Ever since the mid-1990s, tech-obsessives have insisted that the printed page is on its last legs, and that the eBook is the wave of the future. So far, such bold predictions have proved to be almost completely unfounded, despite the increasingly popularity of online periodicals. “But advances in hardware, coupled with figures showing a growth in sales, suggest that more than a decade after ebooks first came on to the market the concept could finally be about to take off.”
Tag: 09.25.04
The Next Great Tenor, Part CLXVI
Whatever one may think of the Three Tenors phenomenon, there is no doubt that Messrs. Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carreras significantly upped the popular interest in opera. Now, the ‘next great superstar tenor’ has been anointed, and he is Juan Diego Florez, “described by Pavarotti as the singer who could replace him.” Florez, like so many other great tenors of the new breed, has built his reputation on substance rather than flash and dash. But will the allure of superstardom prove too strong to resist?
Warming Up For The Cliburn
This year’s jury has been named and the rules have been set in the runup to the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. “This time, the competition will present only two categories of medals. Up to four medals will be awarded, in any combination of gold and silver. Both gold and silver medals will carry $20,000 cash awards, concert management for three years and a compact disc recording on the Harmonia Mundi label.” Another change will require the finalists to perform a 50-minute solo recital in addition to playing concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
Trading Short-Term Debt For Long-Term
“With debts mounting and its future on the line, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has drafted an unusual proposal to take out the equivalent of a 30-year mortgage on its house in order to fund new programs that it hopes will boost revenue and finance a deficit that is expected to grow to $12 million by 2008. The BSO’s board has agreed in principle to sell Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to a newly created nonprofit subsidiary, which will finance the purchase by issuing as much as $30 million in tax-exempt bonds, under one scenario presented to directors. The orchestra would then lease the concert venue back from the subsidiary for an amount to be determined.”
Expert: Barnes Can Sell Its Art
According to one of the many duelling art experts called to testify in the Barnes Foundation court battle, the foundation is legally and ethically free to sell pieces from its collection in order to stabilize its finances, because the foundation was established as a school and not a museum. The expert’s contention is directly at odds with the stance of the foundation’s directors, who have been deemphasizing the educational aspect of their mission as part of the push to move the collection to Central Philadelphia. The directors called an expert of their own last week to back up their claims that fundraising could double with the move to the urban core.
No Love For The Handicapped
Since this past February, the city of San Francisco has been deluged with dozens of five-foot fiberglass hearts decorated by area artists. Reaction has largely been positive, but now, the former head of the Mayor’s Office on Disability is charging that the scultures are a distinct hazard to the blind, placed as they are in the public right-of-way.