“Pitchforkmedia.com has become the main arbiter of taste among independent music fans, a distinction once claimed by zines, college radio, and mainstream music mags that risked advertising dollars by taking chances on unknown bands. The news and reviews site has found its niche in catering to list makers, mp3 traders, and kids who are determined to love and leave a band before you’ve ever even heard of them. Pitchfork has plenty of faults—impenetrable writing, factual gaffes made by first-time critics—but they haven’t kept it from turning the music industry’s standard operating procedure on its head. It’s the website every music-head checks and the website every music-head hates.”
Tag: 06.14.06
PNB On An Upward Draft
Peter Boal has brought new excitement to Pacific Northwest Ballet in his first season. “What changed? Because something has, markedly. One feels it entering McCaw Hall for a program, feels it waiting in line for tickets, feels it in oneself: a feeling of anticipation, even excitement, about what one’s about to see. There have long been fine dancers, good dances, and satisfying programs at PNB. Maybe the best way to sum up the difference this year is that the steak, always wholesome and well prepared, regained its sizzle. And from the first bite, one realized that wasn’t all. The steak was juicy, strong flavored, and almost daringly rare.”
Expert Dismisses Leicester Theatre Plan
Theatre consultancy guru Richard Pilbrow has dismissed designs for the new £48 million Leicester Performing Arts Centre by leading architect Rafael Vinoly as “impractical” and “extremely problematic”.
Hollywood’s Internet Marketing 2.0
This summer Hollywood studios are turning to new websites. “Some of these studios are enjoying massive exposure by placing marketing materials on smaller, cutting-edge sites that emphasize on-demand and user-generated content, as well as video sharing. While still promoting their films through standard ad buys on big-reach portals like Yahoo!, MSN and AOL, many studios are seeding their content on smaller venues and banking on their fans to form their own distribution channels.”
Singing Carlos Acosta’s Praises
So why isn’t the Royal Ballet’s Carlos Acosta a popular hero? “Why isn’t he a celebrity on the scale of Nureyev? He is incontrovertibly one of the great artistic phenomenona of our time. It’s hard to imagine anyone else, in any artform, who could combine such of virtuosity, wit, charm, grace and interpretative skill.”
The Bolshoi’s Precarious Condition
The Bolshoi has been threatening to disintegrate for years. The original theatre was built between 1821 and 1825, then destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1853. In 1920, the building started to shake during a performance. They fixed that with a concrete base beneath the floor – which affected the acoustics. In 2002 a second world war bomb was discovered beneath one of the theatre’s entrances. But it wasn’t until last year’s closure that anyone realised exactly how serious the situation was. The foundations had sunk by 20cm. There were areas of brickwork that, when the restorers tried to take them apart, crumbled to the touch.”
Pacific Northwest’s New Dance Era
Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet finishes its first season of a new era under director Peter Boal. Portland’s Oregon Ballet picks up some of PNB’s DNA with its director Christopher Stowell, son of former PNB directors Francia Russell and Kent Stowell…
Tosca’s Allure
“Tosca remains one of the ten most performed operas around the world and there is no arguing with the turnstile. Its secret, I suspect, is twofold. Like The Mousetrap, most people know how it is going to end, which means they can take guests again and again with a lightly-worn air of superiority. The attraction of repetition is reinforced by the richness of interpretative possibility.”
Whatever Happened To Diversity?
“Once upon a time, when television operated in a more stable environment, executives yapped endlessly about diversity. But has a litany of more pressing concerns today — multi-platform delivery, audience fragmentation, online competition — pushed the issue of representation into the shadows?”
SF Chorus Leader Stepping Down
The San Francisco Symphony Chorus is one of the world’s best, and for the last 23 years, it has been helmed by one man. “[Vance] George is recognized as one of the nation’s premier choral conductors for his ability to shape the Chorus’ sound in a range of musical styles.” George is retiring this summer at the age of 72.