“Stockhausen’s parsimonious control of his own music and his disastrous public statements have hurt his present-day reputation enormously. And yet I can think of few late-20th-century composers who are more likely to be explored and debated by whatever passes for the musical intelligentsia of 2057.”
Tag: 12.08.07
The Rumors Of Our Death… Oh, Never Mind
“Mark Twain’s new comedy opens on Broadway tomorrow night… A Stanford University professor named Shelley Fisher Fishkin found Is He Dead?, Twain’s never-staged melodramatic farce, in a file of the writer’s material at the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley five years ago.”
A World Without Satire Is A Politician’s Heaven
With the TV world’s comedy writers on strike, there’s arguably never been a better time to be a politician in America. “Political analysts are scrambling to sort out what this could mean for the candidates themselves, and suggesting that the humor void could change the way the public views the still-wide-open race.”
National Classical Music Initiative Launches In UK
“Britain has, in the past 30 years, transformed its relationship to visual culture, with art, architecture and design hugely popular, leaving aural culture trailing in its wake… Now a large-scale project organised by the Royal Philharmonic Society and Classic FM hopes to get the British to learn to retune their ears – and listen to classical music.”
Young Musicians Go The Well-Rounded Route
The days when classical musicians were deadly serious devotees of their craft with little interest in the broader culture around them, if such days ever really existed, are gone. A look at the younger generation currently rising in symphonies around the US shows a broad range of musical and cultural interests, and a level of pop sophistication that might surprise many audience members.
Is Florida Grand Opera Poised For A Shakeup?
Insiders at Florida Grand Opera are whispering that major changes may be in store for the company. Music director Stewart Robinson’s job is reportedly in danger, due to concerns over the low quality of the FGO’s resident orchestra.
Composer Andrew Imbrie, 86
“Andrew Imbrie, the composer of many arresting and impeccably crafted musical works and a generous teacher to several generations of younger composers, died Wednesday at his Berkeley home after a long illness.”
Talks Between Writers, Producers Collapse
“Talks between Hollywood’s striking writers and producers collapsed amid acrimony on Friday night, even as the sides braced for the likely appearance of a third party — the Directors Guild of America, whose own contract is up next June.” There are no plans to resume talks in the near future.
Museums Look To Courts For Validation
“In a legal strategy that is spreading in the art world, the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation jointly asked a federal court yesterday to declare them the owners of two Picasso paintings that a claimant says were sold under duress in Nazi Germany.”
Art With A Miami Flair
“With more than 20 fairs (at least 7 more than last year) now piggybacking on the main event, Art Basel Miami Beach has made a point of finding new ways to showcase smaller galleries and individual artists… The art is heavily scripted, raucously colorful and monstrously proportioned.” It’s a style that fits the host city, and differentiates the event from nearly everything else in the art world.