It’s a shrinking world for classical music critics and the artform they cover, writes Norman Lebrecht in AJ’s weeklong music critics’ blog: “I work with some outstanding music critics, brilliantly perceptive, dedicated to their craft. Just don’t ask most of them to think outside the box. Music critics, like the art they review, have turned timorously inwards, unable to fight their shrinking corner effectively because they have such little understanding of the pressures facing the editors who employ them.”
Tag: 07.18.05
Where Are Britain’s Great New Buildings?
“Disgracefully, Britain can boast no buildings by most of the great modern architects. Where are the UK masterpieces by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe? Not on our mean-minded little islands, that’s for sure. London was once offered a distinguished late work by Mies, and Peter Palumbo struggled hard for permission to build it. But eventually, after an epic battle, the city fathers turned it down.”
Judges: A Golden Year For Poetry
This year’s Forward Prize for poetry attracted more than 11,000 entries. It has been, say the judges, an excellent year for poetry. “The judges add that several long-established poets on the £5,000 best collection shortlist are “producing work that was not just the best in the year, but the best work of their poetic careers”. They single out the poet and librettist David Harsent, 63, and Alan Jenkins, 55, the deputy editor of the Times Literary Supplement.”
Harry At A Dozen Per Second
Seven million copies of the new Harry Potter were sold in the first 24 hours it was on sale. How many is that? A little perspective: “Retailers said that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had sold more copies in a day than The Da Vinci Code sold in one year. WH Smith said it sold 13 copies a second on Saturday. This breaks the book chain’s previous record of eight copies a second, which was held by the last tale by JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”
Italian Trial Of Getty Curator Is Suspended
Almost as soon as it got started, the trial in Italy of a Getty curator was postponed. “The prosecution of Marion True, the Getty’s curator for antiquities and director of the Getty Villa, will resume Nov. 16, a three judge panel decided. True, 56, is accused of criminal conspiracy to receive stolen goods and illicit receipt of archeological items purportedly dug up in Italy. The case involves 42 allegedly looted objects and is more than 10 years in the making. Through an attorney, True has asserted her innocence, and the museum has backed her up.”