only the latest high-profile figure from both parties eager to take part in what is shaping up to be such a congressional gangbang that representatives from the entertainment industry have decided to pull out of the hearings.” – Salon
- LIKELY OUTCOMES: Expect protests from the entertainment industry and a lot of grandstanding from politicians, but don’t expect any legislation. The entertainment industry will remain self-regulated, but it will be encouraged to get a lot better at that self-regulation. If it doesn’t, it will face a full-on assault, much like the tobacco industry has faced in the last several years. – Inside.com
- HOLLYWOOD PONDERS DAMNING REPORT: Hollywood was busy digesting Monday’s report by the US Federal Trade Commission on violence which concluded that “the movie, music and video game industries undermined their own rating systems by advertising to audiences for which the content is deemed inappropriate.” – Variety
THEATRE GLUT
“The proliferation of new theaters was supposed to usher in a golden new era of moviegoing, with screens available for new hits, the classics and indie films. In 1995 there were 27,805 screens in the United States. By last year the number had jumped 34 percent to 37,185.” Now some chains are going out of business because of the overbuilding. – Newsweek/MSNBC