“The legacy he had left behind was pure joy. You could see it in the faces of the audience when the curtain rose for the performance that afternoon. You could hear it as his older daughter Melanie, her husband and their violinist children performed as a family. You could feel it when the full orchestra, led by one of Mr. K.’s protégés, poured itself into Tchaikovsky and Bach.”
Tag: 02.18.10
Why You’re Better Off Winning A Bronze Medal Than A Silver
“The phenomenon is a case of counterfactual thinking – thoughts about ‘what might have been’ … Third-place winners have upward thoughts (‘at least I won’) that increase satisfaction, researchers have found, whereas those who come in second tend to have downward ‘if only’ thoughts that decrease happiness.”
We’ve Become Too Used To Henry Moore
“[It] can be difficult to judge the reputation of Henry Moore, in his own lifetime one of the most famous and wealthy artists in the world. It’s not that Moore has vanished from the public stage in the years since his death in 1986 – far from it, in fact. Moore’s problem is that he has become so ubiquitous as to become near-invisible.”
Escondido, Cal. Arts Center Saved
“Escondido arts patrons were reassured yesterday that the California Center for the Arts will not be closed because of drastic budget cuts. The news from the City Council was prompted by a deluge of about 200 e-mails that arts supporters sent to council members, pleading with them to keep the center open.’
Musicians Drive Emmanuelle Haim From Paris Opera Podium
The harpsichordist-turned-conductor, who founded her own period-instrument band, Le Concert d’Astrée, had been scheduled to lead a revival of Idomeneo at the Opéra last month; about a week before opening, she withdrew. It turns out that the pit orchestra had mutinied against Haïm, finding her beat impossible to follow – and they’ve said so publicly.
The Archetypical Valery Gergiev Interview
“I have a concert in six minutes and should change my clothes,” said the maestro over the phone from his dressing room at the Vienna Musikverein. (The interview had already been postponed several times that day.) Not for nothing is the new documentary about Gergiev titled You Cannot Start Without Me.
Movie Stars Take Over Paris Stages (Just Like On Broadway)
Audrey Tautou, star of Amélie, is making her stage debut as Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House; Isabelle Huppert is acting up a storm as Blanche in a controversial adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire; Leslie Caron is featured in a brief run of A Little Night Music; even soccer-star-turned-movie-actor Eric Cantona has turned up in a play.
‘The Arts’ Get The Davos Treatment
“The World Economic Forum convened a panel discussion at Carnegie Hall Thursday on arts leadership. The focus? ‘The role and responsibilities of cultural leaders and institutions in the collaborative process of development solutions to a number of challenges affecting the world’. Hmmm.” (Pithiest observation: “People pay for entertainment. Art is subsidized.”)
Gordon Lightfoot Is Not Dead (Twitter Notwithstanding)
A hoax message saying that the Canadian folk-rock singer had died appeared on Twitter Thursday afternoon; the story spread fast and ran on several Canadian news services before it emerged that, in fact, Lightfoot had merely gone to the dentist’s office.
Oxford Professor Of Poetry Race Begins Anew
After last year’s ugly contest between Ruth Padel and Derek Walcott, Oxford University “opened nominations today to find a new candidate for the 300-year-old position, seen as the most prestigious in poetry behind that of the poet laureate.”