“The problem I’ve always had with most pre-concert talks of any serious length and/or depth is the inverse relationship between the quality of the talk and my desire to hear the subsequent performance; in this case, after nearly 75 minutes of speaking, performed excerpts, and slides, the last thing in the world that I felt like doing was sitting through a performance of the piece in question!”
Tag: 04.17.09
Curry And Identity
“But does food act like a historical text? What is food a record of exactly? …[F]ood is not a reliable historical source, for it is a truth universally acknowledged that most curries dished up in [British “balti”] restaurants are invented for the ‘white’ consumer. In Urdu, balti means ‘bucket’ and has more to do with Jack, Jill and the hill, than with cooking.”
Urban Renewal – Artists Colonize Cities Blighted By Foreclosure
“Drawn by available spaces and cheap rents, artists are filling in some of the neighborhoods being emptied by foreclosures. Now, the current housing crisis has created a new class of urban pioneer. Nationwide, home foreclosure proceedings increased 81% in 2008 from the previous year, rising to 2.3 million, according to California-based foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac. Homes in hard-hit cities such as Detroit and Cleveland are selling for as little as $1.”
As If Pride And Prejudice And Zombies Weren’t Enough
“The author currently enjoying a surprise hit with [that] new literary genre of monster remix, … writer Seth Grahame-Smith has landed a rumoured $575,000 (£390,000) deal with a major US publisher that will entail writing the life of Abraham Lincoln, vampire hunter.”
Primate Food Critics
“Bonobos yell out their food ratings using at least five distinct vocalizations, the study found. Since the calls are tonally similar to certain other primate sounds, such as the human exclamations ‘Yum!’ and ‘Ewww,’ the scientists think there might be a somewhat universal primate language when it comes to food.”
Journalists, Do Unto Google As You Would Have Others Do Unto You
“If you go by the journalist’s own logic, then the truth is that they are exploiting the newsmakers they cover. After all, it’s really the newsmakers who are ‘creating’ the story, and all the journalists are doing is writing up an account of it, for commercial purposes, and not rewarding the newsmakers who make their jobs possible in the first place.”
Brooklyn Phil Calls (Almost) The Whole Thing Off
“The Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra [sic] has canceled its remaining concert this season and its entire 2009-10 season for the full orchestra because of a drop in donations.” The orchestra will continue its education programs (which are already funded) and Michael Christie will remain as music director.
Barenboim Cheered In Cairo
“In a rare performance by a prominent Israeli musician in Egypt, Daniel Barenboim has received a rapturous reception at the Cairo Opera House. Mr Barenboim conducted the Cairo Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.”
Maurice Druon, 90, Anglophile In The Académie Française
He became famous for writing the words to the WWII anthem “Le Chant des Partisans,” wrote such classic French historical novels as Les Rois maudits (“The Accursed Kings”), and spent two decades battling the inclusion of women in the Académie and of English words into French, even as he spoke proudly of learning his English from Winston Churchill.
Lexington Phil Selects Music Director
Scott Terrell, 38 and currently resident conductor of the Charleston Symphony, takes the podium at the Kentucky orchestra beginning this June. He succeeds retiring music director George Zack, who held the position for 37 years.