“First published 400 years ago, Shakespeare’s sonnets might never have been put to press had it been left to the author to decide things. As Clinton Heylin, the author of the new book So Long as Men Can Breathe: The Untold Story of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, explains, just as Bob Dylan’s basement tapes were never intended for a wide audience, such was the case with Shakespeare’s sonnets.”
Tag: 05.20.09
Yet More Job Cuts At WNET
“As individual donations and corporate sponsorship revenue continue to fall short, the public television stations WNET (Channel 13) and WLIW (Channel 21) said Wednesday that they planned to reduce their staffs by an additional total of about 50 people. That will bring the number of layoffs since January, when a first round of reductions was announced, to about 130 people, or nearly 25 percent of the staff.”
Zurich Opera’s Alexander Pereira To Lead Salzburg Festival
“Austrian-born Pereira, 62, will take over from current chief Juergen Flimm in 2011 and his contract will run for five years … Salzburg was on the look-out for a new chief after Flimm, 67, announced late last year that he would not renew his contract beyond 2011.”
Oleg Yankovsky, 65, Beloved Russian Actor
“[His] film career spanned five decades and included leading roles in many movies that endure as icons for millions across the former Soviet Union. […] He also played leading roles in films of the brooding Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, including Mirror and Nostalgia.“
New Acropolis Museum To Charge One-Euro Admission
“[I]n a bid to boost visitor numbers in hard economic times, Culture Minister Andonis Samaras announced Wednesday [that] … admission will cost €1 ($1.4) for the first six months – as much as a public bus ticket.”
$74M Plan Proposed To Reopen St. Louis’s Kiel Opera House
“The [downtown] opera house, completed in 1934, is a grand old building … [with] eclectic Classical Revival-cum-Art Deco architecture. Inside is a 3,500-seat hall and four side theaters, each capable of seating 700.” The building has been empty since 1991, but the city is now negotiating with a group “who wants to reopen the opera house as a performing arts center.”
Under Pressure, Edinburgh Film Fest Gives £300 Grant Back To Israel
“The Edinburgh International Film Festival has returned a £300 grant to the Israeli government after Ken Loach called for the event to be boycotted. The money was to be used to fund an Israeli film maker’s travel expenses to Scotland to exhibit her short film.”
NY Phil Exec To Head Berkeley’s Cal Performances
“U.C. Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau named Matías Tarnopolsky as the new director of Cal Performances. Tarnopolsky, now vice president of artistic planning at the New York Philharmonic, takes over from outgoing director Robert Cole on Aug. 10.”
You Neurotic, Perfectionist Artsy Types, You’re In Trouble
“Perfectionists – that is, those who expressed ‘a strong motivation to be perfect’ and revealed a tendency toward ‘all or nothing thinking’ – were approximately 51% more likely to have died during the life of the study than those with more reasonable self-expectations. Those who were rated high on neuroticism … did even worse: Their risk of death nearly doubled compared with those with a more relaxed disposition.”
Why The New Star Trek Was A Good Idea
“Even while the usually uninspired sequels, prequels and flat-out remakes continue to get made (and earn money), Hollywood has come up with a variation – The Reinvention – that shows promise.”