Looking for classical CDs in Chicago? Good luck. “Smaller cities around the Midwest like Madison, Minneapolis and Ann Arbor boast centrally located stores” specializing in classical music, but in the Windy City, such bricks-and-mortar retailers are nearly extinct.
Tag: 10.06.07
25 Years Of Mixed Reviews
Toronto’s architecturally innovative and acoustically controversial Roy Thompson Hall turns 25 this year. “With the passage of years the hall’s deficiencies came to be seen – or, rather, heard – in marked contrast with pre-construction press releases promising Torontonians not just a fine hall but, rashly, the finest concert hall in the world.” A $20 million renovation helped, but debates continue to be heard over the hall, its quality, and its evolving mission.
This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land
City leaders in Philadelphia are promoting “an eminently sensible proposal to extend the existing city street grid down to the edge of the Delaware River. The new street network would break up the central waterfront’s large, formerly industrial tracts into manageable blocks that could be developed into something resembling a real Philadelphia neighborhood.” But developers who view the waterfront as prime space for closed, gated luxury communities are working furiously to scuttle the proposal. Inga Saffron says that the debate comes down to a simple truth: city streets are (and should remain) public space.
Blasting The Critic (You Sure You Want To Do That?)
Firing back at a critic is almost always a losing proposition for actors. After all, what’s the use of taking on someone who is professionally guaranteed to have the last word? Still, actor Harvey Fierstein has been lashing out at a Los Angeles Times critic who panned his new musical adaptation of an old Paddy Chayevsky film. It might seem like a standard-issue star tantrum, but Michael Riedel sees some smooth strategy behind the dustup.
Insurance Company’s Art Selloff Nets $1.5m
“A controversial auction of art owned by Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. in South Los Angeles set record prices at Swann Auction Galleries in New York… The auction Thursday had infuriated local art historians who wanted the collection to remain in Southern California… Of the 94 paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings on offer, 88 were sold for a total of $1,541,470.”
If The Music’s That Bad, Why Pay For It?
When a Minnesota woman was convicted this week of illegally downloading and distributing music, it marked a major victory for the recording industry in its battle to control copyright. But what songs, exactly, was Jammie Thomas stealing? “Her playlist — the copyright-infringed songs she’s now paying for, at the cost of $9,250 each — tells another story. And it’s a sad one about the impoverished state of the corporate music machine.”
How Do You Follow An Oscar?
“The Oscar landscape is chock full of actors and actresses who reach the pinnacle of their profession when they capture the golden statuette — and then find themselves faced with a unique dilemma: They’re expected to follow that up with an equally brilliant performance. And public opinion can be swift — and cruel — when that doesn’t happen.”
Choosing Sides In The Download War
Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want download experiment may or may not be a significant moment in the evolution of music distribution. But Greg Kot says that what is already clear is the stark contrast between the band’s trusting embrace of consumers, and the larger recording industry’s insistence on treating all its customers like potential criminals.
Scrambling Towards A Major Opening
“At about 7 last night, ‘The Encampment,’ an installation of 100 19th-century-style tents by the Canadian artist Thom Sokoloski, was to open in an empty field at the southern tip of New York’s Roosevelt Island. A year in the making, the tents represent the patients who once lived in the island’s smallpox hospital, the remains of which loom nearby… But first, it had to be finished.”
Colorado Symphony Counting On Voters
Denver voters will decide in a few weeks whether or not to approve bond measures that would, among other projects, contribute $60m to the renovation of Boettcher Concert Hall. The Colorado Symphony, which makes its home at Boettcher, has a significant stake in the passage of the bill – if the measure fails, the orchestra will have to return $30m in private donations earmarked for the renovation.