“[T]he new station at Liège-Guillemins is a revelation, … easily one of the world’s finest. Its ethereal, transparent, filigree architecture suggests openness, a dissolving of boundaries, infinite horizons, speed, grace and ease: everything, in other words, that train travel should be.”
Tag: 09.16.09
Without A President, Philly Orchestra Can’t Move Forward
“One of the things boards of cultural organizations have steadfastly refused to believe is that arts administration is a legitimate and distinct profession. No one steps in and does a good job of running an orchestra or a museum without special training and hard-won experience – especially if your organization is treading water in perilous times….”
After Stroke, Keillor Sees End Of Prairie Home
“‘A Prairie Home Companion’ host Garrison Keillor said Wednesday that he is ‘not counting on doing it [hosting the show] more than a couple more years.’ He added that he would like to see the show continue with more of a musical focus, and that he would love to serve as that show’s producer.”
Alan Gilbert’s Disappointing Debut
As the New York Philharmonic’s new music director, “Gilbert, on paper, has all of the right qualifications: young (42 is young in conductor years), American, a serious musician with a great appetite for the contemporary. … All the ingredients, in short, were there. All that was missing was the excitement.”
How The Lost Symbol Misses The Essence Of Washington
“The fundamental premise of The Lost Symbol is that Washington is a ‘mystical city,’ and it is this error that makes the book so maddening. … [A]nyone who has spent more than a Tourmobile ride in D.C. knows that what makes Washington interesting is its very smallness, the contrast between its grand architecture and the human machinations that take place within it.”
Former Museum Director Charged With Theft Of Artifacts
“The ousted director of Long Island University’s Hillwood Museum stole Egyptian artifacts from the collection and peddled the precious antiquities through Christie’s auction house, the feds charged yesterday.” Barry “Stern is accused of stealing nine artifacts — all more than 2,000 years old — and delivering them to Christie’s in the month after his employment contract was terminated….”
Obama Appoints Three To Arts And Humanities Committee
“A prominent movie and television producer, a New York theater producer and a high-ranking university arts scholar are headed to Washington to join the president’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.”
Canada Gets Its Broadcast Orchestra Back
“Members of the defunct CBC Radio Orchestra tuned up again this week [in Vancouver], for their first public appearances together as the National Broadcast Orchestra.” Music director Alain Trudel says “that the NBO will focus on multimedia studio work, with perhaps three or four public concerts a year. He added that one of the NBO’s main partners so far is the CBC.”
Zakes Morae, 75, Star Of Athol Fugard’s Plays
The South African-born actor won a Tony Award in 1982 for Master Harold … and the Boys and earned high praise for his work in Fugard’s Boesman and Lena and The Blood Knot.
Orlando’s Long-Awaited Phillips PAC To Have Two Out Of Three Halls By 2013
“Backers of Orlando’s performing-arts center now plan to build it in phases, breaking ground on the largest and smallest of the three planned halls in March and delaying construction of the midsize concert hall until the economy improves.”