“The film world is at loggerheads over plans to sell off the British Film Institute’s London headquarters – as the organisation struggles to cope with a financial crisis insiders believe is a result of the arts budget being raided to help fund the 2012 Olympics.”
Tag: 06.24.07
New Digital Business Model For Bands
“Artists buy in bulk a set of cards that they can design with their own custom artwork and text. Each card has a unique redemption code and holds 15 credits. Participating artists then upload their music in MP3 format to their profile on the DiscRevolt site, which can also accommodate a bio, contact info and artwork. Bands can either sell or give away these cards to fans, who use the redemption code to download individual tracks — one credit per track.”
Big Ballerina Retirements Over Weekend
American Ballet Theatre’s Alessandra Ferri retires after 22 years. New York City Ballet’s Kyra Nichols hangs up her shoes after 33 years. “It was a weekend ballet fans — some maybe a little hoarse from cheering — will likely remember for a long time.”
The Sad Truth: Tolkien’s Just Not That Great
It cost a record £12.5m to bring Lord of the Rings to the London stage. Was it worth it? Susannah Clapp thinks not, and she’s not just blaming the people in charge of the production. “Take away the narrative drive, and Tolkien’s limitations become glaring. There’s the faux archaic language… There’s the sentimental ruralism and the worship of hierarchy: lots of little people with comical names being awed by silvery-tongued great ones. There’s the unadulterated blokesiness of it all… And alongside the macho swagger, there are all those elves. Tolkien really knew how to put the twee into tweedy.”
Redefining Chamber Music
Chamber music has always been the ultimate “insider” experience for classical music aficionados. But the form’s always limited audiences have been declining in recent years, leading some to rethink the way small-scale concert music is prepared and presented. “A small group of musicians playing in an intimate setting is, after all, one of the most popular forms of music making today. You can find ‘chamber music,’ by this definition, in bars and clubs across the country on any given night. But those invested in maintaining traditions — including some presenters and commendably passionate audiences — want a more conservative definition that keeps out the innovation.”
Keeping The Symphony Alive
The 20th century was supposed to spell the end of the symphony, a 19th-century musical construct that many said had outlived its usefulness in an age when orchestras were no longer the playthings of emperors and kings. “But it took root elsewhere, acquiring a nationalist character in Finland (Sibelius), Denmark (Nielsen), Mexico (Chavez), Brazil (Villa Lobos), Britain (notably Vaughn Williams) and America… Many composers today simply write orchestral pieces and give them fanciful names. Only in Russia and the onetime Soviet satellites has the symphony thrived in a direct line between the 19th and 21st centuries.”
Musicians At Risk (This Means You!)
“As many as 50 percent of music professionals suffer at least some hearing loss. [Worse,] recent Northwestern University study found that almost all incoming freshman music majors already have a playing-related physical ailment.” The problem is exacerbated by the fact that most musicians don’t even consider the risks they are taking until a problem that can’t be ignored manifests itself.
Dancing Around The Domestic
Workplace romances are always complicated affairs, but when your workplace is the stage, and your profession involves constant physical contact that would get you arrested in any other office, things get even more complex. “A demanding schedule makes it difficult for men and women in the marrying years to find a match outside the studio. There are currently eight confirmed couples at [Canada’s] National Ballet… Most ballet couples are not seen together onstage. And a lot of married or cohabiting pairs had a professional relationship long before they ever went on a date.”
Yale Pushed Into Antiquities Debate
An ongoing battle between Peru and Yale University over a collection of Incan artifacts from Machu Picchu is being seen as a new twist on a growing debate over ownership of antiquities. “It does not revolve around criminal allegations of surreptitious tomb-raiding and black-market antiquities deals. But if the circumstances are unique, the background sentiments are not.”