“Dame Gwyneth Jones has spoken out for the first time about the long running feud which has riven the Wagner Society, of which she has been president for nearly three decades. In the latest skirmish, … the society found itself at odds over a decision to cancel a sought-after public masterclass to have been held by the award winning soprano.”
Tag: 05.05.18
Why Christo And Jeanne-Claude Never Wrapped MoMA (Though They Wanted To)
It wasn’t a lack of vision or willingness that stopped them. In fact, the MoMA would have been the first public building the duo ever wrapped if the project had gone through in 1968.
Jerry Saltz’s Advice For Artists
Saltz used himself as a case study in success for late bloomers—after all, this is a man who worked as a long-distance truck driver until the age of 41 and has ended up the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic of a major magazine without formal academic training or a single degree. In the midst of his animated, sometimes rambling performance, there were some kernels of wisdom.
How John Luther Adams Became JLA
Adams asks for a different kind of listening. I heard the suggestion more than once that the most becoming presentation would have been simply a single concert devoted to Adams’ ocean and desert.
That brings up the major questions about Adams. Is his a music of enlightenment or escape? Is the attraction that of having sensations heightened or dulled, a dose of uppers for the ears, or downers? Is this for tuning in or chilling? The answers have to be personal and may not even be either/or.
What David Hockney Learned Painting 82 Portraits
From 2013 on, prominent cultural figures joined Hockney friends and family as portrait sitters at the artist’s brightly colored Hollywood Hills home and studio. There are portraits of his studio assistants, massage therapist, housekeeper and cook. Others depict Hockney’s siblings, the children and grandchildren of his friends, and art dealers such as London-based David Juda, New York-based Larry Gagosian, L.A. Louver’s Peter Goulds and the Ferus Gallery’s Irving Blum. So how did the pictures turn out? Very few sitters are smiling — it’s hard to smile for 20 hours — and Hockney says he has no idea of how they felt about their portraits.
Potrait Of A Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda
An orchestra, Noseda says, “is a small example of society. Sometimes there are frictions and sometimes not. But the most important thing: You have to deal with all these things in your personal way. . . . You have to be approachable. If people want to talk to you, they should feel free to come.”
Kansas City Star Lays Off The Last Of Its Arts Writers
To date, KCUR has confirmed pop writer Tim Finn; photographers Allison Long and David Pulliam; enterprise reporter David Frese; and editors Tod Palmer, Greg Branson, and Michelle Smith, among the layoffs.
History, And Longing, In *Tristan Und Isolde*
When Jonas Kaufmann sang Tristan at Carnegie Hall, it was a longing fulfilled for New York. For the opera itself, longing – frustrated longing, in what might be seen as the central romance of Western narratives – is central.
EuroVision And The (Now Distant) Dream Of A United Europe
“The cracks seem to run deep. But at Eurovision — and the many preview events, such as the one in Moscow that I went to in April — I regularly see a vision of Europe where fans across the Continent, artists and their entourages are more connected than ever. This year’s contest, which includes two semifinals and culminates in a grand final next Saturday, will once again celebrate the diversity of European pop. It will also provide a space for outsiders, including a huge L.G.B.T. fan base and many upstart artists, to feel mainstream.”
This French Film, And Its Director And Star, Are Just Slightly Ahead Of Time
Jeune Femme took Cannes by storm last year, and its writer/director still says her star “was at once totally the character, and not the character at all. When I write a script, I can be a bit precious, so I need someone who’ll come in and blow the whole thing apart.”