“Lotteries and literature go ill together, but on balance, the Booker probably does more good than harm. Who knows which novel the latest panel will choose or what the voting public will make of its shortlist. If it’s any guide, when The Observer polled more than 100 writers on ‘the best book of the past 25 years’, the clear winner was Disgrace.”
Tag: 03.09.08
Singing The Praises Of Music No One Else Likes
Why is it that music critics are always so hopelessly devoted to music that the vast majority of the public has no use for? “In an ideal world, music critics would be a simple conduit between great music and the wider public. ‘Here you go,’ we should say, ‘you’ll love this’ – and you would love it. The truth is a little different.”
The Evolving American Musical
“Musicals that choose not to sing of moons and Junes will be familiar to anyone paying attention to the evolution of American theater. In the last few decades, as its stock in the cultural marketplace has steadily slid, the musical has been liberated, in a way, to go places where the masses may not be ready to follow.”
Reassessing The Cliburn Effect
Van Cliburn’s win at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow in April 1958 was one of those moments that managed to change both the music world, and the larger culture. “This anniversary is an apt time to consider the fallout of this event on Mr. Cliburn’s career, the field of classical music and the world of cultural diplomacy.”
All These New Theaters, For What? And For Who?
“In recent years many of the 75 companies that form the League of Resident Theaters have looked at their aging or unaesthetic homes and joined what amounts to a nonprofit theatrical building boom. [But] one can’t help sensing… a plaintive question behind the platitudes: Who are these buildings for?”
Arts Dollars Few And Far Between In Virginia
The good news in Virginia is that, in a tough budget year, the state Commission for the Arts isn’t expecting to see its allocation cut. But Virginia arts groups have come to depend on a separate system of grants from the state that may soon be barely funded or zeroed out entirely.
Culture Scheme Hits Choppy Water In Florida
Arts leaders in Tampa Bay have big plans for an arts center that would stabilize local institutions and hopefully boost the area’s national profile. But two years after organizers conjured a vision of a Floridian cultural mecca, “that vision is seemingly coming apart at the seams.”
Reinventing Vivaldi (Again)
A new generation of performers and scholars are redefining the way Vivaldi’s music is heard. “Revelations from specialists range from an obvious tough, craggy, eventful treatment of the music to subtle tweaking of baroque performance techniques… Most of the received wisdom on Vivaldi is in ever-increasing flux.”
St. Louis Arts Groups Team Up To Boost Sales
“Nineteen of St. Louis’ largest theaters and museums will share information about their audiences in hopes of boosting tickets sales and memberships. The database of the arts, called DART, is the brainchild of the Regional Arts Commission and is similar to the cross-sell model that has worked so well for Amazon.”
Was The NY Phil Concert Really Worth All The Debate?
The New York Philharmonic’s decision to perform in North Korea has sparked plenty of debate, and one artist says that all the arguing shows once again that Americans are simply too worked up over a) the two Koreas and b) our own supposed importance in the world.