“The idea that now, having won the Nobel Prize and when his reputation as a playwright is higher than it has ever been, he is going to perform Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape is a testament to his bravery and his need, like a gambler needs chance, to put his life and his happiness in the uneasy hands of an audience.”
Tag: 10.08.06
Opera Where It Lives (Out Of The Mainstream)
What is the heart of opera all about anyway? Big overly-familiar productions of Boheme and Tosca and Carmen that everyone knows? Or is it small experimental productions that are attempting to keep the art form revitalizing?
The History Of Architecture On Denver Streets
With the opening of its new Daniel Libeskind-designed art museum, Denver has amassed an impressive array of public buildings. “There’s an unbelievable assembly with the library and the DAM buildings and the residences. Within a block, you almost can trace the development of architecture since the Second World War.”
Online Help Revolutionizing Music Instruction
“From the real-time animated guitar fretboard of workshoplive.com to the truefiretv.com on-demand guitar lessons to the animated courses of Berkleemusic.com, students are increasingly able to forgo formal lessons in favor of à la carte online instruction with as little or as much human interaction as they want.”
San Diego Symphony Tries To Invent Orchestra Of The Future
Attendance at the Masterworks programs has increased roughly 50 percent during the past five years, with approximately 60,000 people attending the orchestra’s core classical concerts at Copley Symphony Hall last year.
Genre Indie Stores Hold Off Chains
Less than 40 percent of books sold in America are sold by independent bookstores. But “genre stores, specializing in literature ranging from fantasy to religion, have bucked this trend by catering to inveterate and demanding readers. Booksellers in southern California, New York, Minneapolis and elsewhere are finding ways to be profitable by targeting specific markets.”
Indie Book Stores Fight Back
Even as 200 to 300 independent bookstores close a year, the number of independent book stores opening is creeping up. “For a long time, from 1992 to 2002, you literally could count on two hands the number of openings. In the last three years there are 60, 70, 80 stores opening.”
San Diego Symphony Keeps Its Balance
The San Diego Symphony has managed to balance its books even as the organization grows. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that a major benefactor pledged $100 million a few years ago…
Boston Theatres Think New
“From tiny Centastage to the Lyric Stage Company, New Repertory Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, North Shore Music Theatre, and the American Repertory Theatre, the area is becoming a veritable incubator for new plays and musicals, many by local artists.”
Merce Cunningham, Made For An iPod
“Cunningham has a reputation for Difficult Art. On the high-culture scale, he’s considered so high you would need a telescope. But difficulty for its own sake has never been his point.”