“The orchestra recently had to move its rehearsals from Ribat Hall in the city center to the U.S.-protected Baghdad Convention Center, in part because electrical outages were forcing musicians to practice on a dark, stuffy stage. Despite a much-heralded June concert here, no additional performances have been scheduled in the capital because the director fears that even loyal fans would be afraid to venture out for a nighttime concert. And the orchestra is having second thoughts about plans to perform in December at the Kennedy Center in Washington amid criticism in the local press that the musicians are kowtowing to an occupying force.”
Tag: 11.06.03
Cincinnati Hall Ready For Renovation
A proposed $3.8 million renovation of Cincinnati’s Music Hall got a big boost this week, as the county approved $2 million in new bonds to go towards the project. “Of that, $1.5 million will go toward the Music Hall renovation to create a new space for Cincinnati Opera, and $500,000 will pay for new stage lighting.”
Legacy Of A Shock Artist
Sarah Kane was not your average playwright. Her works, which appeared on various London stages in the 1990s, featured rape, torture, and a man gnawing on infant corpses. She was despised by the theatrical establishment, but defended by some of theater’s luminaries. She killed herself at age 28. Assessing a legacy like that is the type of exercise for which few in the theater world have the stomach, but one Montreal director is determiend to try.
Taking A Stand For The Music
The world of hip-hop has expanded well beyond its musical roots in the last decade, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. For many of today’s hottest rappers, the music is almost secondary to the culture of intimidation and implied violence which grew out of the “gangsta rap” culture of the 1990s. But not every hip-hop artist is in favor of the genre’s current direction, and Wyclef Jean is one of a handful of high-profile musicians making a direct plea to his colleagues to return hip-hop to its musical roots and put an end to the cycle of real and imagined violence.
Sotheby’s Opens Big
“In the auction world, all it takes is three determined people with big egos and bank accounts to match. That’s why a 1917 Klimt landscape sold for $29.1 million last night at Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist and modern art. The price surprised even the auction house experts. The painting, which depicts a house and its flowering gardens in a rich tapestry of colors, wasn’t the only bright spot of the evening. The best works fetched high prices, but some of the rest went unsold without so much as a nibble.”
Carnegie Hall’s ‘Nice Guy’ Stands Firm
Running New York’s most high-profile concert hall is no picnic. So Robert Harth is an unlikely figure as Carnegie Hall’s latest top man: he is, by all accounts, soft-spoken and generous with his time, “the type New York power brokers eat for breakfast.” In fact, when the ill-fated merger of Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic was announced this fall, many observers predicted that Harth would eventually be shunted aside by the Phil’s dynamic Zarin Mehta. Instead, Harth is now being celebrated for standing firm against the Phil’s desire to take over the primary programming responsibility for the hall, and for his commitment to broadening the scope of Carnegie Hall’s musical offerings.
Sweet Honey’s Rock To Retire
“You always know what to expect from a name brand like Sweet Honey in the Rock. Despite the comings and goings of 23 singers in its lifetime, Sweet Honey’s rich harmonies and socially conscious lyrics make it as recognizable as a drumbeat, as uplifting as a revival meeting. But what will happen when 61-year-old Bernice Johnson Reagon, the group’s founder, retires in late January, Sweet Honey’s 30th anniversary?”
Allen Hands Out Some Cash
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s foundation has handed out $12.45 million in grants to cultural and public service groups in the Pacific Northwest. At least $2 million of the money is earmarked specifically for arts groups in the Seattle area, and will be dispensed not only to the city’s largest arts and music groups, but to many fringe organizations as well.
Something New To Annoy Bill O’Reilly
National Public Radio has received an enormous gift from the will of the late philanthropist Joan Kroc, amounting to more than twice the network’s annual operating budget. The gift of $200 million came as a total shock to NPR staffers, who are speculating that the money could be used to rescue several music and culture programs which fell to the budget axe this year. Alternatively, the network could decide to use the gift, which seems to have no strings attached, to expand its focus on news and information programming. NPR’s board will meet in the next several weeks to decide how the bequest will be spent.
Miscalculating Reagan
How did the CBS Reagan mini-series get to be so controversial? “The producers of ‘The Reagans’ were so intent on re-examining their subject’s legacy that they missed the missile-defense shield surrounding Mr. Reagan, now incapacitated by Alzheimer’s disease. He is not just a beloved former president; he is the Moses of the conservative movement. Rather than treading lightly, the stars gloated about how controversial their film would be.”