Ticket prices for symphony orchestra concerts have gone up much faster than the rate of inflation in recent decades. “What if what we’re talking about here is not a crisis in interest in classical music, but a crisis in what the public is willing to pay for that interest, orchestras nationally need to change the dialogue. Our ticket buyers are affluent, orchestras say. Some are, some aren’t. But the relevant question today is not what people are able to pay, but what they’re willing to pay. The answer isn’t more popular programming (though that’s a worthy subject on its own) or punchier adjectives in brochures. It just might be that cheaper tickets would do more to fill houses than an award-winning advertising campaign.”
Tag: 09.04.05
Book Challenges At American Libraries Up
The number of attempts to remove books from America’s public libraries has jumped in the past year. “The number of books challenged last year jumped to 547, compared to 458 in 2003, with the library association estimating four to five unreported cases for each one documented. According to the ALA, a challenge is a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”
Police Investigate Songwriters Guild Royalty Embezzlement
Police are investigating an alleged embezzlement of $1.25 million in royalties from the Songwriters Guild of America. “The SGA represents about 5,000 songwriter members and their estates. Members may elect to have the guild collect royalties for them from publishers, collecting societies and others. The SGA collects nearly $16 million in royalties annually and holds about 2 percent of that amount, when it cannot find current addresses for writers.”
Soderburgh Slams Reality TV
Director Steven Soderburgh says reality TV is less real than scripted movies or TV. Soderbergh slammed reality TV for being “as far from reality as you can imagine and more fictionalized than the movies you see.” “They’re forcing the issue onto characters,” Soderbergh said, contending reality TV’s goal is to “force these people to be humiliated.”
A Pulitzer Finalist Gets Some Traction
Sarah Ruhl’s play “The Clean House,” a comedy “about house cleaning and mortality,” hasn’t been seen yet in New York, but it’s already been “(ahem) sweeping the country. Companies from coast to coast and beyond are putting this 2005 Pulitzer finalist on the boards, with the play’s New York debut at Lincoln Center still a full year away.”
Modern Western Art Reappears In Iran
A collection of modern Western art goes on display in Iran for the first time in 25 years. “The exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts includes works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin, and Warhol. Most of the 188 works were purchased to further Iran’s cultural activities by the wife of the late Shah. But the Shah’s fall saw the collection locked away by an Islamic government opposed to Western influence.
Israeli Minister Brands Barenboim Anti-Semitic
Israel’s education minister called Daniel Barenboim anti-Semitic after the conductor refused to be interviewed by a radio reporter wearing a military uniform. Barenboim: “Anti-Semitic? What is anti-Semitic about it? When I say that a uniform should be worn to the right places and not to the wrong ones, there is nothing anti-Semitic about it, there is no logic to this claim. I just thought that in this place, discussing a book written together with a Palestinian, it shows lack of sensitivity.”
National Symphony Looks For New Leader
What kind of conductor will replace Leonard Slatkin as music director of the National Symphony? Tim Page writes that it’s instructive to look at the orchestra’s history. “It is too early to speculate with much authority on who will become the sixth music director of the National Symphony Orchestra. Slatkin’s contract runs for another three seasons (although he is thought to be actively pursuing other jobs, especially Daniel Barenboim’s soon-to-be-vacated position with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), and the search process is still in its beginning stages.”
NBC Edits Out Statement Critical Of Bush
NBC edits out a comment criticl of George Bush by singer Kanye West on the network’s hurricane relief telethon Saturday night. “By censoring Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West’s remarks critical of President Bush during its West Coast feed of the program Friday night, the network violated the most moving and essential moment in an otherwise sterile, self-serving corporate broadcast.”
A Tale Of Two Tristans
EMI is making the last great studio opera recording – Tristan und Isolde with Placido Domingo. It was recorded in 15 sessions spread over eight weeks and cost about $1 million to make. Another Tristan is also being released of a stage performance by the Royal Swedish Opera on the budget-priced Naxos label. “This was made in six days; the orchestra, conductor, and all but one member of the cast were performing the work in the opera house during the same period, thereby cutting down on the need for session time. The performance is professional, satisfying, and in many respects competitive with EMI’s, even though Naxos’s Wolfgang Millgram is not a match for Domingo. Amazon.com sells the Naxos version for $22.98.”