“Words are the dialectical battleground of Pinter’s works, sometimes treasured and hoarded like irreplaceable gems, sometimes scattered heedlessly like junk in a looted dime store. His people live by them, betray them, bicker over them, flay one another with them.”
Tag: 10.12.05
TV Shows For Your iPod
Apple’s new video iPod will show downloads of TV shows the day after they air. “The newest member of the popular iPod line will feature a 2-1/2 inch wide color screen and the capacity to store up to 150 hours of video in addition to music and photos. The rollout of the product will coincide with the expansion of Apple’s iTunes online store, which is selling 2,000 music videos, television shows and other short films that can be watched on the iPod or a personal computer.”
Overall, States Increase Arts Funding
“Of the 50 states, the analysis found, 33 increased their state arts appropriations, 10 made cuts, and seven remained the same in comparison to the 2005 fiscal year. According to the report, this translates into a $21.9 million overall increase, or about 8%.”
What Pavarotti Was (And Isn’t)
At the age of 70, Luciano Pavarotti is retiring. “Genius is a big word, which should be used carefully. Connoisseurs will never rate Pavarotti as the most elegant or subtle interpreter among tenors – they look to Carlo Bergonzi for that. Nor did he have a voice as romantically beautiful as the young José Carreras. Marvellous as his technique of vocal production was, I wonder whether he ever commanded quite the flexibility of the phenomenal Juan Diego Flórez. And for sheer versatility, musicianship, consistent excellence and shining nobility of soul, he can’t hold a candle to his great rival Plácido Domingo, who at 64 is still a force to be reckoned with. But Pavarotti had charm, and therein lay his genius.”
Recording Industry Attacks BBC
UK recording executives are angry at the BBC for offering free downloads of Beethoven symphonies last summer. The music was downloaded 1.4 million times. “Critics say the corporation is failing to take into account the market impact of its online and digital expansion, in spite of the new service licences introduced by the BBC chairman, Michael Grade, which were supposed to address this issue.”
Is Charlotte Church Lost?
“Listen closely to the singing and to her guileless comments and what you hear is a soul adrift, a craft without oars of growth or self-defence heading into an abyss. It is a familiar phenomenon: the sweet child torn from schoolbooks to stardom, doomed to a lifetime of letdowns. It is the story of Judy Garland and Michael Jackson, of Yehudi Menuhin and Evgeny Kissin, of Mozart, Nadia Comaneci and any chess master you care to name. Ignore the achievements, mighty as they might be. Rare is the child who overcomes a great gift to enjoy its fulfilment in maturity.”
Sun-Times Theatre Critic Gets Snubbed
Chicago critic Hedy Weiss was barred at Broadway producer David Stone’s press event announcing the Chicago arrival of his latest show, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. “According to the Sun-Times, public relations executive Margie Korshak called Weiss to tell her she wasn’t welcome at the event. Weiss showed up anyway and was refused entrance. The paper also reported that, at the press preview-which was attended by reporters from the Chicago Tribune – Stone called out Weiss’ name and then said, ‘She can’t be here because she’s in detention’.”
This year’s National Book Awards Finalists
Here’s the list
A Half-Billion Dollars Of Art?
It’s been a good fall for art sales. “Contemporary fairs and auctions in 2005’s fall and winter that might rake in 375 million euros ($455 million) or more from collectors by yearend, according to published figures and estimates by fair organizers.”
Smithsonian Snares Huge Cash Donation
“The Smithsonian Institution plans to announce today that it is receiving a $45 million donation for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, making the donor — the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation — the second-largest benefactor to the museum in the past dozen years.”