Ralph Rugoff, director of London’s Hayward museum says the soaring art market is a distraction. “All the attention of it — how much money is paid for a Peter Doig or a Damien Hirst — distracts us from thinking about what the work is about. It’s amazing that these contemporary artworks are selling for as much money as they do, but I don’t think it necessarily helps anybody appreciate what’s interesting about contemporary art.”
Tag: 10.09.07
A Better Best Book On Mozart
Hermann Abert’s classic biography of Mozart “set down practically everything of interest about Mozart’s life that was known in 1919… Nevertheless, so much research has been expended on Mozart since 1919, so much more is known, and so many dates and facts have been corrected and revised that the book could not simply be translated. It had to be brought up to date.”
Police Nab Monet Vandalizers
French police have made five arrests over an attack on a painting by Claude Monet in Paris, France’s AFP news agency says, quoting judicial sources.
Some Problems With Philip Glass’ New Civil War Opera
“It browbeats its audience with ham-fisted messages, hampered by a libretto that seems to have been stitched together on deadline, and then, above all, there’s Glass’s unremitting music: two hours of minor chord progressions, throbbing and tunneling into our brains like a migraine, as unforgiving as war.”
Why Detroit Needs Leonard Slatkin
“Slatkin’s predecessor in Detroit, Neeme Järvi, who stepped down in 2005, left the orchestra in battle-ready condition. After 15 years of Järvi’s electric spontaneity, the DSO plays with the virtuoso flexibility of an Olympic gymnast. But Järvi’s laissez-faire approach could also lead to imprecision, and his interpretive compass could go astray when intuition let him down. Even with limited rehearsal, Slatkin brought a meticulousness, shape and structure to Beethoven’s Seventh that suggests the ability to help the DSO ascend to a higher plane of expression.”
Save A Chicago Landmark – Vote!
Chicago is holding a contest. People vote for one of 25 historic sites, and tghe winner gets $1 million in rehab money. Inspired by the popular TV show “American Idol,” the contest, called “Partners in Preservation,” allows people to vote online for their favorite historic site.
Chicago CD Collectors Fall On Hard Times
“The last 10 months in Chicago have been grim for the classical music compact disc collector. The death knell began its long toll last November when the two area Tower Records turned out their lights for the last time. The hopes of aficionados soon rested with the Michigan Avenue Virgin Megastore, but with only a moment’s notice, it closed for business in July. Now, as online file-sharing makes the compact disc primitive, local classical CD buyers are wondering if the brick-and-mortar classical meccas are just a thing of the past.”
Orange County Runs With NY’s $10 Dance Idea
“Spread over four days, Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Fall for Dance will offer two two-night programs featuring classical, contemporary and ethnic dance from 11 companies based in the U.S. and abroad. And along with the bargain-basement tickets, OCPAC hopes to entice potential new audience members with free pre-show talks, lecture demonstrations and panel discussions with the participating choreographers.”
City Of Birmingham Orchestra Chooses 28-Year-Old Latvian As Music Director
“Andris Nelsons, born into a family of musicians in Riga in 1978, has previously been a singer, specialising in early music, and a trumpeter in the Latvian National Orchestra. He has studied conducting privately with Mariss Jansons since 2002.”
What’s Needed: An “Un-Turner” Prize
Some of Britain’s best contemporary artists have never even been shortlisted for the Turner Prize. “There is every possibility that an un-Turner prize, for which the only qualification for candidates would be that they had never been shortlisted, would be more interesting and more fun, and heaven knows it could easily be worth more money, than the Turner prize itself. There have been philistine anti-Turner prizes in the past; what we need is something at least as sophisticated and as discriminating as the Turner prize itself.”