Tag: 10.24.08

‘Why I Walked Out Of Doctor Atomic‘

Literary critic Ron Rosenbaum now thinks of John Adams’s 2005 work as “the Emperor’s New Opera.” He found that “the music and the sets couldn’t have been more effectively dramatic. But the libretto, the words [assembled by Peter Sellars] … They were pedestrian, speechifying, and painfully simplistic (when not embarrassingly schlocky as in the “love scenes”). […] I began to wonder whether opera follows different rules: Because words are sung, do they transcend any bombastic triviality, any wounding awfulness?”

German Libraries Have Books Stolen By Nazis

Every larger German library still has hundreds of these books in its inventory, books snatched up by the men of the SS and SA, as well as ordinary soldiers, both in Germany and in other European countries occupied by the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, during World War II. No one knows how many stolen books are still on the shelves in German libraries today, although experts, like historian Görz Aly, estimate that there are at least one million.

An Apocalyptic Forecast For The Visual Art World

“If the art economy is as bad as it looks–if worse comes to worst–40 to 50 New York galleries will close. Around the same number of European galleries will, too. An art magazine will cease publishing. A major fair will call it quits–possibly the Armory Show, because so many dealers hate the conditions on the piers, or maybe Art Basel Miami Beach, because although it’s fun, it’s also ridiculous. Museums will cancel shows because they can’t raise funds. Art advisers will be out of work. Alternative spaces will become more important for shaping the discourse, although they’ll have a hard time making ends meet.”

Meeting To Discuss Lack Of Women Playwrights On Off-Broadway

“Monday’s meeting will focus on Off Broadway, which includes a number of nonprofit theaters with a mission to bring diverse new work to audiences. Broadway’s high-priced commercial operations, however, have a much worse record. At the moment, none of the plays on Broadway are written by women. The problem seems to be magnified in New York, many playwrights agreed.”