The arts have had a tough time getting respect from pop culture and government types in recent decades. But Steven Winn says that’s all going to change in 2007. Among Winn’s predictions for the year: Gwen Stefani makes Schubert hip again when she partners with the Cleveland Orchestra on a multi-year lieder project; and the National Endowment for the Arts suddenly finds itself on the receiving end of a $306 billion Congressional appropriation that no one will take credit for.
Tag: 01.03.07
A Legacy In Search Of Respect
Composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s complex legacy (was he a Stalinist stooge, or a quiet rebel?) has so far meant that his archive has never been given the sort of permanent home or widespread study that other great composers have been granted. ” Moving Shostakovich’s archive into a museum where it could be scrutinized by music scholars would put to rest many myths that still cast a pall on his legacy… But interest in the archive is low.”
A Building That Understands Scottish Ballet
Malcom Fraser has created plans for a new home for Scottish Ballet. “When you are dancing, whirling about, you really need to understand the simple geometry of the space you are in. I know that dancers like our buildings because we are not trying to impose something on their art form – we are trying to help enable it.”
In Praise Of The Word ‘Culture’
“We all carry culture within us; whether we wish to or not, it is as embedded in our minds as DNA is in our cell structure. Culture cannot be reduced to elemental terms, such as a painting on a wall or notes resounding in hall, but is a continuing series of experiences that affect every mind in a different way. In the end, culture is worth celebrating as a word, and as a condition not to be endured but used to educate and enliven.”