Lest his new novel suggest anything else, Philip Roth would like you to know that he’s feeling just fine, and he’s invited some photographers to snap a few shots to prove the point. “The reason for Mr. Roth’s pre-emptive photographic strike is that ‘Everyman’ is a book about mortality. It begins in a graveyard and ends on the operating table. And Mr. Roth is hoping that the pictorial evidence on the book’s jacket will stave off autobiographical interpretations.”
Tag: 04.25.06
Tribeca’s Obsession With Reality
To judge by the entries in this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the days of movies as America’s grand escape from difficult reality may be over. “In the shadows of [a few] glittering billboards seethes a mass of films, many taped on digital video or filmed with hand-held cameras, in which reality is the thing. An immersion in this year’s festival might be described as an intensive course in compassion, suffering and outrage. For a festival born out of the ashes of 9/11, could it be any other way?”
Remaking Downtown LA, Gehry Style
Having received accolades for his design of Los Angeles’s Disney Concert Hall, architect Frank Gehry is now planning to transform the look of America’s second-largest city further, with the aim of creating a viable downtown on LA’s Grand Avenue. “The $750 million project, which includes the first high-rises he has ever designed for his hometown, is the first phase of a $1.8 billion development plan by the Related Companies that will remake Grand Avenue as a pedestrian-based gathering point.”
IU Music School Mourns Its Loss
The plane crash that killed five students at the University of Indiana’s School of Music has rocked the Bloomington campus, and students and faculty are just beginning to assess the impact of the disaster on the school.
The Face of Curtis, Looking Ever Inward
In 20 years of running the Curtis Institute of Music, Gary Graffman has raised the school’s international profile, boosted its endowment, and expanded the school’s training beyond simple pursuit of orchestral jobs, traditionally considered the plum positions in the classical music world. “Behind the scenes, Graffman also managed to keep the school tuition-free and mostly deficit-free during a challenging time.”
Harvard Author Admits Plagiarism, But Not Guilt
“Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard sophomore accused of plagiarizing parts of her recently published chick-lit novel, acknowledged yesterday that she had borrowed language from another writer’s books, but called the copying ‘unintentional and unconscious.’… On Sunday, The Harvard Crimson reported that Ms. Viswanathan, who received $500,000 as part of a deal for [two books,] had seemingly plagiarized language from two novels by Megan McCafferty, an author of popular young-adult books.”
Graffman’s Legacy: If It Ain’t Broke…
As the Curtis Institute of Music prepares to transfer its top leadership post from pianist Gary Graffman to violist Roberto Diaz, Graffman says that all he ever tried to do was maintain an already outstanding level of musical achievement. He also feels that his whatever legacy he may have as longtime leader of one of the world’s most prestigious conservatories is wrapped up in the quality of the school’s students. “We try to adjust to the students, that they should not fit into a preset mold. We have to rein them in once in a while… The technical level of incoming students is obscenely high. It’s scary in some cases.”
Seeking A New Revolutionary
A hundred years ago, British playwright Harley Granville Barker revolutionized the stage with his embrace of the political and his embrace of realism. In recent years, London theaters have been leading a revival of Barker’s plays. But are the revivals missing a crucial point? “Today, Granville Barker’s ideas have been assimilated into the mainstream – and now we must go beyond him in our new work. The kind of theatre he advocated – essentially the tentative beginnings of social realism – has been embraced for over 40 years. We need to move on again, and realise that if theatre is evolving beyond this, it is for a very good reason.”
Baghdad Arts School Threatened By Continued Violence
Iraq still teeters on the brink of civil war, and life in Baghdad appears years away from anything approaching normalcy. Somehow, though, the Baghdad Music & Ballet School has stayed open, even with a diverse student body consisting of Shiites, Sunnis, and Christians. “But violence has taken its toll, said principal Najiha Naif. Students have dropped out because many are afraid of getting killed on the way to class. Blasts have shattered the school’s windows and mirrors. Gunmen have stormed the school ground to take cover during gun battles… Before war, the school had problems accommodating all the students who applied, Naif said. The centre now has 200 students and it survives in part thanks to foreign donations.”
SPCO To Offer 35-Year Archive Of Concerts Online
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has unveiled a new media agreement with Minnesota Public Radio which will allow online listeners to hear a large percentage of the orchestra’s 35-year archive of radio broadcasts. Still undecided is whether the programs will be free to consumers, but the agreement is likely to get plenty of scrutiny from orchestras and musicians around the country, as the industry continues to debate how best to use new technologies, and how (if at all) musicians should be paid for such distribution.