“If Gehry now stands atop a mountain he spent much of his career trying to ascend — driven by a fierce ambition he has often tried to conceal beneath what he calls an aw-shucks persona — he does so at a moment when the mountain itself is beginning to crumble beneath his feet. After a decade in which a handful of leading architects became global stars — with Gehry leading the charge — and private and government clients alike were willing to finance jaw-dropping feats of architectural innovation, funding for new construction has suddenly vanished, as if overnight.”
Tag: 03.01.09
Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami Home Pays Dividends
“Sources affiliated with the residency proudly note that the project not only pays for itself but also benefits the institution as a whole. Indeed, in a recent strategy document, the orchestra states that it may be planning to “materially increase” the amount of time it spends in Miami.”
Prada Co-opts Fashion Magazine Editors With New Project
“The Italian design house announced that four well-known fashion editors will each window-dress one of its flagship stores. The guest merchandisers’ work is organized to coincide with Fashion Week in each of the four cities. In a business where conflicts of interest occur every day, this is a step too far and poorly timed. Fashion does not need such a public blow to its credibility during an economic crisis that has it quite literally — and at times, unfairly — having to justify its existence.”
Will Obama’s Be The Arts Administration?
“This infusion of the arts into the Obamas’ public rituals and family routines comes after eight years in which George W. Bush seldom was seen in Washington’s halls of culture. Taking the Obama past as prelude, there’s a fair amount of evidence to support arts partisans’ hopes for a White House attuned to music, theater, fine arts and dance.”
Conductor Bernard Haitink At 80
Haitink shows no signs of slowing down. CSO musicians report that the vigor he displayed on the podium during the orchestra’s recent Far East tour was undimmed from Yokohama to Beijing.
Alvin Ailey Legacy Goes On Stronger Than Ever
“Twenty years after his passing, the spark of Ailey’s vision, famously encapsulated in his belief that “dance came from the people and should be delivered back to the people,” continues to guide his company, which has performed in 71 countries on every continent except Antarctica, and brought the work of more than 70 choreographers – including 79 works by Ailey himself – to an estimated 21 million people.”
Kennedy Center Organ Belches With A Mind Of Its Own
The organ sometimes emits sounds at inopportune times in concert. “The Filene organ seems to have been doomed from the start. Donated by Catherine Filene Shouse, it was built during a period of change in the aesthetics of organ sound, when the trend was toward thinner, higher, lighter, neo-Baroque organs.”