Some 400 pianists applied to compete in the San Antonio International Piano Competition. “Of those, only 38 were able to meet a new requirement that applicants submit a recording of themselves playing with an orchestra.” Organizers were dismayed to hear so many excellent pianists were unable to provide a tape of them performing with orchestra.
Tag: 10.26.03
NY Review Turns 40
The New York Review of Books celebrates its 40th birthday; since 1963 it has been “the closest thing to a national literary journal in America, its distinctive white-paper bound magazine appearing at two-week intervals. Today, it’s a thick publication with 115,000 subscribers. It features lengthy reviews, journalism and commentary by an international list of writers both literary and political, and illustrations by David Levine.”
Narrowing What It Means To Be Warhol (Only Originals Count)
The Andy Warhol Authentication Board has decreed that any artworks the artist did not directly create will no longer be considered Warhol originals. “Andy Warhol often left assistants to ‘mass produce’ many of his most famous pictures, among them images of the Campbell soup tin. The decision means many art collectors are left with Warhol works which are now considered copies and therefore worth much less, and some are threatening to sue the board.”
Christie’s Denied Wrongdoing In Stolen Painting Case
Christie’s says it alerted the seller of a painting thought to have been stolen by the Gestapo. The auction house says it was not obliged to tell heirs of the painting of its whereabouts or the authorities. “We do not have the legal right to breach our duty of confidentiality by contacting third parties without the vendor’s permission, nor did we have the right to withhold the painting from the vendor.”
Pavarotti – High C’s At 68?
At 68, Luciano Pavarotti doesn’t always sound so good, writes Richard Dyer. “But he sounds amazingly steady and solid on the new album – it is hard to think of any previous tenor who could sound this good at Pavarotti’s age. Most of the songs are appealing, and Pavarotti lavishes his incomparable diction and emotional generosity on them, and his high C is still in working order.”
What Bernstein Might Have Done To Theatre
In 1957, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim joined forces to write the music and lyrics for “West Side Story.” Sondheim, of course, went on to a brilliant career in musical theatre. But Bernstein turned his attentions predominantly to a classical music career. What might Bernstein’s influence have been if instead he had pursued theatre?
The Atwood Express
Margaret Atwood is Canada’s reigning literary institution, writes Philip Marchand. “Atwood’s place on so many book prize short lists is indicative of her unique position in Canadian letters. Especially since the deaths of Robertson Davies and Mordecai Richler, she has no rival as premier Canadian novelist. Atwood’s product clearly has wide appeal, and even those who have strong misgivings about her work, like me, must acknowledge that she has some powerful and exceptional gifts — literary gifts that are particularly suited to a writer of novels.”
America As Author Magnet
“That Argentine, or Australian, or Iranian, or Afghan author you have bought a ticket to hear is probably flying in from his or her home in the United States — the world’s most powerful author magnet. Not only does the place offer freedom to write, but it also offers an abundance of publishers, lots of creative writing programs where authors can find a day job, and a large literary marketplace.”
Remembering Anthony Tudor
Tudor was in the habit of questioning every move his dancers made. “You get people into a whole different mode of relating to the floor. It was quite grounded, his work. It’s really ground-breaking, somewhere between modern dance and ballet. And it had its own very specific technique. You have to break the habit of either a modern-dance or a classical-ballet approach. No, it’s this. And then you watch the dancers feel more and more and more constricted until they’re about ready to explode. Then all of a sudden, within that framework, you can tell the moment when somebody gets it. They start to either be themselves or be the character they’re trying to portray.”
Remembering Nikolais
Choreographer Alwin Nikolais was a multimedia pioneer. “He was a loner — he could not collaborate with anyone. He didn’t have the patience to explain what he wanted. He saw dance as a total entity, which meant he regarded sound, light, choreography and costume as part of the whole. In the beginning he called his work “total theater.” We now call it multimedia.”