The Edinburgh Festival requires a public subsidy of about £2 million to survive. This compares to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which gets about £64,000. “In recent days, the International Festival (EIF) has been attacked by some arts commentators for lack of artistic ambition and for its relatively high level of public funding, in comparison with the Fringe.”
Tag: 08.10.03
A Frame Is A…
What difference does it make what frame is put around a painting? A great deal of difference, it appears…
When You Can’t Even Give Away The Opera Tickets…
“Scottish Opera’s ambitious complete Ring cycle at this summer’s Edinburgh Festival sold out as long ago as October, but the organisers of the Festival held back one performance of Götterdämmerung for people under 27. Faced with frequent attacks that it was elitist, “out of touch”, and aimed only at the “middle-aged upper middle class audience”, the heavily subsidised Festival hoped that the free ticket offer would help to reverse its demographic. But only 237 young people turned up for the performance on Friday, leaving a staggering 1,660 seats empty in the flagship Festival Theatre.”
Gregory Hines, 57
Actor/dancer Gregory Hines has died of cancer. He was best known for his roles in films such as The Cotton Club (1984), based around the seminal 1920s New York jazz club, in which he played Sandman Williams. He was also cast alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov in the thriller White Nights (1985), and alongside Billy Crystal in the comic cop thriller Running Scared (1986).”
Building A Worse Chicago
Is Chicago architecture going to the dogs? “Chicago long has enjoyed a reputation as a city that superbly balances the demands of business and the art of architecture, but the present building boom – the nation’s largest surge of high-rise residential construction – is throwing that balance grotesquely out of whack. Wherever you glance these days – on either side of North Michigan Avenue, just west of South Lake Shore Drive, or along the Chicago River – you are apt to see a towering construction crane, to hear the whir of a cement mixer and to exclaim, ‘What went wrong’?”
Bard – A Building That Swoops Down On You
Robert Campbell notes that Frank Gehry’s new much-praised performing arts center at Bard College marks a new turn in the architect’s evolution. “What strikes you right away about the Fisher is how casual, how thrown-together it looks. It’s basically a building of three or four cubes made of glass, concrete, and stucco, with a shiny blanket of stainless steel thrown over them as if to protect them from the rain. The blanket falls over the cubes in a billow of curves, as loose and free as if it had landed accidentally. The only place where it takes a definite shape is at the main entrance, where it swoops down like a monk’s hood to shade and protect visitors as they enter, or as they stand outside for an intermission.”
Better In Boston
While other American orchestras struggle mightily to survive, the Boston Symphony sails along. “The BSO audience is larger than those of other orchestras, and its subscriber base loyal. On top of that, the BSO’s endowment portfolio is outperforming others in its field, whose dwindling returns have forced orchestras to downsize. Meanwhile, BSO Inc. has balanced its budget, even running a few six-figure surpluses over the past five years.”
Music Technology – Problem Or Solution?
Recording companies blame file-sharing for much of their current woes, and they’re getting increasingly aggressive about going after file traders. “Yet no matter what the label lawyers say, technology itself isn’t the problem. The problem is how the technology is used, and how copyrights are protected with those new uses. Along with that comes the challenge of rebuilding relationships with consumers who are increasingly treated like criminals. Sooner or later, companies will have to shift their emphasis from policing and throwing up roadblocks to their exclusive material and move toward inspiring listeners, engaging them, bringing them into more active modes of listening and interacting with music.”
Disney Hall – Hopes Of A City
Los Angelinos are counting on their new Disney concert hall for a lot more than just a home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. “When the $274 million, Frank Gehry-designed building opens in October, government and business leaders are counting on it to be the signature of the downtown skyline and an impetus for revitalizing the area.”
Lamenting The Billion-Dollar Chimp
The reality TV phenomenon was a bad idea from the start. And there are signs it is fading in the ratings. But a program scheduled for the fall just might be one of the dumbest yet. “As we speak, producers for a Pepsi-sponsored WB Network contest are telling animal trainers what they want from potential candidates for a mid-September sweepstakes show. The chimp is supposed to pick the $1billion winner.”