Tag: 07.17.07

Wrapping One’s Head Around Philip Johnson’s Glass House

“For the day-tripper, what remains is a lovely shell, the modernist analogue to all those Vanderbilt mansions and chateaux belonging to the kooky and rich. It’s hard to imagine how anyone actually lived in such exposed circumstances. The décor is even more unforgiving than the New England weather: This is the sort of room where a tossed magazine or an unclean dish is an architectural blemish, even a betrayal of minimalist purity.”

The Essential Collector (Can It Be Digital?)

“I still completely don’t get the whole product-less ethos of the iPod generation. Why would you want to accumulate, much less pay for, intangible musical files? As one used record store owner I know put it, ‘Downloads have no monetary value, since you can’t resell them.’ Then again, he clearly has an agenda. However, I admit that I’ve enjoyed some free musical experiences more than concerts I paid top dollar for, and I treasure everything in my record collection, including the scads of freebies.”

A Postmortem For “Studio 60”

Aaron Sorkin: “I don’t know how to emphasize this enough that I’m not disappointed or upset with anyone but myself. There are only two possible reasons for ‘Studio 60’ failing — it was either my fault or it was just one of those things. On some shows, you can make mistakes and still survive. But with this one, I made too many mistakes for it to survive.”

Hollywood Studios, Writers Begin Contentious Talks

“Studios told writers they could either agree to a three-year study on how to share revenue from digital distribution or accept a deal that delays payment until producers have recouped their costs. Producers also dismissed writers’ demands for a bigger share of digital revenue, saying such a system ‘would impose unreasonable costs and Draconian restrictions’.”

Houston Symphony Extends Historic Turnaround

The orchestra has recorded its third balanced budget after decades of financial difficulty. “Preliminary results point to a $10,000 surplus on a budget of $23 million, symphony officials announced Monday. An 11 percent increase in ticket sales, a 12 percent increase in total contributions and a second annual $1 million-plus Symphony Ball helped produce the positive results.”

Saving Iraq’s Scholars

“In an urgent effort to save a critical mass of scholars unlike any initiative undertaken since World War II, the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund is finalizing plans to rescue hundreds of Iraqi professors beginning in the coming months. ‘We consider it to be the first large-scale effort of its kind since the 1930s, when IIE’s Emergency Rescue Committee rescued over 300 senior European scholars and brought them to safety in the United States’.”

The Battle For Flamenco

Spain’s flamenco performers are fighting one another. “Though flamenco is a relatively ‘young’ art, which people only started to pay to see about 160 years ago, arguments about the ‘purity’ of the form are endless and typically stormy. On one side are the fundamentalists, or puris-tas, who admit no diversion from the path of what they see as the true faith. For them, those who mix flamenco with other forms, such as classical ballet, contemporary dance, jazz, or even pop, have diluted the art into a pastiche of the original only worthy of the tablaos, or tourist shows.”

Jerusalem Symphony Saved

The orchestra had lost its main funder. “In June, the Israeli Broadcast Authority announced that it would slash its annual $2.7 million subsidy to the orchestra’s $4.2 million budget by 60 percent. Four years ago, the orchestra skirted financial ruin when its musicians agreed to take a 20 per cent cut in pay. This time, however, the missing chunk would have been too large.” But “the Israeli court ruled July 15 that IBA — in the financial difficulty itself — would have to continue funding the JSO, until additional means from other sources could be secured by the orchetra.”

Last Call For The Curtain Call?

Lately, curtain calls in London’s West End have been getting shorter and shorter. “What difference does it make, I can hear sceptics grumbling, how long the curtain call lasts? Surely the luvvies deserve a quick clap or two and then off to the pub. But such an attitude misunderstands how essential the bows are as a shared act of closure. Don’t believe me?”