Category: AJBlogs

Arvo Pärt is the master of implying far more than he says. At its most spare, his music seems to barely exist. And that’s probably why I’ve had such a long road to fully appreciating this internationally acclaimed composer. But on Monday night, I finally arrived — and then some.

Eden Bareket, Night (Fresh Sound New Talent)

One reporter’s account of the 2007 expansion of the Seattle Art Museum noted that the large trove of works then given and promised to SAM by multiple owners would bring an estimated $1 billion if they were to come to auction. Now some of them have.

I have a suggestion for any opera company that commissions a new opera. And I don’t mean this as a joke. Once the work starts to take shape, show it to someone at HBO. And if they say it isn’t good enough for them, pull the plug.

Says one administrator who’s worked in the UK, US, and Australia, “When you talk about ‘funding models’, it’s important to realise that the States effectively doesn’t have one. Referring to what happens in the US as a funding model is like calling an earthquake a lifestyle choice.”

Auctioneer Harry Dalmeny (new to me) at Sotheby’s Impressionist/Modern sale tonight had a strange way of trying to entice bidders by pelting them with barbed wisecracks

I don’t often post video of people talking. The best way to understand music is to listen — often — intensively — with concentration — without preconceptions. Today, we have a departure from the Rifftides policy of letting the music speak for itself.

Charlie Haden & Brad Mehldau, Long Ago and Far Away (Impulse!)

Sasha Waltz & Guests brings her Kreatur from Berlin to BAM.