The first NEA Opera Awards were handed out last night, amid much critical skepticism over whether opera really needs yet another glittering, self-congratulatory affair. “Overall… the towering figures of the past overshadowed the opera world of the present.”
Tag: 11.01.08
Studs Terkel, 96
“Louis ‘Studs’ Terkel, to give him the full name he rarely used, was born in New York City but came to embody Chicago as no other writer or cultural figure ever has. And few have left such a deep literary imprint. He took the obscure academic exercise known as oral history and turned it into literature.” Terkel died this weekend at the age of 96.
What Made Studs Special
“Reporters and priests and psychologists know it takes a certain kind of personality to get a certain kind of person to speak honestly. Terkel’s gift — displayed on his syndicated radio program for decades, as well as in print — was just this. He perfected a kind of shoe-leather approach to writing the history of America in the last century that coaxed extraordinary tales out of nobodies.”
Slow-Developing Play
So many musical performances seem to come together in a flash that it can seem odd to observe a collaboration that builds over a long period of time. But such is the nature of an unusual project bringing together the soprano Dawn Upshaw, the director Peter Sellars, and the composer Gyorgy Kurtag.
Major Canadian Arts Foundation Stops Handing Out $$
“[British Columbia’s] venerable Victoria Foundation has fallen victim to turbulent financial markets and announced yesterday that until the economic situation improves it will not hand out funds… Last year, the Victoria Foundation bestowed CAN$7 million in grants to more than 300 individuals and groups involved in charitable activities.”
Touring Falls By The Wayside For Canadian Ballet
“Once the life blood of Canadian ballet, touring has become – to borrow a phrase from Porgy and Bess – a ‘sometime thing,’ too costly to be a regular activity for the National Ballet in particular… According to the National Ballet, the simple problem is money.”