“He transformed two old palazzos into the House of Cinema in the Villa Borghese and the House of Jazz near the Baths of Caracalla. He has been a staunch defender of Richard Meier’s ultramodern Ara Pacis Museum, which came under sharp criticism for being misplaced and ill-conceived after it opened to the public last spring. Then there is the Notte Bianca, an all-night cultural event in which Rome literally opens up its cultural treasures to guests and residents.”
Tag: 10.14.05
When Once America Reached Out To The World With Culture
“From the late 1940s through the end of the 1980s, the American government — along with the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations — sponsored lectures and conferences abroad on American history and literature; art exhibitions featuring America’s Abstract Expressionists and postmodern painters and sculptors; international tours of jazz musicians, symphony orchestras, and ballet companies, as well as of Broadway musicals and dramas; visiting professorships where American academics taught in foreign universities…” These interactions promoted understanding. But all the programs went away and now…
In Cleveland – It’s Critic Versus Conductor
It’s not often that an American music critic takes dead aim at the music director of the local orchestra. “Imagine, then, the horror felt by many people in Cleveland, Ohio, when Donald Rosenberg, critic of The Plain Dealer and one of North American’s most respected music journalists, came back from the Cleveland Orchestra’s recent west coast tour with an extremely blunt assessment of itsAustrian music director, Franz Welser-Möst. Three years into the conductor’s tenure, wrote Rosenberg, Welser-Möst’s interpretations were ‘vacant’; he was a conductor of ‘high proficiency and low inspiration’.”
Simon: No To Pinter Nobel
Flamethrower John Simon objects to Harold Pinter winning the Nobel Prize for literature: “I would have gladly accorded him the Nobel for Arrogance, the Nobel for Self-promotion, or the Nobel for Hypocrisy—spewing venom at the United States while basking in our dollars—if such Nobels existed. But the Nobel for Literature? I think not.”
Washington Opera To Simulcast Opera Outdoors
The Washington Opera plans to simulcast a performance of “Porgy and Bess” on the National Mall. “The 2 p.m. performance will be transmitted live from the Kennedy Center Opera House and shown on a gigantic video screen, 18 by 32 feet, that will be located near the Capitol, with speakers set up for sound. Although large screens have been used to let audiences view close-ups of musicians while they were playing on the Mall, this is believed to be the first time that a performance originating elsewhere will have been transmitted there live.”
Ripped From The Tabs: Dali Sculpture In Exorcist Basement!
“A sculpture of Christ that Salvador Dali gave to his exorcist has been found among the belongings of the deceased Italian priest.”
Video On The Go – Still Some Hurdles
Apple’s announcement of a video iPod has people excited that they’ll be able to watch TV on their handhelds. But it’s not as easy as that. “The future for watching video on a portable player is uncertain, with the latest iPod offering the industry a chance to gauge interest. So the question for the big companies will be asking themselves is how much should they invest in a technology if the demand for the product is not yet proven?”
Beethoven In Philly
How did a manuscript of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge end up in Philadelphia? “The more immediate question is how such a manuscript ended up at Palmer, previously known as Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Though important manuscripts are scattered over the globe by world wars, this one had a more genteel route, arriving in 1950 among a collection of hymns donated by philanthropist Marguerite Treat Doane.”
Where Are Tomorrow’s Theatre Audiences?
“Bringing in new audiences has become an increasing concern for theater companies with aging subscribers. Not only is the coveted 18- to 35-year-old demographic not subscribing, they aren’t even a substantial slice of the single-ticket buying pie. In response, companies are developing clever methods of channeling attention toward their theaters – things like student rush, which offers tickets for reduced rates right before a show. Other theaters are taking more proactive steps, like the College Ambassador Program.”
What’s Wrong With MTV
“We, too, remember when MTV used to be all about the issues — subversive and usually liberal. Now the network is all gab about the glam lifestyles, love triangles, mean girls and staged cat fights on these impossible-to-ignore unreality shows starring spoiled simpletons. We don’t mean to make like the Rev. James Dobson, but we’re certain that the MTV execs who green-lighted these docudramas about socioeconomic excess are headed straight for hell.”