The Sydney Opera House is going to start simulcasting some performances out to a giant screen in the plaza. “[Architect Joern] Utzon has created one of the great public spaces in the world and I’d really like to use it a lot more. I’m talking about great performances and great national events as well. It could be sporting events. The place has to be seen as a great community place.”
Tag: 09.19.06
Foiled By Pen, Atwood Tries Again
The LongPen, intended to allow writers to sign books from wherever they happen to be, “famously flubbed at its much-anticipated international debut in March at the London Book Fair.” But Margaret Atwood, author and LongPen funder, intends to give it another shot on Sunday at a Toronto book fair. Not that she will be in Toronto, of course. She’ll sign books for Canadian fairgoers from Edinburgh.
How, Why Baltimore Contract Talks Succeeded
“The successful conclusion of negotiations that led to a new, two-year contract for musicians of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra ends months of speculation and worry, and should help clear the way to a positive era. The result confirms two things above all else. One, the BSO musicians couldn’t be more dedicated; time and again, they have been willing to forgo an awful lot for themselves in an effort to keep the big picture burning brightly. And, two, W. Gar Richlin, the personable and straight-talking businessman on the orchestra’s board who agreed to step in as interim president and CEO last winter, was exactly the right person at the right time.”
Green: Kimmelman Wrong On Klimt Sale
AJBlogger Tyler Green takes issue with NY Times critic Michael Kimmelman’s story about selling off Klimt paintings recovered many years after being stolen by Nazis. “He views the Bloch-Bauer heirs selling of four Klimts as emblematic of greed, as sad examples of what happens in a booming art market. He thinks it’s too bad the paintings could go into private collections… if you want to be angry at someone for not ensuring that the Klimts ended up in private collections, what about the wealthy trustees at major museums?”
Kennicott Is WashPo’s New Architecture Critic
He replaces Benjamin Forgey. Kennicott was the paper’s classical music critic and became critic-at-large when Tim Page returned to the paper. He’s one of the paper’s most thoughtful writers.
Seattle Symphony Deficit Explained
The Seattle Symphony’s deficit of more than $2 million this past season is not the worst shape the orchestra has been in, writes RM Campbell. The orchestra has had a horrible summer, dealing with dissension with musicians over a decision to extend music director Gerard Schwarz’s contract. And the orchestra lost Paul Meecham, its executive director.
Playwriting’s New Dour Generation?
“Tomorrow’s playwrights are preoccupied with working-class angst and urban deprivation, according to the judges of a major new writing award. The Bruntwood Playwriting Competition, established by Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre and boasting a total prize fund of £45,000, has identified a new generation of writers tackling issues of sexual disorientation and racial intolerance – but showing little interest in domestic or international politics.”
In Discreet Boston, A $10 Million Donor Goes Public
“The Museum of Fine Arts announced yesterday that George D. Behrakis, with a gift of more than $10 million, has become the biggest identified contributor yet to the MFA’s planned $500 million expansion campaign. … Museum officials praised Behrakis for being willing to publicize his contribution. In the past, they’ve been frustrated by the insistence of many of Boston’s biggest arts donors on anonymity. By agreeing to be named, officials said, Behrakis makes it easier for the museum to recruit donors.”
Amid Harlem’s Gentrification, A New Stage
Aaron Davis Hall, Inc., has been part of Harlem for 25 years. Now renamed Harlem Stage, it opens its new theatre next month in “a community that is rapidly changing, with townhouses selling for millions of dollars and new buildings being erected by internationally renowned architects like Rafael Viñoly.” For executive director Patricia Cruz, that reality comes with a particular responsibility: “Things are changing,” she said, “but how do we make it so that it’s positive for the community — that they are not among the displaced? We hope to be a stabilizing force.”
The Pops Format, Reshaped In Hollywood
On the departure of John Mauceri, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra’s musical director, Mark Swed examines his legacy. “Mauceri reinvented not only the pops format but to some extent himself. He made it his business to explore and elevate the music of Hollywood, both as history and as a living tradition. But he left plenty of room for the orchestra to survey Broadway. Pops performers, good ones and ghastly ones, got to share the stage indiscriminately. Mauceri premiered a significant body of new and rediscovered music, mostly American. The range was from drivel to, of all things, Schoenberg’s astounding ‘Fanfare for the Hollywood Bowl’ (who knew?).”