The accordion was, post-war, the most popular instrument in America. Then came rock ‘n’ roll. The guitar took over. The new music style killed it. Now the accordion is hip again. “Credit the rise in popularity of norteño, zydeco and American folk.”
Tag: 08.01.08
Death By Dancing
In July of 1518, a woman began a fervent dancing vigil that lasted between four and six days. By the end of the week, 34 others had joined her and, “within a month, the crowd of dancing, hopping and leaping individuals had swelled to 400. Authorities prescribed ‘more dancing’ to cure the tormented movers but, by summer’s end, dozens in the Alsatian city had died of heart attacks, strokes and sheer exhaustion due to nonstop dancing.”
Firenze Finally Forgives Dante (Sorta)
“Dante reserved his sharpest vitriol for the city fathers of his hometown Florence. Seven centuries on and Florence’s city council is finally considering a symbolic end to the banishment by granting Dante a posthumous medal. A solid majority of council members voted last month to grant the poet the city’s highest honor, the golden florin. Several leftists, though, voted ‘no’.”
A Race To Save The Ancient Libraries Of Timbuktu
“An astonishing project is underway in Timbuktu, Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries. On the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, experts are opening an enchanted Aladdin’s Cave, filled with hundreds of thousands of ancient documents.” But the pages, written on with ink made from gallnuts, is beginning to fade. Academic institutions are racing to evaluate and save them.
CSO Bassist Acquitted Of Domestic Abuse
The Cincinnati Symphony bassist who was accused of beating his wife last month has been acquitted of all charges, despite police reports that he continued to threaten her after being taken into custody.
The Unconventional Conductor
Donald Runnicles probably flies just under the radar of many music aficionados, but he’s quietly become one of the more in-demand conductors in the classical music world. “The man who first conducted at the Metropolitan Opera 20 years ago and made an early Bayreuth debut thrives in music that requires the generalissimo treatment – wielding big forces and big scores into coherent statements of sound.”
Like A Bird On A Wire
“In the middle of the night on Aug. 7, 1974, a French high-wire artist named Philippe Petit broke into the just-built World Trade Center with a small band of accomplices. As dawn was breaking, the men strung a cable between the Twin Towers, upon which Petit proceeded to walk for 45 minutes, crossing back and forth eight times as he danced, knelt, and lay down on the wire… The final prize [wasn’t] a vault full of cash but an act of pure, useless, and terrifying beauty.”
Red Scare On The Prairie
“When inner-city business owners decided to unite against the scourge of graffiti, they thought they had nothing to lose but its stain. But a summer painting project went awry when a figure in a mural depicting Eastern European immigrants in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike took on a startling resemblance to” Karl Marx. The artist has been told in no uncertain terms to scrap the Marxist imagery.
British Museum Barely Hangs Onto Another Artifact
“A rare astronomy tool that helped medieval scientists tell time will remain in Britain after the British Museum scrambled to come up with the money to buy it… Money from the National Heritage Memorial fund, the Art Fund and the British Museum Friends helped the museum purchase it recently for $700,000.”
SAG Stalemate Reveals Differences Within Union
“The uncertainty of a SAG deal has engendered a mix of weariness and anxiety in Hollywood… The slow-going negotiations (actors have continued working without a contract since June) have exposed not only labor’s distrust of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers but fissures among performers themselves.”