“News that heavy metal is to receive serious scholarly attention in Salzburg has raised some eyebrows elsewhere in these pages. So is it heretical that the city of Mozart should be putting Metallica and Slayer centre stage? Not a bit of it. Heavy metal is probably the only other musical discipline that fetishises technical virtuosity as much as classical music: Edward Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen are the Horowitz and Kissin of their genre.”
Tag: 10.31.08
Arts Bigwigs Helped Obama Craft Culture Plank
“Senator Barack Obama … is the first White House contender to include a far-reaching arts plank in his platform. The proposals range from increased support for arts education and the National Endowment for the Arts, to changing the federal tax code for artists.” Margo Lion, Michael Chabon, Hal Prince, Eugenia and Pinchas Zukerman, and Agnes Gund were among those who pitched in on the plank.
Obama, The Musical (Yes, Already)
The Kenya National Theatre has just opened Obama, The Musical, a stage bio of the half-Kenyan, half-Kansan senator who may be about to become President-Elect of the United States. “Those involved in the production are doing little to hide their sympathies. […] ‘McCain comes in as the villain, the chief villain. His supporting cast are George Bush and Sarah Palin who are standing in Obama’s way,’ the director says.”
Two Van Gogh Portraits Authenticated
“The Van Gogh Museum confirmed Friday that two portraits suspected of being fakes are authentic. […] The analysis placed the date of the paintings in the spring of 1886 in Paris, when Van Gogh was being mentored by the painter Fernand Cormon. One of the portraits depicts a woman in hat and the other, a lady folding her gloved hands.”
Outhouse-Turned-Museum Draws Crowds In Munich
An 1894 outhouse in Munich that served as a public restroom until 1992 has been repurposed as a space for exhibiting art (largely graffiti art). About 800 people visited on opening night alone.
Beckett Back In West End With Two Megastars In Tow
“Rumours have been circulating on the internet for some time, but it has been confirmed today that Godot will be turning up in British theatres next year, courtesy of Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. The two venerable stage actors… will be taking a new production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot on a short regional tour in the new year, before opening for a longer run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s West End.”
Football Fan In Charge – NFL.com Lets Viewsers Decide The Camera Angles
It doesn’t replace the professional broadcast, but now football fans can go online and switch between different camera angles as they watch the game..
Why I’m Quiting Academia
A professor writes that higher education has lost its way. “Professors and administrators seek to ‘nurture’ and ‘engage’ and they are doing so at the expense of teaching. The result: a discernable and precipitous decline in the quality of college students. More of them come to campus with dreadful study habits. Too few of them read for pleasure. Too many drink and smoke excessively. They are terribly ill-prepared for four years of hard work, and most dangerously, they do not think that college should be arduous.”
Super Trooper: The Highest-Grossing UK Movie Ever?
The movie musical Mamma Mia! has become “the highest-grossing British film at the UK box office. The film, which features the songs of Abba, has taken £67.2m in the UK since its release in July. It is now the second highest-grossing film in the UK behind Titanic.”
Popular Club Earns Its Chops On Classical (And Jazz And World, And…)
“Le Poisson Rouge is following in the path of places like Joe’s Pub in the East Village and Barbès in Park Slope, clubs that mix classical and contemporary fare. Behind its success is an essential programming principle: architecture is everything. If challenging music is presented in an inviting and informal space, the theory goes, then open-minded young audiences will show up, whether the music is Bach, Ligeti or the stylistically eclectic singer-songwriter Corey Darge.”