A video of 200 people doing a choreographed dance routine to “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music in Antwerp’s (very handsome) Central Station has racked up almost a million hits and is reducing bloggers to burbling (“How could you not smile for hours? I’m smiling now just typing this!”). It hardly seems to matter that it’s all a publicity stunt for a Flemish version of the CBC reality show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?.
Tag: 04.12.09
George Frideric Handel, Clever Finance Guy?
“Handel seems to have been among the very first modern musicians not to rely on patronage of court or cathedral for his main income. Instead, he was an entrepreneurial promoter, risking his own money on operas and oratorios. … Eventually, oratorios made him a rich man. But he also did quite a lot of investing, and some records survive of his investments in the newly emerging financial markets.”
A New Magazine For Classical Music
What should a new, 21st-century classical-music magazine, especially one published in the United States, be like? “First off, it should address the American experience. What makes the American classical scene different from that in Britain and the rest of Europe? And what is happening not just on the two coasts but in the rest of the country?
If It’s April It Must Be Time For The Latino Play
” ‘Slot plays’ are a double-edged sword. They offer clear evidence of a company’s ongoing commitment to underrepresented communities. They expose the mainstream audience to lesser-known writers and theatrical styles. But slot plays can be seen as condescending to the very people they aim to attract.”
A Movie Culture Of Destroying The Planet
“As their bag of tricks gets heftier, shouldn’t filmmakers’ ethical burden grow as well? Does having the shock-and-awe tools for depicting mass destruction for mass distraction mean that we should use them?”
How E-Publishing Is Changing Scholarship
“Individual buyers still purchase a traditional book about 99 percent of the time. But the revolution is coming, experts say, and already has changed how scholars conduct and publish research, and how books are formatted and archived. New approaches to teaching and new riddles of copyright law are breaking to the surface across the globe.”
When It Comes To Consuming Culture, Recession Takes Backseat
“It’s never been easier to avoid paying for entertainment — pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters, some not yet released in theatres, can be downloaded, and illegal downloading of music is widespread and socially acceptable. Yet live music is thriving, with concert ticket sales doubling in the last decade despite prices of $200 or more for big names like U2.”
The Zen Of Book Advances
“Advance envy is common. ‘Writers who can’t recall their Social Security number can say to the penny how much of an advance their nemesis received. To an outsider, the numbers can seem arbitrary, even absurd. No one ever says of an advance, ‘That’s exactly what that book deserves,’ Yep, a coming-of-age first novel involving drug addiction and same-sex experimentation is worth $25,000.”
Likely Nominees For Tony’s Top Award?
There are four slots for nominees in the Tony race for best play. Three shows seem like sure shots to get in.
Protests After Amazon Blocks “Adult” Book Charts (Then Says It Was A Mistake)
“A groundswell of outrage, concern and confusion sprang up over the weekend, largely via Twitter, in response to what authors and others believed was a decision by Amazon to remove adult titles from its sales ranking. On Sunday evening, however, an Amazon spokesperson said that a glitch had occurred in its sales ranking feature that was in the process of being fixed. The spokesperson added that there was no new adult policy.”