“Lupu, now 73, has long frustrated his admirers: he last recorded in the mid-1990s, is absent from social media, and refuses to be interviewed. His health has been in decline; in the last two years he has cancelled appearances with increased frequency. In May, Arcady Volodos replaced him in Paris; earlier this month, Maria João Pires did the same in Berlin, coming out of her own retirement.” – WFMT (Chicago)
Tag: 06.28.19
The Museumification Of Venice
Nearly 5 million tourists visited the city in 2017, compared with 2.7 million in 2002, according to data from the city’s hotels, which do not take into account the thousands of bookings with Airbnb Inc. and similar services. Meanwhile, the resident population has shrunk below 60,000. – Bloomberg
Familiar Argument: Why We Shouldn’t Feel Sorry For Paying Arts Graduates Less
Because the benefits of the jobs – it’s work that’s interesting, even fun… – are worth it? – The Telegraph (UK)
How A Caretaker With Little Training “Restored” (And Damaged) 200 Of Van Gogh’s Paintings
The 200 Van Gogh paintings which Jan Cornelis Traas restored for the family between 1926 and 1933 represent nearly a quarter of the artist’s works. It remains highly disturbing that a restorer with virtually no formal training and with little experience should have been given the task of restoring so many of Van Gogh’s paintings. – The Art Newspaper
Plan To Merge Florence’s Uffizi And Accademia Galleries
“The Italian culture minister, Alberto Bonisoli, is planning to merge the Gallerie degli Uffizi with the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence under a single administration” as part of a new set of reforms rolling back the previous government’s reforms of Italian museums. “The Accademia — best known as the home of Michelangelo’s David — will maintain curatorial independence, he added, through its own scientific committee.” – The Art Newspaper
This Is How A Language Dies
Today, only about 40 people speak the Tayap language, and Don Kulick predicts that the language will be “stone cold dead” in less than 50 years. How did that happen? Perhaps more importantly, what cultural and economic losses paved the way? The answer might lie in the backward way we’ve been framing language death. – The American Scholar
Female Video Game Designers Take On The Debate Over Abortion Rights
“As Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio work to reverse hard-won reproductive rights with ‘fetal heartbeat’ bills and potential 99-year sentences for performing abortions, game designers in the United States – and around the world – are creating interactive experiences that challenge the simplistic ways that many people think about abortion, and the blunt … laws that politicians have drafted around their constituents’ bodies.” – The Guardian
Next Head Of Paris Opera Will Be Canadian Opera Company’s Alexander Neef: Report
According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, Neef, who was director of casting at the Paris Opera before becoming General Director of COC in 2008, will succeed Stéphane Lissner as General Director in Paris in 2022. Neef’s contract in Toronto currently runs to 2026, and last fall he took on the job of artistic director of the summer-only Santa Fe Opera. – Ludwig van Toronto
The Irish Film Industry Has Grown Up. So What Does It Mean To Be An “Irish” Film?
“To resist globalisation, we need to insist on the importance of the local, whether that’s local food, local dialects, local industries. At its most successful, Irish cinema tells local stories that resonate as much abroad as they do at home.” – Irish Times
The Digital Age Has Been Unkind To Classical Music (It’s About The Meta-Data)
Browsing and accessing classical music online has been a chore. The data structures were set up for pop music, not classical. Finally, companies are working on some solutions. – The New York Times