With Chip McGrath stepping down from his position as editor of the venerable New York Times Sunday Book Review, there is an opportunity for the new editor to finally make some much-needed changes to the section, writes Alex Beam. “Books are fun and interesting to read, but the Sunday Book Review is neither… Too often the reviews read like book reports, cooked up using a predictable formula: summarizing the book, inserting some praise, perhaps ending with a guarded reservation or two, carefully phrased so as not to offend… [Furthermore,] the review hardly ever helps you answer the key question: Should I spend $26 on this book?”
Tag: 11.13.03
More Swiss Misses Needed
A new report from Switzerland’s national arts council has concluded that there are not nearly enough women with prominent roles in the country’s cultural scene. “Women artists have not yet caught up completely. Numerically speaking, in fields such as literature where they are well represented, they account for one-third, while the proportion of women orchestra musicians is no more than about one-fifth.” However, the authors of the study say that the tide is already turning for female artists, and suggest that the problem will likely take care of itself in time.
Baltimore Symphony Prez To Step Down
John Gidwitz, president of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 1984, has announced that he will step down from the position at the end of the current season. During his tenure with the BSO, Gidwitz (along with music director David Zinman,) was credited with building the orchestra’s reputation from that of a small, regional ensemble to one of America’s top orchestras.
New Composers’ Prize Created In Evanston
Suburban Chicago-based Northwestern University has established a new $100,000 prize for composers, instantly making it one of the most lucrative awards in the industry. “The winner of the biennial Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition, one of the world’s largest awards for composers, will also be given a four-week residency at the School of Music and a performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in addition to the cash prize.”
Zorba The Anti-Semite?
Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, best known for writing the film score for Zorba the Greek, is being taken to task by politicians and activists in Greece and Israel after saying at a public ceremony that Jews “are the root of evil.”
ABT’s Sponsor-Loss – Disaster Or No Big Deal?
ABT watchers were buzzing Wednesday over long-time angel sponsor Movado pulling out of its support of the company. Major corporate sponsorships aren’t exactly easy to come by these days. “Movado has been a principal sponsor of Ballet Theater, one of New York’s premier troupes, for almost 20 years, giving what the watch company estimated was more than $400,000 annually. But Ballet Theater trustees said that Movado’s withdrawal would be only a dent in the company’s $35 million annual budget and that a substitute would not be difficult to find.”
UK Theatre: What About The Littlest Among Us?
Regional theatre in the UK is having a great year. But (and isn’t there always a but?) “What about Britain’s smallest theatres – those that have to balance their books on seating capacities of 300 or less, those that receive little or no core funding, never see a national reviewer and are still waiting for some of the Arts Council’s £25m injection of cash?”
Out Of Mao – China’s National Ballet Delivers
China isn’t known for a great ballet tradition. Yet, writes Ismene Brown, she came away this week “dazzled” by the National Ballet of China, now “reinventing themselves after decades of Maoist chauvinism. Here are long-limbed dancers whose grace and attack are knit together with a unison you’d almost call superhuman. But what, asks the suspicious westerner, of personal expressiveness in this oppressive land?”
Crisp: Chinese Ballet Is A Player
Clement Crisp writes that Chinese ballet has come a long way from “The Red Detachment of Women.” “Chinese ballet has latterly come a long way, and what we saw was a fascinating step on the road to a more modern image. I have long believed that out of China will come an influential identity for classic ballet, born of the dancers’ beautiful physiques and dedication, and of the traditions of Chinese theatre.”
Who’s This?
So the Tate mis-identified a portait in a painting last week. And it was embarrassing. And insulting. But “how do you identify portraits, anyway? The names often come down by tradition, and if a portrait was named as such and such a person in an inventory a hundred years after it was painted, historical fact is hard to separate from myth. The best mistakes have some plausibility, and some are inevitable, even poetic.”