He humanized the avant-garde, says one critic. “Ligeti had his own singular and unpredictable parameters. Sometimes he’s almost alarmingly funny, other times mesmerizing, uncanny, hyperbolic, touching, ironic – all the good stuff music used to do.”
Tag: 07.29.08
Meet The Literary Darwinists
Their work “emphasizes the discovery of the evolutionary patterns of behavior within literary texts — the Iliad in terms of dominance and aggression, or Jane Austen in terms of mating rituals — and sets itself firmly against 30 years of what they see as anti-scientific literary theories like poststructuralism and Marxism.”
Venice Film Fest Lineup Unveiled
“The films competing for the Golden Lion award for best film include Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Wrestler’, Mexican writer-director Guillermo Arriaga’s ‘The Burning Plain’, starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, Jonathan Demme’s ‘Rachel Getting Married’, and ‘Ponyo on the Cliff’, the latest feature-length animation from Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese director of ‘Spirited Away’.” The latest film from the Coen brothers will open the festival.
When Disciplines Diverge
Sanjoy Roy attended a recent panel discussion comprised of both dancers and visual artists, and was struck by the two groups’ inability to understand each other’s language. “Perhaps today’s chasm of incomprehension is because contemporary dance and contemporary visual arts have headed off in different directions; or perhaps it’s down to something deeper, an altogether different zeitgeist.”
Rushdie Anointed Booker Favorite Yet Again
“Author Sir Salman Rushdie has emerged as the frontrunner to win the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, adding to his three existing Booker awards… He faces competition from 13 other writers including Aravind Adiga, Joseph O’Neill, Linda Grant and Tom Rob Smith.”
Hearing Damage Increasing Among Musicians
“Recent studies in the U.S. and in Britain, for instance, suggest that among the general population, as many as one in six people has some form of tinnitus, a disease of the microscopic nerve endings in the inner ear that causes sufferers to hear ringing, buzzing, humming, roaring or chirping sounds in their head… But among musicians, the overall number is as high as 40 per cent.”
A Banner Year For KC Symphony
“The Kansas City Symphony had record revenue and attendance for the 2007-08 season… The Classic Series saw subscriber and single-ticket revenue grow by 10 percent each to $1.2 million, completing the third-consecutive year of growth.”
Major Minnesota Foundation To Shift Its Giving
“The Archibald Bush Foundation announced it will not accept new grant proposals for the rest of the year while it refocuses on three broad areas: community problem-solving, supporting the self-determination of American Indians and increasing educational achievement… The foundation said it plans to continue funding in the arts through at least the middle of the next decade.”
Seeking Clarity On A Landmark Chicago Theatre
Chicago’s historic Uptown Theatre, shuttered for decades, is up for sale, and preservationists and historians will be following its fate closely. “Regardless of the buyer, it should remove a stumbling block in the theater’s restoration. It will clarify who owns the joint.”
Taper Forum Renovation Complete
LA’s Mark Taper Forum is back open following a $30 million renovation. “In replacing the 41-year-old theater’s outdated mechanical systems and in helping reframe the most memorable aspects of the original design… the architects have managed to make the building’s architectural value seem unimpeachable.”