Back in 1992, the third symphony of a little-known Polish composer named Gorecki shot unexpectedly up the charts and sold a million copies. Moreover, the work “achieved more performances than any work by a living composer since the Second World War… And that was it. For the next 15 years there was nothing more was heard from Gorecki.” Now, at age 74, he has released a new string quartet, but he remains quite reluctant to talk about his music.
Tag: 02.28.07
Arrest Made In SF Symphony Embezzlement Scheme
“San Francisco police arrested a… woman Tuesday morning on suspicion of skimming more than $17,000 from the San Francisco Symphony’s box office proceeds… She is suspected of replacing the cash stolen from ticket proceeds with money that came in from donors. “
Literary Classics, Now In New, Fun-Size Snack Form!
“Two leading publishers have hit on the idea of boiling down classic novels for modern audiences who are too busy/stupid to read the real thing. … HarperCollins is reducing War and Peace from almost 1,500 pages to 900. It says it will give us less war. Perhaps it has hit on the answer. Why not The Only Child Karamazov, Le Misérable, A Tale of Two Medium-Sized Towns, Limited Expectations and A Couple of Days in the Country?”
Just Say No To Arts Ambassadorship
Labour’s recent interest in cultural diplomacy has Tiffany Jenkins sounding a warning to artists. “Who elected the director of the British Museum as the saviour of the Middle East or the Royal Shakespeare Company as the solution to global warming? … Culture is not for mopping the minister’s brow, flattering Blair, Brown, or Cameron. Cultural foreign policy is one piece of political theatre where the cultural sector should bow out.”
Make A Joyful Noise: Keillor On The Met At The Movies
After watching “Eugene Onegin” at a Minnesota multiplex, Garrison Keillor joins the chorus of bravos greeting the Metropolitan Opera’s live broadcasts: “I’m not an opera critic so I can’t compare this ‘Onegin’ to the 1948 Bolshoi production or comment on Miss Fleming’s use of sprezzatura in the Letter Aria, but I can say how joyful it is to see great artists take big chances on the big screen and rip loose from the moorings of cool and sing with red-blooded passion.”
AG Asked To Look Into Smithsonian Scandal
“A Washington watchdog group yesterday asked the attorney general to investigate whether Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small violated the law by using federal money to pay for travel and other expenses. The group also asked the Justice Department to determine whether the Smithsonian Board of Regents, which is chaired by John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the Supreme Court, broke the law by approving Small’s expenses.”
Challenging The Olympic Model
The Olympics are a global stage like no other, but too often, host cities find that the massive infrastructure required to present them hangs around for decades in the form of unpaid bills and underused facilities. So it shouldn’t be any big surprise that some cities bidding for future editions of the Games are floating scaled-back proposals that would allow for the easy dismantling and dispersal of new structures once the world leaves town.
Babel Brawl
“The chasm grows even wider between the filmmaking duo who gained worldwide success with movies about the connections among disparate locations and characters – and people are taking sides. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga have accused each other of trying to steal the spotlight amid the success of their latest film, Babel.”
Music Industry Layoffs To Hit Canada
“EMI Canada and Sony BMG Music Canada Inc. are laying off dozens of employees, part of a global music industry shakeup related to declining compact disc sales and free music downloads.”
Plays Amid The Rubble
You’d be hard put to find a bleaker place to live than the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank, where Palestinians displaced by their leaders’ decades-long clash with Israel struggle terribly for even the basic necessities of life. But for the last several years, a unique project known as Freedom Theater has provided Jenin youths with an outlet for their anger and loss beyond the violence that has helped to perpetuate the conflict for so many years.