Tag: 08.05.12

Martin E. Segal, 96, Cultural Benefactor To New York (And The Country)

“While Mr. Segal was generous with his money, he was perhaps most admired for the donations he managed to extract from others. He used to say he had no trouble giving people the ‘opportunity’ to contribute to the causes he cared most about, whether it be Lincoln Center’s redevelopment project, which updated the campus; Public Radio International (formerly American Public Radio), of which he was a founding member; or the Library of America, a nonprofit publisher dedicated to publishing, and keeping in print, editions of America’s most significant writing.”

Jacqueline Du Pré and Monty Python Comedian Screwed Out Of English Heritage Blue Plaque By Budget Cuts

“The number awarded each year has been reduced by a quarter, while plans to grant plaques to dozens of famous names – which had already been given initial approval – have been scrapped, among them Graham Chapman, the Monty Python comedian, Sir Barnes Wallace, the scientist who invented the ‘bouncing bomb’ used by the RAF during the ‘Dambusters’ raid and Jacqueline du Pré, the cellist.”

The Law, The Market, And Artworks Of Dubious Authenticity

“What previous rulings show, however, is that while judges and experts consider the same evidence — provenance, connoisseurship and forensic analyses — they tend to value it differently. For example judges tend to give added weight to the signature of an artist on the work, Mr. Spencer said, whereas experts rely more heavily on the connoisseur’s eye.”

Hey Theatre: You Can Do A Better Job Welcoming Black Audiences

“The theatre industry should take a closer look at understanding the bigger picture. Black audiences should feel included rather than targeted: Increasing the appearance of all-black casts, reevaluating the notion that black casts are only limited to traditional casting, and dismissing the mindset that Black audiences are less reluctant to go to the theatre, are all great starting points. Otherwise, the attempts at attracting Black audiences will remain at the surface.”

Recording Folk Music Traditions In India, And Passing On Profits To The Artists

“Inspired by the folk historian Cecil Sharp, who toured the British countryside by bicycle in the early 1900s, and Alan Lomax, who recorded country, blues and folk musicians in America during the 1930s and 1940s, [Ashu Sharma and Ankur Malhotra] dream is to create an archive of recordings not just from Rajasthan and Gujarat, but from across the country.”

A Young Conductor Who Loves Very Old Music

For Pablo Heras-Casado, principal conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, “early music represents the core of the repertory, with contemporary music a close second. Trained as a conductor of Renaissance choral music and soon steeped in the cerebral avant-garde, Mr. Heras-Casado, who is 34 and Spanish, arrived at Beethoven and Brahms only in recent years.”