In the last 10 years, an artistic director, a general conductor, a musical director and four ballet artistic chiefs either have quit or been pushed out. When the musical head of the theater, Alexander Vedernikov, quit in 2009, he told the daily Izvestia that “the Bolshoi Theatre doesn’t possess any traits of an artistic organization.”
Tag: 03.03.11
Where Do Nerves of Steel Come From?
“Is cool-headedness born, people wanted to know, or is it made? … Poise under pressure, it turns out, does indeed have a strong genetic component – yet our poise is mostly the result of what we do to build it up throughout our lives.”
Poll: Americans Oppose Cutting Public Broadcasting
Those polled opposed cutting public broadcasting, “including 83% of Democrats, 69% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans. More than two-thirds (68%) of voters say that Congressional budget cutters should “find other places in the budget to save money.”
James Levine’s Boston Symphony Legacy: Incomplete
“His impact on the orchestra was compromised not just by ill health. His artistic vision, which seemed so fresh and strong at first, had also grown increasingly hard to discern. And his programming was largely driven by personal priorities, especially regarding living composers.”
Libraries’ Latest Public Service? Speed-Dating
“Can Atlas Shrugged find love with the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test? … In a kind of hearts-and-flowers literacy drive, public libraries across the country are sponsoring speed-date nights to draw more young professionals into reading rooms.”
DreamWorks Acquires Rights to Make WikiLeaks Film
“Steven Spielberg looks set to oversee WikiLeaks: the Movie after securing the screen rights to WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy, the book by Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding. Reportedly conceived as an investigative thriller in the mould of All the President’s Men, the film will be backed by DreamWorks.”
Rehearsing Trisha Brown’s Wall-Walking Dances
“As dancers prepare to perform three gravity-defying, groundbreaking Trisha Brown works at the Barbican, choreographer Shelley Senter talks us through the piece and photographer Felix Clay captures rehearsals.”
Recipe for Gilding Bolshoi’s Ceiling: Gold, Vodka, Egg Whites
“To bring back the theatre’s imperial sheen, … [workers] are using a medieval recipe which relies on keeping egg whites in a warm room for 40 days before mixing it with clay. Finished off with vodka, it is then used to apply gold leaf measuring 0.1-mm thick onto the theatre’s curved ceilings and balconies.”
Helen Mirren’s Approach to Acting
“A light bulb went on in my brain. I thought, ‘That’s it! Just play what’s on the page.’ I’ve followed that ever since. If it says, ‘Over-the-hill, angry woman with no makeup gets out of bed,’ that’s what I’ll play. I don’t mess it up with, ‘What’s her back story?'”
The National Symphony’s New Maestro:
“I think the greatest need is to internationalize the National Symphony. I want them to tour regularly. I also want them to record. We just made our first recording–from concert performances of Gershwin and Bernstein. And we’re planning a big tour to South America. Then we will work on a tour to Europe. I want to get the orchestra to the point that I can show them off with pleasure.”