“As much as we Brits and Yanks would love to find some version of our own Hackney or Williamsburg, here there is little need for an underground. With its (champagne) socialist town hall, the city has always provided plenty of funding, space and publicity for the arts.” The banlieue (the troubled area beyond the ring road) is another matter.
Tag: 03.26.09
Berlin Art Boom Busts
“Berlin – home to an estimated 600 galleries – which has boomed like no other city as an art capital in recent years, is now feeling the pinch. Galleries are closing every month, international conglomerates are shutting down their local branches and many others are downsizing or laying off employees. Profits are reportedly down by a third.”
When Fictional Characters Begin Publishing Books
“Perhaps, in these recessionary times, we might be seeing a lot more of this sort of thing, as flesh and blood writers are asked to don the masks of their own characters to create a whole new line of books. After all, fictional writers must be far easier to deal with than real-life ones, and they don’t demand big advances.”
Art Dubai – Glitz But Ho-Hum Sales
“While reports of Dubai in the western press sometimes depict a ghost town, the glitzy, well-attended opening night defied this caricature. Nevertheless, the tiny emirate is not immune to the recession, particularly given its dependence on real estate and its exposure to debt.”
iTunes About To Raise The Price Of Music
The world’s largest music store, Apple’s iTunes, plans to boost the price of many hit singles and selected classic tracks to $1.29 on April 7, breaking the psychological barrier of 99 cents in what could be the first big test of how much consumers are willing to pay to download individual songs.
Obama And The Arts – Not A Promising Start?
“The three lesser appointments Obama has so far made in the cultural arena–a Chicago lawyer named Kareem Dale, a Hollywood fund-raiser named Jeremy Bernard, and an Obama Senate staffer named Anita Decker–have been strange at best and, at worst, deflating.”
Manhattan Theatre Club Reduces Number Of Productions
The highly-regarded company announced that its 2009-10 season would offer six productions in place of the usual seven and that it would rent out its 150-seat Stage II rather than present its own work there. The good news: Among the stars on the MTC stage next season are beloved veterans Rosemary Harris and Linda Lavin.
L.A.’s Great Billboard Debate
Christopher Hawthorne: “[T]he idea that billboard growth is an assault on our collective urban-design principles is at best a red herring. This is a place where billboards and other kinds of signage have long aspired to the size and prominence of architecture – [and] not just the famed Hollywood sign… At the same time, many of our buildings have long dreamed of becoming signs, or at least performing a credible imitation of them.”
Brewer, Villazón Cancel High-Profile Met Gigs
Soprano Christine Brewer, citing a knee injury that keeps her from moving on stage, has pulled out of next month’s run of Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera. Her appearances as Brünnhilde, Brewer’s first in a complete, fully staged Ring, were among the most anticipated events of the season. Meanwhile, vocally troubled tenor Rolando Villazón has withdrawn from at least the first two performance of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, beginning next week.
The Tenor That Opera Keeps Rediscovering
The old saying that there are no second chances in the theater is belied by tenor Stuart Neill, who’s getting his fourth wind. After early successes, including recordings with Colin Davis and Michael Tilson Thomas, he had a five-year exile from opera, retooling his voice and singing Christmas carols in suburban Philadelphia. Now, having saved La Scala’s opening night (and its worldwide simulcast), Neill is finally getting re-engaged. He tells David Patrick Stearns what it took to get there.