Three new boxed set recordings of the Beethoven Piano Concertos illustrate what’s wrong with the classical recording industry. All three are by Alfred Brendel, and the works are not exactly underrepresented in the catalogue. So who thought this was a good idea? – Toronto Globe and Mail
Tag: 01.29.00
FLASHING MAD
English museums increasingly allow visitors to take pictures, maintaining that camera flashes don’t damage artwork. Is this true? Not exactly – at minimum it ruins the possibility of a contemplative moment. And the cumulative physical effects of ultraviolet light are uncertain. – The Telegraph (UK)
THE GURU OF MINIMALISM
John Pawson is the king of reductive design. “His work, which ranges from the high Zen Cathay Pacific lounge in the Hong Kong airport to the groovy chic of the Wakenabe and Wagamama restaurants in London, is so reduced to the essential, it ventures beyond the old Mies van der Rohe saw ‘less is more’ into a kind of New Age sacred space.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
ONLINE CLUB
Venerable Sotheby’s got the Dotcom bug last week and went online. But galleries sell elitism, says one gallery director. “It’s a very, very private club intended not to let people in, and if it gets too big, collectors won’t want to be a part of it any more.” A risk of taking the business online? – The Economist
SO WHAT IF THEY’RE BIG
The Time Warner/EMI merger creates the largest record company in the world. But the business is falling apart, and all the mega-mergers in the world don’t fix the problems confronting the commercial recording business. It’s all just circling the wagons. – The Economist 01/29/00
- ANYTIME, ANYWHERE: MP3 downloads that turn your computer into a stereo with instant access. The old ways are dead. – Boston Globe 01/28/00
- WE NEED YOUR HELP, says MP3 to its users. If enough of you get free music, maybe the courts will back off. – Wired 01/28/00