- Poet Karl Shapiro died Sunday at age 86. The longtime editor of “Poetry” magazine won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945 for poems he wrote during World War II while serving with a medical unit in the Pacific. – NPR [Real audio file]
Tag: 05.17.00
HOW TO MAKE BIBLIOPHILES DROOL
Christie’s in London is abuzz over the upcoming sale of famous book William Foyle’s entire library. His collection includes 40 painted books of hours, all four of the Shakespeare folios, a 12th century Bible, an atlas hand-colored for the Medicis – estimated to bring in £10 million or more. – The Times (UK)
A BUILDING OR A METAPHOR?
“Up close, the latest offering from architect Frank Gehry looks like a cross between a giant spaceship and globs of playdough.” – National Post (Canada)
IF YOU BUILD WILL THEY PAY?
For decades Philadelphia has talked about a new concert hall. Now the ground has been broken and one is being built. But there are still issues – the Philadelphia Orchestra still hasn’t signed a contract to use it. And then there’s money – where’s the rest of it going to come from to complete the thing? – Philadelphia Inquirer
A WINNING FORMULA FOR MUSIC
Dutch violinist-turned-conductor Andre Rieu has “stumbled onto a magic formula for bringing classical music to what are snobbishly called ‘the masses.’ His CDs – like his latest, `100 Years of Strauss,’ on the Philips label – are instant bestsellers. Videos of his concerts with his 35-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra are PBS fund-raising staples. And spectacle is the word most people use to describe his live shows.” – Boston Herald
THE REAL MUSIC VILLAINS
The FTC estimates consumers may have paid as much as $480 million more than they should have for CDs the last three years because of what is known as the Minimum Advertised Price program. Last fall, compact disc prices hit an all-time high of $18.98. Yet artists usually make less than $2 for every CD sold, once they’ve repaid the record label for recording and promotional expenses. That’s why Metallica’s decision to go after their own fans for downloading Metallica music off the Internet is so absurd. Musicians moan about fans ripping them off via the Internet, but the true villains are the record companies who shortchange artists and overcharge record buyers. – Chicago Tribune
LICENSE TO PLAY
The recording rights organization BMI announces a plan to license internet companies to be able to play music over the net. “The licenses give Internet companies the right to perform publicly all of BMI’s 4.5 million copyrighted works from its 250,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers.” – Wired
TRY FINDING THE “NINA” IN THIS
Legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, age 96, has fired his longtime dealer Margo Feiden and filed a suit against her gallery in New York Supreme Court. Hirschfeld alleges she withheld sizable earnings, refused to return drawings, and abused her fiduciary responsibility. – New York Times
I AM A ROCK, I AM AN ARTIST
Eighty-year-old painter Michael Gross won his country’s highest arts honor last week, the Israel Prize for Art, but kept his distance from the week’s celebrations and publicity. He is widely regarded as one of Israel’s most esteemed living artists – his work is held in the Guggenheim and MOMA, he’s shown at the Venice Biennale and Documenta – yet he’s always chosen to live as an “outsider,” as far as he can from the “theory and chatter” in Israel. “All the writers are little people who read other people’s theories, copy them and talk about them without understanding them. I am against all theories apart from one great one – an artist must be entirely free.” – Haaretz (Israel)
DYING OF SHAME
Ofra Haza was one of Israel’s most beloved pop stars. When she died earlier this year at age 42, fans kept a vigil outside her window. But in the wake of revelations she died of AIDS in a country that has a low AIDS infection rate, a debate about the stigma of the disease has erupted. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)