How fast do Hollywood trends move? This fast: the Emmy nominations were announced this morning in Los Angeles, and neither of last year’s big winners – Lost and Desperate Housewives – received nods for best series. The most-nominated show is 24, with medical drama Grey’s Anatomy also garnering several nominations.
Tag: 07.06.06
Overhauling Emmy
The Emmys will be different this year, or so everyone is hoping. A series of rule changes regarding nominees has been designed to reduce the number of repeat winners and make the event less of a Hollywood popularity contest.
Mourning Lieberson
The death of 52-year-old mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson from cancer is hitting the music world hard. “No death in the classical-music community since Leonard Bernstein’s is likely to arouse such a sense of personal grief among those who heard but never knew her. Both artists tended to reveal their innermost selves in performance, and to do so passionately in the service of great art. She did so, however, in places where you might not think to find it: modern and ancient music.”
Rumors Prove Tragically True
“For the past two years, there had been reports that Lieberson had not been well. She canceled most of her engagements, and her representatives put the word out that she was suffering from a back injury. But she summoned her strength to appear in a few choice performances…”
Abrupt Departure Roils Liverpool’s Culture Plans
Liverpool’s plans for being the European capital of culture in 2008 were thrown into chaos yesterday when Robyn Archer, the director of the city’s 2008 culture efforts, suddenly quit. “Last night officials denied rumours that she had been sacked as a result of growing dissatisfaction among leaders of some of Liverpool’s big cultural institutions. Some complained that it had not been clear whether she was organising an international arts festival or a year-long community celebration.”
Running A Festival? It’s All About The Local Context
“Who is best equipped to run a city’s cultural jamboree? Without being unduly parochial, I’d suggest it is someone with an understanding of local needs. Robyn Archer made a big success of Adelaide in 1992, as Jim Sharman had in 1982, because she was clued in on Australian tastes. But, intriguingly, the American director, Peter Sellars, was invited to succeed Robyn in Adelaide and was eventually forced to quit. In short, it’s a matter of horses for courses: festivals, in my experience, are best created by people who possess not just taste and vision but an awareness of the cultural context.”
It’s Summer, And Basel’s Art Awaits
“Every art institution here seems so dazzlingly meticulous and thought out, with their clean, uncluttered galleries, thorough exhibitions and, often, interesting yet unobtrusive architecture. Museum shops featuring mostly (gasp) catalogs and postcards, and the sense of physical hospitality alone can amaze, as with the leather armchairs in which you can read, doze or watch people in the upstairs lobby of the Basel Kunstmuseum. It’s easy to feel that museums back home have a lot to learn.”
Pressure Mounts On Iran To Release Philosopher
“International pressure is growing on Iran to release a prominent philosopher and writer, Ramin Jahanbegloo, who was arrested two months ago on unspecified charges. is incarceration in the notorious Evin prison has left Tehran’s intellectual circles concerned about his fate and their own.”
Expert Says Met’s $50 Million Painting Is A Fake
When the Metropolitan Museum bought Duccio’s Madonna and Child last year for a reported $50 million, the painting was hailed as a masterpiece. Now James Beck, a leading art historian and Professor of Art History at Columbia University in New York, believes that the painting, which the Met dates to 1300, is not by Duccio at all. “It is a fake based upon indications found in works by or associated with Duccio. It is not even a good forgery.”
An Attempt To Save UK’s Free Public Libraries
Britain’s free library service is an endangered species. “In the first six months of this year alone, 21 (1.4%) of the country’s libraries have closed, five are due to close and 67 are under review for closure. So a plan to spruce up and make libraries semm more “exciting” has begun. “The idea was to make them more exciting and convenient for users as ‘models of a future library service with reading at its heart’. The transformations – each costing £90,000 – are designed to turn them into national showcases demonstrating how catastrophic declines in book borrowing and visitor numbers could be reversed.”