Breaking down his award-winning “A Thousand Mountains, a Million Streams” – and hearing from the composer himself: “It’s a challenge to see myself as a vessel, as an imaginative and creative force that has a place in history — so that you create while you preserve at the same time. Today, in a different world, that encompasses the environmental, cultural and spiritual responsibilities an artist has.” – The New York Times
Tag: 12.13.19
The Metropolitan Opera Conductor Who Originally Wanted To Be The Pope
Yannick Nézet-Séguin says that after many years of wanting to conduct the Mass, he decided one day when he was 10 to play-act at conducting Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. That day, everything changed: “At that moment, my fascination with religion was transferred to music and the liturgical aspect of the church became the ritual of the concert.” – The New York Times
Better To Be Cautious When Giving Books As Presents
There are really only two rules, says a man who knows a particularly painful story of an inscribed book that had been passed on. “‘The first is, always save a receipt’ – the reason being, if a book has jumped into your mind as the perfect present for someone, it has doubtless occurred to someone else. … And the second rule? ‘Never write an inscription in a book, unless you’ve written it yourself.'” – The Guardian (UK)
Elizabeth Sifton, Editor And Tamer Of Literary Lions, Has Died At 80
Sifton was also an author, including of a memoir that cemented her father, Reinhold Niebuhr, as the author of the Serenity Prayer. The authors she edited – burnished, as The NYT puts it – included “Isaiah Berlin, Don DeLillo, Ann Douglas, Susan Eisenhower, Carlos Fuentes, Philip Gourevitch, Michael Ignatieff, Stanley Karnow, Stephen Kinzer, J.R. MacArthur, Robert MacNeil, Peter Matthiessen, Jules Witcover and Victor S. Navasky.” – The New York Times
There *Is* A Reason Sondheim Is In All Of Our Movies Now
It’s not just a coincidence or an accident: “Sondheim references and homages are hardly new. While there happens to be a bit of a pile-up at the moment, that’s because Sondheim’s songs have passed into the public vernacular in a way that few theatre composers’ works manage to nowadays: they have become standards.” – The Stage (UK)
Dancing To, And Around, Bach [VIDEO]
In The New York Times‘ dance coverage, this week’s Instagram video hashtagged #SpeakingAboutDance features solos, duets, trios, and ensemble work to pianist Simone Dinnerstein’s performance of The Goldberg Variations. – The New York Times
No, Reading’s Not For Comfort, Says An Irish Author
Sinéad Gleeson, an Irish Book Award-winning author, says that reading offers connection and perhaps an escape – unless you’re slogging through the “great American” canon. – The Guardian (UK)
The Grammys Tend To Be Pale, Male, And Somewhat Stale
Can the Recording Academy’s new plan change that? – Los Angeles Times
Hungary’s Theatres Protest Orban’s Culture War And Attempted Control
Actors and audiences alike participated in protests against Viktor Orban’s new law around who controls theatre funding. “The change comes as Mr. Orban’s government has become increasingly authoritarian and eroded democratic institutions. It has widened its control over the news media and education, and has given allies roles in overseeing the country’s cultural institutions. And after winning a third term last year, Mr. Orban set the tone for a battle over the arts, saying, ‘We must embed the political system in a cultural era.'” – The New York Times
Britain’s 70-Something-Old Nightclubbers Who Just Won’t Quit
Oh, well, why not dance, listen to music, and party into your 70s? After all, Mick Jagger still does it. “For those who do keep dancing, it can be much more than just a night out. What starts as an act of teenage transgression becomes radical in middle age.” – The Guardian (UK)