Glyndebourne’s touring opera, founded in 1968, has not only helped dispel the more famous summer festival’s reputation as an elitist playground; it has also launched some notable talents – Pavarotti, Roberto Alagna, and Simon Rattle’s conducting debut. “This is the other side of Glyndebourne. This is a world of low ticket prices, orchestras in improvised pits (or no pit at all), box offices that have to juggle selling opera seats with marketing their own Christmas pantomimes, and distraught divas.” – The Independent (UK)
Tag: 10.02.00
THE NY PHIL SWEEPSTAKES
The name-the-next-New-York-Philharmonic-music-director game continues. Peter G. Davis takes a look at the contenders. “I wouldn’t count out anything in this latest crazy round of musical chairs. When I left Barenboim’s hotel suite, who should be ushered in, with a hungry look in his eye, but Zarin Mehta?” – New York Magazine
RESOURCEFULNESS MAKES THE OPERA
The Welsh National Opera has almost no money. So the company has found other ways to dress up its productions and make them a critical success. – The Guardian
NEW TAKE ON YEHUDI
Yehudi Menuhin had a turbulent life, the result, claims a new biography, of a tortured childhood as a child prodigy. “Yehudi was barred from all games to preserve his hands. He was not allowed a bicycle, and did not cross the road unaccompanied until he was 18. He had only one day at school, and was tutored at home along with his brilliant younger sisters, Hephzibah and Yaltah. It could not have been a more abnormal childhood.” – The Scotsman
BETTER TO PIRATE THAN KEEP SINGING ABOUT MAO?
Despite ongoing government surveillance, new music is flowing more freely in China due in large part to the internet. Piracy is rampant, but some say illegal copies are the only way around decades of censorship. “Even today, anyone who records a CD has to submit its lyrics on paper to state censors for their approval. ‘If the government wants to dictate what we should listen to, we have no choice but to rely on pirated stuff.’” – Newsweek (International Edition)
HOW CANADA GOT ITS OWN THEATRE
Back in the 1960s Canada’s regional theatres didn’t produce Canadian plays because they said there weren’t good Canadian plays. And maybe it was true. But a Trudeau government program helped feed a lot of actors and soon enough there were Canadian plays worth watching. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
PLAYING TO THE CROWDS AT THE EXPENSE OF SCHOLARSHIP
The US’s National Endowment for the Humanities has been supporting popular traveling exhibitions in an attempt to reach out to audiences. “To many scholars, the idea that the endowment supports barn photography with enthusiasm while it considers cutting scholarly projects represents a terrible shift in priorities. And to these scholars, the shift couldn’t come at a worse time, since the agency is already short on cash, with a budget of only $115-million.” – Chronicle of Higher Education 10/02/00
PIERRE TRUDEAU AND THE ARTS
Artists reflect on Trudeau’s arts legacy. “Although he was not responsible for the initial commitment of the federal government to fund Canadian artists, he certainly made sure they were well supported during his years in office.” – CBC 10/02/00
TEAM PLAYERS
How many artists’ work would benefit from a good partnership? – New York Times 10/02/00
THE ART OF COMMUNICATING
“The answer to the problems facing humankind in the 21st century was not more action, but more talk. Not lectures, nor speeches, nor poetry, nor prose, nor song, nor stories, nor debates, nor testimony, nor prayer, nor trials, nor sales pitches, nor talking cures, nor motivational speakers. Only one type of speech was called for: Facing a new millennium, in the age of the internet, what was needed was more conversation.” – The Idler 10/02/00