Three years ago, the Calder Foundation announced that Philadelphia would be the site of a $70 million museum dedicated to showcasing the work of sculptor Alexander Calder. “But what looked in early 2001 like a done deal has turned out to be just the beginning of an intricate courtship. Unlike other foundations devoted to the work of a single artist, such as the Warhol Foundation, the Calder Foundation does not have unilateral control over the artist’s estate. Six family members, including Rower, his mother and his aunt, control the artworks that would anchor the museum.” So far, the museum hasn’t managed to reach any agreements with the family to display Calder’s work.
Tag: 12.14.03
Tchaikovsky vs. Radio City
With the famous Rockettes now touring the country as part of the traveling version of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, local dance companies used to cleaning up at the box office with their annual Nutcracker presentations are feeling a bit besieged. Across the country, companies are jazzing up their traditional Nutcrackers, and adding flashy new sets, costumes, and dramatic elements in an effort to compete with the glitzy Radio City crowd. One Denver company even has its toy soldiers lining up to kick their legs over their heads for a while, just like you know who.
Bad Time For Nonprofits in Minnesota, Unless You’re An HMO
A recent summit meeting of Minnesota nonprofit companies was a fairly dismal affair, with executives from the state’s biggest arts groups bemoaning the downturn in public and private financing. But at least one corner of the nonprofit sector is raking in the dough – in Minnesota, HMOs and other health care companies are non-profits, too. It makes for an interesting contrast, since the skyrocketing cost of health care is one of the factors causing so much suffering at the state’s larger arts groups.
The Savior Of Saint Louis?
David Robertson’s appointment as music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra seems to be solidifying the notion that the SLSO, so recently on the brink of financial collapse, is back as a major player on the national orchestral scene. “A lot was riding on the identity of the new music director. The wrong conductor could have derailed the orchestra’s forward momentum, artistically and financially. But the right conductor – and there can be little doubt that Robertson’s the one – will build on what his predecessors left him and then help the orchestra on to even greater things.”
Putting Mahler In The Right Order
When Mahler wrote his almost unbearably bleak 6th symphony, he broke up the pervasive despair of the score with a beautiful, lush slow movement. Mahler originally intended the slow movement to be played just before the finale, but then switched it with the scherzo movement in the work’s first rehearsals. The new order remained the standard until 1963, after Mahler’s death, when the inner movements were flipped again, ostensibly because of ‘new scholarship’ on the work. “Now it has become clear that the transposition of movements was no mere mistake but a willful act of an editor, Erwin Ratz.”
The Power Of Small-Time Orchestras
Major symphony orchestras are cultural treasures, and a point of pride for the cities which have them. But for every big-budget, 95-member symphony orchestra, there are countless smaller, semi-professional orchestras performing across America, feeding the desire of ordinary concertgoers for an affordable night out listening to great music in a more casual setting than the big boys offer. “These orchestras truly live by their own rules, mixing classical and pops on the same program. They often flourish during tough economic times that bring larger orchestras down… At the very least, these orchestras offer the tactile experience of being in the same room with a masterpiece.”
Pavarotti’s Wedding
Superstar tenor Luciano Pavarotti has married his longtime girlfriend, Nicoletta Mantovani, in a star-studded ceremony in Modena, Italy. Mantovani, at 34, is exactly half Pavarotti’s age, and the couple have a one-year-old daughter. The marriage took place in a theater, with the mayor of Modena presiding, and Andrea Bocelli performing the Ave Maria in front of an assemblage of celebrity guests.
I Don’t Get It – Why Is This Guy’s Art Suddenly Hot?
Painter John Currin is hot at the moment. But Blake Gopnik wonders why. “Within the art world, where Currin’s career and reputation have been forged, he can get praise as an original not because he’s doing anything new or special but simply because some vanguard curators and collectors don’t get out enough. It’s as though the elites of contemporary art are so engrossed in their own world that they’re not aware of what’s already going on in the American mainstream – at shopping malls, on boardwalks and in Sunday painting classes.”
Art By Celestial Navigation
Portable GPS locators are being used for art. One “technique involves holding a G.P.S. device, which records their path as a kind of line drawing, and then posting the results on the Web (www.gpsdrawing.com).” The artists travels in a shape as his progress is tracked by the GPS unit. “As G.P.S. receivers have become smaller and cheaper, a growing number of digital artists are exploiting the technology. Like much digital art, the ideas are often spiffier than the visuals.”
Critic’s Lament: Santa – How About Fewer Self-Published Books?
Book critic Patti Thorn makes her Chrsitmas list. And what does she long for? “A good, juicy scandal. Jonathan Franzen’s tiff with Oprah was so much fun, but that was two long years ago. In 2003, the best you brought us was a few disgruntled literati upset that Stephen King was feted at the National Book Awards ceremony despite his – gasp – commercial success.”