Tag: 10.09.14

Strike Called Off, Upheaval At Radio France’s Philharmonic Begins To Subside

The past month has been a messy one at the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France: the artistic director was forced out; incoming music director Mikko Franck threatened to cancel his appearances this season; the musicians called a strike and cancelled a concert last Friday and were about to do it again this Friday – all of this over a plan to merge the management of the OPRF with that of the radio network’s other orchestra, the Orchestre National de France. (The widely-shared fear is that there would eventually be a full merger of the bands, with accompanying job losses.) For now, at least, the powers-that-be have calmed everyone down. (in French)

NPR Launches New Multiplatform Jazz Series

“Featuring interviews with jazz greats, and concert video-casts from festivals and clubs nationwide, Jazz Night in America, a new initiative in jazz programming, began Wednesday. A joint endeavor of National Public Radio, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Newark radio station WBGO (88.3 FM), it will bring jazz to audiences through its website, video and webcasts, as well as on radio.”

Where Do I Start With Patrick Modiano, The New Nobel Laureate?

“You might have experienced Modiano’s work without realizing it: He co-wrote the scripts for Louis Malle’s Lacombe, Lucien (1974) and Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Bon Voyage (2003). But Modiano’s novels are worth reading as well: subtle, rhythmic, and hypnotic investigations into the self and its memory – the perfect thing for the mournful indoor months.”

Nonfiction Writing Deserves A Nobel Every Once In A While, Too

Philip Gourevitch: “It has been more than a half century since any such recognition – a half century that has seen an explosion of great documentary writing in all forms and lengths and styles, and yet there is a kind of lingering snobbery in the literary world that wants to exclude nonfiction from the classification of literature – to suggest that somehow it lacks artistry, or imagination, or invention by comparison to fiction.”

Why Reading Plays Is So Great

“In fact what I am doing in that moment of reading is acting. I’m not on a stage or in front of an audience; I am not even moving or speaking out loud. … I may be acting silently inside my head, but in that instant, I’m an actor – a unique and rewarding response better elicited by published plays than by any other kind of literature.” Dan Kois demonstrates how this works, with Annie Baker’s The Flick.