“Mounting financial pressure from the withering economy is taking a further toll on the Florida Grand Opera, whose administrators said this week that they will not renew the contract for Stewart Robertson, FGO music director since 1998 and conductor of more than 40 of the group’s productions. Robertson’s contract expires in May 2010….”
Tag: 02.15.09
After The Power Goes Off, An Opera Premieres In The Bar
“The world of opera — famous for its implausible plots — acquired a new one last night when a new opera ended up being been premiered in the bar due to a power cut in the auditorium. A capacity audience had flocked to the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden to see the London debut of George Benjamin’s new opera, Into the Little Hill.” Then the lights went out.
Alice Tully Hall, At Last A Harmonious Space For Music
Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s sensitive and spectacular renovation of Alice Tully Hall “triumphs because at every juncture, it avoids architectural wowmanship and directs attention to the artistic labor going on inside. … It will take some time and many concerts to be sure, but I suspect that Alice Tully Hall has become what it should have been all along: the finest home for chamber music in New York.”
Remember, Oscar Winners: Your Speech Is A Performance
“This Sunday, some of the world’s most famous actors will face the most treacherous moment of their careers–that is, if they happen to win an Oscar. Because then they’ll have to give a speech. In theory, this shouldn’t be hard: You stand up; you say thanks; you sit down. Yet the shoals of stardom are littered with careers that have run aground thanks to catastrophic speeches.”
Fair Use – Shepard Fairey’s Battle For An Image
“Call this pop art for the street. Call it conceptual graphics. Either way, Fairey’s imagery has stood out in an era when skate-and surfer-related graphics are burgeoning, even if his work has roots in the same.”
Pittsburgh’s Poetry Forum Ends A 43-Year Run
Like all investors in Wall Street, the forum’s stock portfolio lost 25 percent of value, as did the holdings of Pittsburgh foundations that had contributed to the forum in the past.
Reality TV Ratings Take Big Drop Down Under
For the past decade, reality TV has dominated in Australia. Not this season, though. “The re-invigoration of drama may be signalling the demise, or at least the decline, of the past decade’s reality-TV trend. Does this trend spell a return to the golden era of Australian TV drama?”
New Zealand Art Market – Business As Usual
“The New Zealand market has been remarkably steady. After a brief surge in 2003 and 2004, it has settled down at around the $15 million annual mark. No boom and therefore, as auction houses have their fingers firmly crossed, no likelihood of a bust this year.”
Historic Documents – How Do You Value An Email?
Last year a single letter written by Albert Einstein changed hands for over $400,000. But could a printout of an email or an electronic file ever reach similar heights?
Kentucky Proposes Cutting Arts Funding By 23 Percent
“It is sobering,” KAC executive director Lori Meadows acknowledged in an interview earlier this month.