– to collect some royalties for their music being streamed on the internet. – Wired
Tag: 03.21.00
STILL SOARING
Legendary French composer/conductor Pierre Boulez, still vital and idealistic at 75, is throwing his musical and fundraising weight behind the London Symphony Orchestra’s ongoing residency in New York. “The American connection is an important and logical one, since the LSO was the first British orchestra to tour the United States–that 1912 visit nearly didn’t happen, as the band had originally been booked to sail on the Titanic–and has maintained a link through close collaboration with Bernstein, Copland, Previn and, more recently, Michael Tilson Thomas.” – London Times
E-LIVRE
- The e-book is getting a lot of attention (and praise) at this week’s Salon du livre in Paris. The prestigious exhibition – the creme de la creme of European publishing events – attracts over 220,000 visitors and 750 exhibitors. – Wired
WELCOME BACK, RABBIT!
A decade after his creator proclaimed him dead, John Updike’s beloved character Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom will return – sort of – in a new work this fall. “Rabbit Remembered,” a novella to be published as part of the upcoming collection “Licks of Love,” begins where “Rabbit at Rest” left off, exploring the world of friends and lovers “Rabbit” left behind. “I thought somebody might be curious what happened to the people who knew him,” said Updike. – CNN
IN “E” VITABLE:
E-books are here to stay, no matter how much romantic gush you hear from the lovers of dead trees. Last week’s Stephen King success was only the first salvo of the mass-market revolution. – MSNBC (Washington Post)
SHOWING AT A (COMPUTER) SCREEN NEAR YOU
Cyber movie theaters (showing “everything from Hong Kong action flicks to artsy films”) and a growing number of comic Webzines are “making it possible for Koreans to see movies and read comics with just a click.” One 24-hour site plans to show online film festivals, and Korea’s filmmakers are starting to release “for-cyber-theater-only” movies. No one, from here to Seoul, is sure whether the computer monitor will ever truly replace the big screen, but “there’s no denying that the internet is turning the industry upside down.” – Korea Herald 03/21/00
PLAYS THE POPE WON’T SEE
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has come out with its annual report on anti-Catholicism; the arts section lists 18 plays that contain “anti-Catholic motifs,” including one work by Nobel prize-winning author Dario Fo. The league objected to Fo’s play, which depicts “Pope John Paul II as endorsing birth control and drug legalization after ‘being confronted with thousands of third world orphans.’ Fo’s pope also suffers from paranoia, and is under the care of a witch doctor.” – Backstage
LIFE LESSONS
Armed with recent data showing the long-term benefits on children of studying the arts in school, a star-studded panel of actor/activists made a plea in Washington for increased federal arts spending. A UCLA study “found that students who studied the arts in grades eight to 10 made higher grades, scored better on standardized tests, and were less likely to drop out of school.” The 200 attending representatives of arts advocacy groups pledged to pass on the message to lawmakers. – New Jersey Online (AP)
IT’S RAINING BLOCKBUSTERS
Chicago’s museums have been selling tickets at a record-breaking pace. The hottest ticket currently? The Dead Sea Scrolls at the Field Museum. “At this rate, the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit will be “the biggest, certainly post-King Tut, in recent decades.” – Chicago Sun-Times
SINKING YOUR OWN CULTURAL FLAGSHIPS
The priorities of the Canadian government? “Three levels of government have cheerfully committed between $17-million and $22-million to Toronto’s Olympic bid — yes, that’s just the bid. But the Canadian Opera Company’s desperately needed new home is dead in the water, because those same levels of government are squabbling over each other’s obligations.” Not to mention the country’s premiere recital hall – the George Weston – which “has been turned into a glorified community centre, with scarcely a peep of protest.” – National Post (Canada)