Tag: 06.21.03

Mr. Movie Grosses

“When Arthur D. Murphy, the dean of box office reporting, died Monday, he left a legacy that has exploded far beyond anything he anticipated or wanted. He was the first to analyze and research studio box office grosses when he worked as a writer for the entertainment trade newspaper Variety. Based on extensive calculation, Murphy created economic indicators and began writing the monthly Variety Box Office Index as a measure of film performance. But not unlike Dr. Frankenstein’s creation, Murphy’s meticulous analysis of hard numbers has mutated into a wild-horse-race story.”

Roll Over Beethoven

Beethoven and his music have been seized upon as a symbol for all manner of righteous and wrong causes. “Politically, he has had more incarnations than Vishnu. Almost every European political movement, conservative or revolutionary, has made him a posthumous party member. Depending on who you might have talked to over the past two centuries, Beethoven was a Marxist, a Nazi, a parliamentary democrat and a monarchist. He celebrated kings, gave hope to the proletariat, and vigorously supported all sides during the Second World War. No other composer – probably no other artist of any kind – has reflected so many conflicting views. You might say, echoing Jean-Paul Sartre, that because there was a Beethoven, we have to go on reinventing him.”

Our Great Composers: Out Of Religion

“Looking back over the history of music, it is clear that the church has inspired some of the greatest achievements of western culture. But in the 20th century, church music became increasingly isolated from the advances of musical language and the pens of the world’s most gifted composers. Today, to hear good new music in church is relatively rare. Why haven’t the likes of Berio and Ligeti written sacred music?”

American Opera – Quantity Over Quality?

“It sometimes seems as if it has become a proof of virility for some American opera houses that they should have at least one premiere in every season. But it is the quantity that apparently matters far more than quality, governed by the overriding principle that whatever the chosen composers produce must never challenge the house’s core audience too seriously. Just as it is no accident that the leading American opera directors of today – Robert Wilson, Peter Sellars, David and Christopher Alden – now work far more regularly in Europe than at home, while houses like the New York Met continue to favour the lavish, reactionary naturalism of Franco Zeffirelli, so the American opera composers who thrive are those who are content to serve up blandness, preferably with a story taken from a well known novel or play.”

After Saddam – The Inspiration’s Gone

Some artists did well in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Now that he’s gone, they have more freedom to create, and there are galleries ready to show their work. “But painters and sculptors say that for now, the inspiration is gone – stifled by sweltering days with no electricity, snaking gas station lines and sleepless nights defending galleries against looters and arsonists. ‘I ask the artists to make something new, and they tell me they are tired’.”

Louisville’s Photo Finish Keeps Orchestra Alive

Good news is hard to come by in the world of professional orchestras these days, but a huge sigh of relief could be heard coming from Louisville this weekend, as the Louisville Orchestra not only reversed its earlier position that bankruptcy was its only option, but approved a new three-year contract with its musicians. The contract is hardly a windfall for the players – it includes short-term wage cuts on already miniscule salaries, and trims weeks from the orchestra’s season – but with other troubled orchestras folding right and left, everyone seems to be at least satisfied with the result. As a direct result of reaching agreement on the contract, the orchestra will receive a much-needed $465,000 gift from a local developer who had been backing the musicians.

Iraqi Looting Count Climbs Above 6000

The count of items stolen from the Iraq National Museum is going up. The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement say that as of June 13 “the official count of missing items had reached 6,000 and was climbing as museum and Customs investigators proceeded with an inventory of three looted storerooms. The June 13 total was double the number of stolen items reported by Customs a week earlier,” and the final total will likely be much higher.

Living With Contemporary Art

The Guardian takes six pieces of contemporary art out of the galleries and puts them into private houses. How would ordinary people feel about living with a Tracey Emins or a Chapman Brothers artwork? “Many participants expressed anxiety about exposing their ignorance, aware of a kind of knowing exclusivity that characterises the art world. But they also expressed a sneaking suspicion that this world might be applauding something empty and banal.”

Swearing On The Radio Is Fine If It’s In Italian?

A Toronto radio station airs a promotional spot full of obscenities. The uptight Canadian Broadcast Standards Council rules that the spot was okay. “Yes, the content was ‘coarse, crass, vulgar’ and ‘very much on the edge of acceptability,’ but it didn’t violate the code of ethics subscribed to by private broadcasters. Moreover, KISS’s defence was ‘entirely plausible,’ the CBSC ruled. The standards council went on to say it was ‘comforted by the fact that fewer people [were likely to have been] offended by the coarseness of the language’ since the comments were made in Italian.”