“Sontag does not expend the energy on being charming, or even comprehensible, that most people paradoxically do in their private journals. Her notes are scattered, aphoristic, sharp… What is remarkable here is the ferocious will, the conscious and almost unnatural assembly of a persona that rises above and beyond that of ordinary people.”
Tag: 12.15.08
Alfred Brendel Is Glad He’s Leaving Something Behind
On ending his 60-year career as a concert pianist: “What I will miss, probably, is the adrenalin – its medical benefits… These farewell concerts have turned out to be enlightening. When I have been told, ‘You are leaving a big hole in the lives of so many people,’ I felt glad that I could leave something behind, even if it’s a hole.”
L.A. Times Assigns New Film Critic
“Moving to beef up its film presence after a series of layoffs, the Los Angeles Times has reassigned longtime entertainment editor Betsy Sharkey to serve as a full-time film critic [alongside Kenneth Turan].” Sharkey replaces Carina Chocano, whose position was eliminated in October as part of the paper’s latest set of cutbacks.
When Robert Met Merce (For The Last Time)
“In their final collaboration, Merce Cunningham and Robert Rauschenberg produced a work that buzzed with ideas, not the least of which was a fierce and disquieting notion of the eternal. And given the lifetime of insight these artists and frequent creative partners bring to bear, it is wise to take heed.”
Valentin Berlinsky, 83, Founder Of Borodin String Quartet
Cellist Valentin Berlinsky, co-founder of the Borodin String Quartet, Russia’s oldest and most admired chamber group, died in Moscow on Monday (Dec. 15) at age 83. He had played with the Borodin ever since its establishment in 1944.
At Composers’ Disposal, Players With Gusto (But No Pulse)
“Bach had to wait 110 years before the first complete performance of his B minor Mass, by which time he had long since departed to the great choral extravaganza in the sky. For today’s composers, though, the elapsed time between composition and performance can be a matter of seconds – as long as you are willing to accept that your performers may not be entirely, you know, real.”
Theatre: Knife Incident Was An Accident, And Not Serious
The Burgtheater in Vienna “has denied reports that an actor suffered a life-threatening cut to his throat after a prop knife was reportedly replaced by one with a real blade. Daniel Hoevels, 30, was said to have had blood ‘pouring from his neck’ after he stabbed himself with the knife in a suicide scene. … The company admitted that a female prop manager had bought a knife for use on stage and forgotten to blunt it.”
MOCA ‘Probably’ Won’t Sell Off Art, But It’s An Option
“As the drama unfolds over whether and how L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art will solve its financial crisis, fans of MOCA and museums in general are hoping it won’t choose what some would consider a doomsday option: selling art from the collection to pay off general expenses or satisfy debts. Two leading service organizations, the American Assn. of Museums and the Assn. of Art Museum Directors, say flatly that it’s unethical to sell objects from a collection … except to raise funds to buy more pieces.”
Damien Hirst And The Case Of The Graffiti Skulls
“The enemies of Damien Hirst have been lined up in massed ranks for years, firing hopelessly at his platinum and diamond success. And I – still – don’t want to join them,” Jonathan Jones writes. But why is Hirst, with all his fame and riches, pursuing a legal campaign against a graffiti artist? And does he really need that £195?
From Burns At 250, Two New Poems & Some Sexual Gossip
“His love might have been like a red red rose, but it turns out that Robert Burns may also have been suffering from a rather nasty STD, according to a collection of explicit writing apparently by Scotland’s national bard, due to go on sale in January 2009.”