When conductor Franz Welser-Most led the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the early-90s, he was not liked by his musicians, who dubbed him ‘Frankly Worse than Most.” He was soon run out of the job. A decade later he is the much-loved leader of the Cleveland Orchestra. So how did musicians and critics get Welser-Most wrong the first time around?
Tag: 02.12.04
UK Tax Policy Change May Kill British Film Industry
The British tax department “has shut a loophole which offered tax relief to film investors, fearing it was being abused.” As a result, say some critics, the healthy British film industry may be devasted as investment dries up.
UK Tax Change – Movies Need Time To Adapt
“Few in the industry defend the tax-avoidance schemes as a means of raising film funding. Indeed, many believe that the cash the schemes has attracted into the industry has led to a flood of substandard films, produced for tax-avoidance rather than artistic reasons, which have little hope of securing a cinema or television showing. What the industry objects to is the lack of warning about the move. This has left filmmakers about to go into production with no time to raise alternative funding.”
Bush’s NEA Increase Proposal – Just Hot Air?
George Bush proposes increasing the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by $18 million. But in arts circles, “suspicion of Bush’s motives, however, is widespread. Why in the world is this president offering a palm frond to the arts, even a modest one, while cutting other domestic programs in a $2.4 trillion budget that’s heavy on defense and military spending and simultaneously aimed at deficit reduction?”
Carnegie Hall Announces Next Season
“Continuing its transformation into a full-fledged arts center from merely one of the world’s most storied concert halls, Carnegie Hall next season will fill its three stages with 140 classical concerts, plus more than 45 jazz, folk, world-music, and even pop performances.”
Broadway’s Winter Blues
Three more shows are closing on Broadway. “This month’s closings will bring the total since the season began last fall to 11, making it one of the more disappointing sessions in recent Broadway history. ‘No one in the Broadway community expected this traditionally challenging season to be so rough’.”
Congress Threatens TV
US Congressional lawmakers, angry about the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident, are roaring about getting tough on TV. “In separate hearings, members of the House of Representatives and Senate told the Federal Communications Commission and the president of Viacom Inc. that fines could just be the beginning of a new crackdown on profanity and indecency on the nation’s airwaves. Most immediately, they appear headed toward passing legislation that would increase tenfold the fine on television and radio broadcasters that violate the FCC decency rules, to a maximum of $275,000 per violation.”
Touring Lou Harrison’s House
The late composer’s house near Joshua Tree National Park, is made of straw, and constructed in a unique, quirky way. “Like Harrison — who incorporated Baroque, Asian and a wide range of other musical forms into complex, achingly beautiful works — it’s a glorious mixture.”
Hip Hop: Coming To America
“So far, foreign rappers have had little success in the United States. But that could change. Hip-hop has long spoken in foreign accents, even if Americans have turned a deaf ear. And if Americans assume that rappers from elsewhere are just copycats, merely translating rather than creating, they’d be wrong.”
Some In Congress Want To “Clean Up” TV
Sensing a good political issue, some in Congress are jockeying to further regulate what can be shown on television. “Senate Commerce Committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., led the charge, saying he is so offended by what he sees that he backs regulating cable and satellite TV programming.” Critics say “the FCC commissioners have used their free-floating indecency standard to censor counter-cultural ideas, sexual discussions and language that reflects a sensibility different from their own. Yet the FCC’s censorship power would immediately be recognized as unconstitutional if the medium weren’t broadcasting.”