“Early cultures heavily emphasized the importance of communal bonding and obligation, urging the sacrifice of the self to the greater good. But while such bonding is necessary to keep civilizations alive, we’ve always prized those who rejected this: Outcasts like Socrates, Lao Tzu, and Jesus. And while the latter would become a fisher of men, his time alone in the desert would also in time inspire his followers: By the fifth century, the deserts of Syria were pockmarked with hermits, each looking for a little desolate wasteland of his (and occasionally her) own.”
Tag: 02.28.17
What A City Sounds Like In Music Using Sounds Of The City
“The really important thing is that the musical ideas come out of the sound we collect. But the piece has a to tell a story; it has to exist for some reason.” Typical urban noise, like the revving of a car engine, the ringing of a bicycle bell, or the pitter-patter of pedestrian footsteps, can be found in virtually any city. So how do you make an audio portrait feel particular to the town it’s supposed to reflect?
The New York Times Discovers Broadway Nights At Gay Bars (Which Are Booming)
First, yes, there are still plenty of gay bars in Manhattan, hookup apps notwithstanding. And while there have always been a few piano bars where the crowd sings show tunes, they were always considered rather dowdy; now even the hippest bars have Broadway nights, and major stars show up to sing at them. Legendary nightlife reporter Michael Musto surveys the scene.
How Playboy Magazine Played A Key Role In The Vietnam War
Turns out soldiers really did read it for the articles. (Well, not only the articles.) “In fact, it’s hard to overstate how profound a role Playboy played among the millions of American soldiers and civilians stationed in Vietnam throughout the war: as entertainment, yes, but more important as news and, through its extensive letters section, as a sounding board and confessional.”
Living Dangerously: Taking A Ride In A Private Plane With A Risk-Taking Adrenaline-Junkie Tenor
“‘He’s either going to be fantastic – or dead.’ That was the verdict of some of opera’s keenest vocal judges a decade ago when they awarded Michael Fabiano … a career-making win at the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. [Now] he is one of the most exciting, sought-after singers in the world – but the fatalistic warning was still ringing in my ears a few Sundays ago when Mr. Fabiano, who likes to pilot planes on his days off, took me for a flight.” Michael Cooper white-knuckles it for us.
A ‘Doctor Atomic’ Like Nobody Has Seen Before (Wait, Is Oppenheimer Actually Getting Naked?)
“[The John Adams opera] is usually staged as an array of physicists and military generals standing around the New Mexico landscape, wondering if the first atomic bomb will ignite the entire planet – and looking worried. ‘But who wants to watch that?’ said R.B. Schlather.” David Patrick Stearns talks to the director about the staging he’s helming this week in Philadelphia. (Oh, and the singer playing Oppenheimer is a barihunk.)
Arts Groups Turn To Their GOP Congresspeople To Save NEA And NEH
“While Democrats have long supported the endowments, the coming budget proposals from President Trump will test the sort of Republicans who have been the rescuers and defenders of arts spending during the decades-long efforts by conservatives to cut and even eliminate them.”
German Publishers Ordered To Return Hundreds Of Millions Of Euros To Authors – And They’re Afraid They’ll Go Bankrupt
Last year, the Federal Republic’s supreme court ruled that publishing houses weren’t entitled to up to €300 million in copyright payments they had kept since 2012, and the houses are scrambling madly to get together the cash they must now pay to their authors. The general counsel of Germany’s Publishers and Booksellers Association explains the situation.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.28.17
When Free Is Insufficient
They won’t even come when it’s free! That lament from an arts administrator, with eyes rolled and hands thrown up, demonstrates a profound lack of connection with the subject of the exclamation. It is usually … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-02-28
Who Should Lead the Met? Tom Campbell Decamps
Ever since he was named to the Metropolitan Museum’s directorship, I’ve had serious qualms about whether Tom Campbell embodied The Peter Principle … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-02-28
Propwatch: the watches in Hamlet
The insanely awaited production starring Andrew Scott is so very sold-out that buying even one ticket felt like a triumph. … There’s lots to say about the genius line-readings and surprising additions. But I just want to think about the watches for a bit. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-02-28
Recent Listening (And Viewing) In Brief
The incoming albums that pack my big mailbox several times a week belie frequent claims in the press and on the air that jazz is dying. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-02-28
Met Museum Director Thomas Campbell Forced To Resign
Record-breaking attendance and popular new branches or not, a certain critical mass of news coverage – chronicling deficits and layoffs and cancellation of high-profile expansions, and asking if your museum is ‘a great institution in decline‘ – will probably lead to news like this.