“Leading artists and fashion designers are appealing to the Prime Minister not to cut arts funding in England. Arts Council England has said it will need to find an extra £12 million in funding to save some institutions from facing closure.”
Tag: 09.19.07
TV Networks Suffering Sticker Shock
A large factor in the reality TV boom that hit the tube earlier this decade was the relatively low cost of producing such programs. Viewers tired quickly of the endlessly imitative shows, however, and the major networks are now once again producing original dramatic fare. But are the production costs of the new shows spinning out of control?
Enough With The “Next Jackie” Nonsense
“Natalie Clein is a long-haired, good-looking English cellist with wide-open eyes and a winning smile.” And yes, she knows what you’re thinking, and she appreciates the comparison and all, but she’s really not trying to be the new Jacqueline duPre. Norman Lebrecht says that it’s time to stop such silly attempts to recapture the magical moments of the past, and embrace new young artists on their own merits.
What We Didn’t Say About Pavarotti
When Luciano Pavarotti died last month, eulogists and obituary writers the world over wrote of his singularly incomparable voice, and of his superstar status in an age when classical musicians are relegated to general obscurity. “And yet … and yet … This most beautiful tenor voice in living memory seemed gradually to lose its bearings… Before his death, he said repeatedly that he wanted to be remembered as an opera singer, but that was the profession he seemed to have betrayed.”
Martha Graham – Alive By
“Much is being made of this being the Graham company’s 80th anniversary. It’s to the eternal credit of the band of believers who persevered against the formidable odds that we have today a functioning Graham enterprise.”
Blogging About Dance? Where’s The Passion?
“Of course dance doesn’t have the same splashy names to argue about as theatre, film and TV, and rarely attracts much gossip. But it seems that the dance world is happier to post comments on specialist sites and trade information on specialist issues. Here the aficionados come into their own.”
Reading For A New Russian Middle Class
In the 1990s, “post-communist Russians had two choices of reading: classical masters such as Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy or pulp fiction. Boris Akunin spotted the gap. Realising, as he puts it, that every class needs a ‘literature it can read and enjoy’, he invented a new kind of detective genre set in imperial Russia.”
Harry Potter Big In Overseas Sales
“As well as being popular among children learning English, the untranslated Harry Potters have seen huge demand from impatient fans who want the books as soon as they come out.
Half of Harry Potter sales were export sales. Readers don’t want to wait while it gets translated.”
Wild About George!
“Enescu is Romania’s most famous composer. Actually, he is its only famous composer. As the 18th George Enescu international festival sweeps the capital, his face stares out from billboards everywhere. Hotel corridors resound to the sound of violinists practising. By the time the three-week festival closes this weekend, 3,000 musicians will have passed through the city.”
The New Multiculturalism?
“In 2004, 37 percent of non-Hispanic whites thought Hispanics were influencing everyone’s lifestyle; today, it’s 44 percent. The result may mean less authentic messaging for Hispanics and African Americans, the study reports, if the same marketing strategies are used to reach ethnic consumers.”