“The 287-strong Shakespeare Authorship Coalition says it is not possible that the bard’s plays – with their emphasis on law – could have been penned by a 16th Century commoner raised in an illiterate household. The group asks if one man alone could have come up with his works
It asks why most of his plays are set among the upper classes, and why Stratford-upon-Avon is never referred to in any of his plays.”
Tag: 09.09.07
Riccardo Muti – Freelancer
Having previously led the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the London Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and, for 19 years, Milan’s La Scala, he is now, ‘How do you say? A free sword. A free lance. What can I tell you? I am a Southern Italian man, which means that by nature I am lazy. So I am enjoying my freedom’.”
The “Miracle” Of El Sistema
“Such adjectives are bandied about so often in the classical music world that they have lost their true meaning, but miraculous is the only possible word to describe performances that reached the highest professional standards, given by teenagers from a country which – before El Sistema – had no meaningful tradition of classical music. One man’s dream has ensured that Venezuela is not only the first South American country to play classical music better than football but that its youth orchestra is the finest advertisement any country could wish for.”
A First Look At Atlanta’s New Performing Arts Center
Atlanta’s new Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre is opening. “Yes, the play, or the opera, is the thing. But the performance hall plays a role, too, and not just in the critical functions of acoustics and sight lines. Its architecture and interior design set the stage, so to speak, for the experience, visually and psychologically. Unfortunately, the execution goes awry. A building with ‘arts’ in its title (below) should do better than knockoffs.”
Las Vegas, Broadway West?
“In terms of sheer special-effects firepower, Vegas blows Broadway away. As for traditional musical theater, not so much. The much-ballyhooed Broadway-West trend has fizzled out after “Avenue Q” and “Hairspray” flopped here. Jukebox smash-musicals (“Mamma Mia!” and the soon-to-arrive “Jersey Boys”) may be exceptions to the rule, but most of the tuners that pop at the box office in Vegas qualify as Broadway-lite, watered-down 90-minute versions of the originals, easy on narrative and heavy on glam.”
Another Music Institution Mines Its Archives For Recordings
The Monterey Jazz Festival is going into the recording business. “It has plenty to choose from in the archives: “There are over 1,600 tapes, more than 2,000 hours of music. There’s Duke Ellington in there, Count Basie and Woody Herman. There’s blues: Jimmy Witherspoon, Etta James. We have Tito Puente, Brubeck, Mingus. We have Sonny Rollins from ’58…”
Miami’s Public Art Program A Mess
“Miami-Dade has spent three decades — and more than $33 million — building one of the largest and richest art collections in Florida, destined to enhance courthouses, libraries, transit stations, the airport and the seaport. But the collection of more than 700 artworks, praised by many as among the finest in the field, is in disarray.”
Detroit Symphony Gets New Contract
After some hard negotiating the orchestra and its musicians have agreed on a three-year contract. “The DSO’s first concert of the season is scheduled Thursday, and rehearsals should begin Tuesday.”
Pavarotti Hits UK Singles Chart With “Nessun Dorma”
“Luciano Pavarotti has made a posthumous comeback to the UK singles chart, nearly 15 years after his last hit. Download sales of Nessun Dorma saw the track rise to number 24, following the tenor’s death on Thursday. The track made number two in 1990 after being used as the BBC’s theme to its coverage of the World Cup in Italy.”
Brooks’ Hulking Monster Overshadows Disney’s Ariel
“A lot of things have happened this year for Disney Theatrical Productions: the closing of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ after 13 years; the steady weeks of million-dollar grosses for ‘Mary Poppins’ on Broadway and the demise of its struggling London counterpart; and the belated entry of ‘High School Musical’ into the Disney theatrical catalog. There was also, of course, that ‘Tarzan’ unpleasantness.” Next, “The Little Mermaid” will sneak onto Broadway, obscured so far by Mel Brooks’ latest publicity-sucking behemoth.