Critically acclaimed films about provocative subjects struggle to make money all the time, but rarely have so many lauded documentaries consistently failed to connect at the box office.
Tag: 06.19.08
Opera Theatre Of St. Louis Names New Director
Timothy O’Leary, 33, who joined Opera Theatre of St. Louis as executive director in January, will be the company’s new general director.
How The Music Album Shrank In Value
Less than 10 years ago, it was common for albums to cost $15 and above. Apple helped redefine what the price of an album could be in the minds of consumers, but Steve Jobs’ company is far from the only reason that albums are costing less and less.
A Sports Writer Reviews Opera
“There is a parallel between what you feel during a top-class rugby match and what an artist feels on stage – and it’s not just the roar of the crowd. The people who are watching influence how you behave: they were viewing Kaufmann and driving him forward, just as they used to inspire me. I could empathise with Kaufmann’s total concentration on the performance, and the way he had to become one with the orchestra, who gave him the power to go beyond the norm.”
Calcutta To Build Major New Modern Art Museum
Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have been selected to design an ambitious new museum of modern art in Calcutta (Kolkata) scheduled to open in 2013. They were chosen from a shortlist which included Frank Gehry (US) and David Adjaye (UK).
That Guadalajara Guggenheim? Don’t Count On It
A prominent Mexican businessman says that the Guggenheim’s Thomas Krens “insisted on a project comparable to the Guggenheim Bilbao, with a $170m construction budget and a $20m fee to the Guggenheim, both of which are far more than the government and private backers in Mexico could afford.”
Will New “Orphan” Copyright Rules Hurt Visual Artists?
“The Copyright Office proposal would have a disproportionately negative, even catastrophic, impact on the ability of painters and illustrators to make a living from selling copies of their work. This is because–unlike books, songs and films–works of visual art lack universally accepted titles that permit searching by name. And, the number of works by most artists typically exceeds the output of novelists, composers or script writers.”
80 Million Piano-Players
“Currently, as many as 80 million children play the piano in China and the factory churns out one keyboard a minute. China is evidently in the grip of some kind of fever. Rachmaninov seeps from loudspeakers and you can scarcely make it ten yards down the street before being forced to buy an illegal Goldberg Variations box set. If you’d ever suspected Brahms could be used as a deadly weapon, then here was the proof.”
Canadian Stage Director To Step Down
Martin Bragg announced yesterday that he would leave his position as artistic producer of the Canadian Stage Company at the end of the 2008-2009 season, his 17th with the organization.
Prediction: CDs Will Be Dethroned Within Three Years
“The compact disc has less than three years left in its reign atop the music industry in Canada, with new data on music sales indicating the download will officially be king by 2011.”