Chief executives of big companies and public sector organisations are coping with their stressful positions by drinking the equivalent of almost three bottles of wine a week
Tag: 01.23.08
Leading African American Book Chain Closes
The Karibu Books chain, based in the Washington, D.C., area and one of the few remaining retailers to specialize in books aimed at black readers, is closing after 15 years.
NY Philharmonic’s North Korea Concert Goes Worldwide
The New York Philharmonic’s concert in North Korea next month is to be broadcast live worldwide, the orchestra announced Wednesday.
A Defining Conflict: The Art Critic And The Art Fair Director
“An individual occupying both sides of the critical/commercial divide is not the same as either a magazine carrying gallery advertisements alongside its reviews, or a publication such as Frieze also organising an art fair.”
Sometimes The Understudy Makes The Play
“The notion of understudy performances reminds us that a star does not a production make. Indeed, a star can divert attention from a fine production. As last year’s debacle surrounding Trevor Nunn’s King Lear and The Seagull proved very publicly, understudies aren’t kids shoved on stage with a script at short notice.”
Music After The Music Industry
“It is generally accepted that the dog-and-horn type organisation that has controlled the distribution of music for 110 years is on its last legs. A decade ago, six labels held 77 percent of recorded music sales worldwide. Today, those six are down to four – Universal (31%), Sony-BMG (25%), Warner (15%) and EMI (9.5%)- and none has got to grips with the internet revolution that has ravaged their complacent and often collusive dominance.”
Bill T. Jones’ Next Incarnation
Bill T. Jones has “reached a level of popular success he would have mocked once-upon-a-youth ago – in 2007 he won a Tony award for choreographing the sexual-coming-of-age Broadway frolic ‘Spring Awakening,’ and in November he became the first dancer to perform a piece-widely acclaimed-at the Louvre.”
Sotheby’s Bad Day In The Market
“Sotheby’s now lags behind the Standard & Poor’s 500 index after enriching investors for five straight years. It slipped as much as 8.8 percent today, compared with a 3.1 percent fall in the S&P 500, before both rebounded. For the year, Sotheby’s is down 22.4 percent, or more than twice as much as the S&P, which has lost 9.1 percent.”
How Did The Best Foreign Film Of 2007 Get Missed?
Kenneth Turan says that the Academy made a huge mistake “when it passed over what has been universally considered the best foreign film of the year” in its nominations. “Something identical happened more than a dozen years ago when the documentary committee declined to nominate Hoop Dreams.” That time, the blunder led to changes in the nominating process.
A Life Spent In High-Profile Musical Denial
Florence Foster Jenkins was one of the great enigmas of the 20th century music world, an energetic socialite convinced that she was a brilliant singer when anyone with an ear and a brain could hear that she was a vocal train wreck. Her “career,” such as it was, has inspired books, documentaries, and even a play.