“Perhaps the most amazing thing about eMusic, iTunes and other digital sites, though, is cross-genre buying. Nearly a third of eMusic’s classical sales go to customers who’ve never downloaded a classical piece. Similarly, iTunes sells as much hip-hop to classical buyers as jazz.”
Tag: 03.16.08
The Confusing Reemergence of Blackface
When exactly did the use of blackface become acceptable again? “Since we’re all supposedly post-racial, some white comedians feel it’s allowable to use makeup to portray black characters with empathy or just for laughs… Though the burnt cork and garish lipstick seem consigned to the bin of bad taste, there are different levels of subtlety in whites playing black dress-up.”
Literature’s Lone Wolf Reaches Out, Sort Of
“He went from a family joke to the greatest writer in the English language … and, to many of his peers, a thoroughly nasty piece of work. But is Nobel laureate VS Naipaul finally ready to make peace with the world?”
Pianos For The People
A UK artist has placed pianos in public spaces across the city of Birmingham, inviting members of the public to sit down and play as the fancy strikes them. “Some were already in enthusiastic use yesterday, others barely noticed. They will remain in situ until after Easter – if they survive that long – those outliving the experiment given a permanent home.”
Italy’s Schizophrenic Art Scene
Italy’s relationship with art has become increasingly bizarre and hard to understand. “The state still thinks of culture almost exclusively in terms of antiquities,” but a whole series of museums designed to house contemporary art are springing up. “Every institution is a one-person project; otherwise nothing happens. There’s no structure, no official culture of expertise.”
A Mandate To Preserve And Protect
Carla Peterson, the artistic director of New York’s Dance Theater Workshop, is on a mission to preserve, revive, and perform great dance works that had their premieres in recent years and risk being forgotten because of a lack of exposure. “Making this a permanent curatorial mandate signals Ms. Peterson’s deeper commitment to historically important contemporary works.”
It’s All In The Timing
Time doesn’t always proceed in a linear fashion on stage, and audiences are increasingly being asked to follow along with productions that seem to take place in multiple eras simultaneously. Still, there are risks to setting a historical play in modern times…
Same Old Debates Dominate Classical Summit
Seattle hosted a national classical music summit last month, and the results were, well, predictable. Those engaged in the performance of classical music cited burgeoning subscriber rolls and a long-term increase in the quantity and quality of available product. Certain journalists claimed the opposite. And everyone agreed that better music education is key to the future.
Arts vs. Arts In Dallas
The city of Dallas is expanding its already impressing cultural district with the construction of a new performing arts center with a huge outdoor performance space. But the Dallas Symphony isn’t happy about the outdoor venue, complaining that amplified sound will penetrate its own 19-year-old concert hall just next door. The city is attempting to mediate the dispute.
Columbus Symphony Facing A True Stalemate
The orchestra’s board claims that it will have to shut down if musicians don’t agree to sweeping layoffs and a 12-week reduction in the season. But donors seem suspicious of whether the organization has a real plan for stabilization, and musicians say the reductions designed to save the bottom line would destroy the orchestra. Worse, the sides aren’t even talking at the moment…