Lawrence Johnson has a complaint against a growing practice at concerts he attends of concert organizers getting up and giving speeches. “This kind of superfluous chatter is, at a minimum, distracting and annoying, and frequently crosses the line to being crass and provincial.”
Tag: 12.19.04
Comparing Arts Spending In The UK And US (It’s Not Pretty)
So the UK is holdings its arts budget steady for a couple of years. And the US is increasing its arts spending. Woo hoo US! Except when you see how far behind in spending on the arts the US, the situation is pretty bleak. “Divide by population, and it comes out that, in England, the government spends a little less than $16 for every man, woman and child on the arts. In the United States, per-capita federal spending on the arts works out to a measly 54 cents.”
A Singular History Of Classical Music
The new six-volume “Oxford History of Western Music” was 13 years in the making. Despite its bulk, it may seem to pale in comparison with, say, the 29-volume second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, of 2001, but that represented the work of more than 2,500 writers. This is the work of one, Richard Taruskin, a music historian at the University of California at Berkeley, who has been an occasional contributor to Arts & Leisure and other publications.
Boston Pops, Recording Mogul
When RCA decided to end its contract with the Boston Pops, the orchestra decided to go into the recording business itself. “That means there’s no big record company to pick up the tab for studio time, promotion, and even pressing new CDs. Instead, the Pops have gone into the recording business, laying out money normally provided by a label. This is the new business model, and it’s risky. It’s why conductor Keith Lockhart is being trotted out for 18 signings this holiday season.”
Buy Updike’s Library
John Updike’s basement was full of books. So he called up a book store dealer and had him haul them away. The cache has turned out to be valuable. “In some of the books’ margins are handwritten questions and analogies from the novelist and essayist — writings that Updike called his “scribblings.” Those editions will go for between $200 and $1,000 (U.S.).”