“For modern performers, [this] music acts like a Rorschach inkblot test. … For all its meticulous craftsmanship, improvisational inspiration and matchless charm, Chopin’s music asks – but never demands – a degree of self-revelation not all performers are willing (or able) to give.”
Tag: 10.03.10
UK Film Industry Is ‘Frittering Away Millions’
“The British film industry is haemorrhaging so much money that it will not survive unless it changes its ways. Vast sums are being frittered away on needless production costs and most films recoup only a fraction of their multimillion-pound budgets.”
Director Robert Falls Goes Minimalist
In the past few years, the director of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre has been generous with the scenery, covering the stage with enormous boulders for Desire Under the Elms or heaps of rubble for A True History of the Johnstown Flood. But with this fall’s staging of The Seagull, he’s dropping the fancy production values and concentrating entirely on his actors.
Books By The Yard – The Annual Library Sale
“Probably all of the volunteer-run, big library book sales around the country have discussed the issue of hand scanners, and probably there are yearly re-hashings of the discussion. Some libraries have forbidden the scanners at the sales (though smart phones can and do provide the same data, just a bit more slowly; are they to be banned as well, and how would that accomplished?).”
Michael Cunningham on Novels – All Novels – in Translation
“I encourage the translators of my books to take as much license as they feel that they need. This is not quite the heroic gesture it might seem, because I’ve learned, from working with translators over the years, that the original novel is, in a way, a translation itself.”
Detroit Symphony Musicians Set To Strike
“Acrimony has escalated in recent weeks. The musicians denounced the cancellation of their life insurance and instrument insurance policies once the strike was declared even though players said they were willing to pay the premiums themselves.”
San Diego Symphony – Thriving At 100
“In San Diego, the symphony has moved from the status of a financially feeble and artistically erratic organization to an economically stable and musically energized public resource as it prepares to open a star-studded centennial season Friday at Copley Symphony Hall.”
Finalists For ArtPrize
Grand Rapids Michigan is filled with art as the second ArtPrize, the world’s richest art competition comes to town. Here’s a gallery of the finalists.
Why Critics Still Matter
“I believe critics matter more than ever. And not only because of what we write or say, what we like or don’t like. Critics are living, breathing, persnickety evidence that the arts matter, that the arts unite a community like nothing else ever could.”
Environmental Groups Divided On Christo’s Colorado River Project
“Those opposing scenarios have divided the ranks of environmental groups whose members are torn between an artistic appreciation for Christo’s grandiose projects and a drive to protect the natural environment.”