Reporter Julien Hanck visits Warsaw and talks with two jury members and all six finalists about the challenges and joys of using instruments from Chopin’s own lifetime and about their own experience with those pianos. (One prizewinner had been playing them since he was 12, another started as a harpsichordist, and one finalist had never played anything older than an early-20th-century Erard.)
Tag: 10.09.18
Boston Globe: Our Business Is Looking Up, And We’ve Hired A New Art Critic
The Globe is announcing today that it has finally replaced Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee, who left for the Post nearly a year ago. The Globe’s new critic is Murray Whyte, currently at The Star of Toronto, whose arrival in Boston, I’m told, was delayed because of immigration issues.
‘City Ballet’s Bravura Sparkler,’ Joaquin De Luz, Is Ready For His Farewell
Marina Harss visits with the 42-year-old Spaniard ahead of his final performance with New York City Ballet, where he has spent 15 years.
Albert Barnes’s Grouchy Letters To Leopold Stokowski Make For New Barnes Foundation-Philadelphia Orchestra Joint Project
“[The collector] referred to Mahler’s ‘spectacular banalities,’ Wagner’s ‘voluptuous debauches,’ and Weber’s ‘inanities.’ … ‘Why give us so much … that nourishes the idle, the ignorant, the lazy, the debauche, to whom in music the only thing is the cheap emotional orgy?” Yes, the Barnes and the Philadelphians are building two programs out of this — and they should be good ones.
Architect Richard Meier Retires Following Sexual Harassment Allegations
“Richard Meier’s six-month leave of absence from the firm he founded, which began after five women came forward in March to accuse him of sexual misconduct, has become more permanent. Richard Meier & Partners Architects announced today that its founder would ‘step back from day-to-day activities’ at the firm.”
New York City Will Pay To Make Small Theaters More Accessible To Visually- And Hearing-Impaired
“[The city government] will give grants to Off Broadway and other small theaters to install software that allows patrons to follow along with low-light smartphones and tablets. … The software, using voice recognition, can provide closed captioning of the spoken word, or audio description of stage action, on users’ mobile devices.”
Titian Painting Rips As It Falls Off A Wall
“The lower part of the painting, which depicts the Crucifixion (around 1555), was torn after the piece loosened due to weak wall fastenings [in a monastery at El Escorial in Spain]. Crucially, the figure of Christ was undamaged. ‘Detaching from the wall caused a considerable horizontal tear [across the canvas support],’ says an official statement.”
Four Young Choreographers In London Who Are Making Dance Political
“They come from different backgrounds and take in a wide range of influences – from ballet, contemporary dance, physical theatre, Stanislavski and method acting, krumping and popping, contact improvisation. But they all lean towards political engagement, which gives a hint of what might be to come.”
Banksy’s Hanky-Panky at Sotheby’s: Letting the Hot Air Out of Punctured “Balloon” — Part I
Banksy’s elaborately orchestrated send-up of the auction market — contriving to have his $1.4-million Girl with Balloon self-mutilate at the fall of the hammer on Friday at Sotheby’s London — is the subversive gift that keeps on giving.
Jonas Kaufmann vs. the Orchestra of St. Luke’s
It was a weird evening at Carnegie Hall. Rarely have I listened to an orchestra with such discomfort. Never have I responded to a tenor with such gratitude.