“On corners, in parks, the pianos will be an eyeful as well as an earful, with attention-getting cases and living-color keys — green or blue, or all black instead of the usual allotment of 52 white and 36 black. So before the whole city finds out who needs to brush up on the ‘Minuet in G,’ volunteers have been putting brushes to the pianos.”
Tag: 06.15.10
Tate Modern Names New Director
“The appointment of Chris Dercon, from Munich’s Haus der Kunst, was confirmed today, and the 52-year-old promises to bring his enthusiasm for ‘mixing it up’ to the banks of the Thames when he takes over in spring 2011.”
Rare Book Thief Took Detailed ‘Shopping List’ To RHS Library
The suspect “would use a false name to sign in to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley library in London, it is alleged. He would leave after stuffing valuable volumes … under a tweed jacket he would always wear on such visits … The books on the piece of paper [he was carrying when arrested] were listed in sequential order as to where they could be found in the library.”
What Makes People Question That Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare?
“Taught he was the height of greatness, they’ve somehow mistaken his birth for a kind of literary Second Coming, thinking every word he wrote must be perfect and without sin. … [And] once you declare that a god has walked the earth, satanic forces must instantly spring up to deny him. … [Thus] a counter-assumption was born: A lowly actor from a small-town background, like ‘the man from Stratford,’ could not possibly have written these extraordinary plays.”
An Ambivalent Hometown Marks Mahler’s 150th
Gustav Mahler left his Bohemian hometown “to study in Vienna at 15 and never returned, though that is not why the region disowned him. History in these parts is a patchwork alternation of placid co-existence and merciless cruelty.” As the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth approaches, the region still has a “hedgy attitude toward Mahler.”
Perjury For The Prince? New Wrinkle In Chelsea Barracks
“Witnesses in the Chelsea Barracks case ‘concocted an untrue story’ to cover up the involvement of the Prince of Wales and the Emir of Qatar in the cancellation of an £81 million modernist housing project, the High Court was told yesterday.”
What Yannick Nézet-Séguin Needs To Succeed In Philly
“Nézet-Séguin’s conducting expertise is only one key component to a potentially successful tenure. He needs to connect with the musicians on a level that inspires them well beyond their basic professionalism. He has started on the right foot, partly because the musicians feel included in the selection process….”
What Tanglewood Will Look Like Without James Levine
“In summer … [a] large portion of [the music director’s] work is with the Tanglewood fellows, the young, talented players who have scored summer posts to study and perform works as an orchestra. While Levine is welcome to visit this summer, it is not clear whether he will be able to work at all with the fellows, [BSO managing director Mark] Volpe said.”
Participation Gains Traction In Classical Circles
“It’s particularly gratifying to see in classical music, where for decades the trend has been very much in the opposite direction: families who 150 years ago would have learned new music by playing it at the piano now buy recordings or attend concerts where they listen in stony silence.”
A Video Game Based On That Movie? Only If It’s Good
“A few years ago, game publishers were regularly releasing video games adapted from movies and tied to their opening in theaters. The games were routinely knocked by players and critics alike for their poor quality,” and now “consumers are saving their money for the highest-quality titles. As a result, publishers have cut back on production….”