Classical musicians seem to be spending more and more time on stage explaining the music they’re going to play. “If there’s a formula here, it’s that knowledge equals understanding equals appreciation. But what’s really needed is an intuitive response.”
Tag: 10.23.07
Denver’s New Contemporary Home For Art
“If the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver’s considerably smaller, more subdued building is not likely to draw every major architecture critic in the country or ignite a blaze of controversy, the institution’s leaders nonetheless have big ambitions for the $15.9 million project. Cydney Payton, executive director and chief curator, believes the structure, which opens to the public on Oct. 28, is nothing short of unique among contemporary art museums in the United States.
Gay Dumbledore Sparks Debate
“Writer J.K. Rowling’s revelation about the gay private life of a dead – and fictional – school headmaster in her popular Harry Potter series of books is conjuring both criticism from those who already wanted the books banned and calm acceptance from those who applaud her for not making it a big deal in the first place.”
Doris Lessing: What Has Happened To Reading?
“While our part of the world are not terribly interested in reading, you go to the Third World, and they clamor for books. They see books as they used to be seen here, as an entrance to a new kind of education. I don’t know if you’ve been to Africa, but it’s, ‘Please give me a book. Please send me a book. Please give me a leaf of paper.’ I will talk about this in my Nobel talk: this great reverence for learning, for education, for books, seems to have left Europe and has gone somewhere else. And what will come out of that? Who knows? I don’t know.”
Oscars Need Foreign Face Lift
The Academy Awards rules about which films are eligible for Oscars are out of date, writes Patrick Goldstein. “The academy may find its rule book a sacred text, but every year it gets them in more trouble… If you’re consistently keeping great films out of competition, then you must be doing something wrong.”
Texas Teacher May Face Charges Over Reading List
“A popular English teacher has been placed on paid leave — and faces possible criminal charges — after a student’s parents complained to police that a ninth-grade class reading list contained a book about a murderer who has sex with his victims’ bodies.”
Quill Awards Name Romancer Nora Roberts For Top Prize
“Best-selling author Nora Roberts won book of the year on Monday at the third annual Quill Awards, which were created to bring glamour and red carpet extravagance to the world of publishing.”
LA Fires Disrupt TV Shoots
Southern California’s raging wildfires shut down production on some TV shows monday…
Comes Now The Video Game Festival
“Fine arts, classical music and opera gatherings have spent centuries cultivating a mood of finely mannered erudition. As for television, Americans celebrate it not in public but at home on the couch every night. Now comes the mass-market video game festival, perhaps a surprising latecomer to North America.”
The Painting, The Trash, And An Odd Story
Elizabeth Gibson was on her way to get a coffee when she saw a painting in the street. She picked it up and carried it home. Turns out it may be an important work, and the story of how it got from Houston, where it was stolen, to a New York street 20 years later is a mystery…