“The modest tombstone, at a cemetery in the famed writers’ retreat of Peredelkino outside Moscow, was covered with soot after vandals put wreathes around it and set them on fire.”
Tag: 11.11.06
BookExpo To Try Its Luck In Vegas
America’s annual BookExpo is hading back to Las Vegas for te first time in 20 years. “The 2007 BookExpo America is scheduled for May 31 to June 3 in New York. The convention will move to Los Angeles in 2008 and back to New York in 2009 before heading to Las Vegas in 2010.”
Dallas Opera Wins New Contract With Musicians
The Dallas Opera has avoided a strike by musicians. The new contract provides raises of 3 percent in each of the first three years, 4.8 percent in the fourth year and 5 percent in the final year. The cumulative impact will be a pay raise a little over 20 percent.”
Sydney Opera House Needs Major Renovation
Its facade may be one of the world’s most recognizable sights, but inside, the Sydney Opera House is a cramped, outmoded and fast-aging structure. Some essential renovations are already planned, but “the big question is: should other work be undertaken at the same time that would ensure the Opera House has a future as a venue for the art form for which it was built?” It could cost as much as AUS$700 million…
Not Really Built For Opera
Actually, the Sydney Opera House would probably not be that troublesome a space if not for the fact that some people continue to insist on performing operas in it. “We could fix its faults by admitting it is not an opera house at all, never will be. It is not, really, architecture. It is a fabulous, transcendent piece of sculpture. Iconography, even. No one expects the Eiffel Tower or the pyramids to do clever things with sound waves. Just bouncing the photons keeps the cameras happy. Ask Frank Gehry. Ask George Pell: isn’t that what icons do?”