“It is essential for the creative writer that there be, or be perceived to be, a usual way of saying things, if a new or unusual way is to stand out and to provoke some excitement.”
Tag: 01.23.13
How A Hotel Room Changed Matisse’s Art
“In ‘fake, absurd, terrific, delicious’ hotel rooms, ones that turned natural light into theatrical lighting, he found that ‘the richness and the silver clarity of the light of Nice’ had been trapped and condensed, intensified even when gathered in shade, and bounced from wall to wall and ceiling to floor in a kind of dizzying ebullience.”
Australia’s Culture Policy Will ‘Drive Economy’, Says Arts Minister
“If we want to aspire to an innovative, creative, adaptive nation, if we want to keep that ranking that we have got as one of the best performing economies in the world we have to drive creativity. That’s why this has a return, this is not just a spend, it’s an investment in the future.”
Filmmaker Michael Haneke On Catharsis
“I think that catharsis is an overly ambitious term. If a film manages to make spectators as viewers reflective for a few hours, if it manages to make them for a short time nicer to each other, more humane, then you’ve achieved a great deal. Catharsis is too ambitious. I don’t think, in today’s society, you can achieve catharsis with a book – uh, film.”
Watching Pierre Boulez Rehearse Elliott Carter
“In Cleveland, the players were bewildered during the first read-through of the score. Tensions flickered and were fanned by Boulez’s effortless, if glum, command of the music’s complexity. He could sing any instrumental part with exact precision … [He] could instantly hear if a note or a player’s timing was off, and he had no inhibitions about locating the exact source of error.”
Leading UK Music Producer Warns Orchestras
“We need to be daring and break with convention if we are to show the world that classical music is not a sleepy, stuffy genre, but a force to be reckoned with, and something that can be enjoyed by all.”
Minnesota Lawmakers Eye Anti-Lockout Legislation
The musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra have now missed months of work. Minnesota Orchestra musicians have lost roughly $44,000 per player based on the previous average annual salary of $135,000.
Ten Named Finalists For International Booker Prize
“The prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation into English.”
SFJAZZ Opens New Home In San Francisco
“Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city’s jazz festival.”
US Court Considers ‘Last Great Holocaust Art Restitution Case’
“The unusual case was brought by heirs and relatives of a legendary Hungarian art collector in a dispute over possession of more than 40 artworks valued at $100 million – including some paintings in the collections of Hungarian museums – that were stolen by the Nazis during World War II.”