There’s no escaping Scrooge and “A Christmas Carol” this time of year. “Some 20 feature films and at least 17 television movies notwithstanding, ‘A Christmas Carol’ has really been a theater phenomenon from the beginning, despite difficulties like transforming a door knocker into Jacob Marley’s face onstage.” – New York Times
Tag: 12.24.00
AN OPERA BUFFA?
The life of one of Italy’s most controversial politicians is being made into an opera. The rise and precipitous fall of former Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi, who died in exile in Tunisia almost a year ago, has provided the inspiration for B.C, an ‘opera oratorio in three short acts’. – The Guardian
LOOKING GOOD AT 400
Opera is 400 years old and still going strong. “One way in which opera stays healthy is by reinventing itself every generation or so. The old stereotypes – plump matrons impersonating tender young consumptives, tenors strutting their high Cs at the footlights – are so yesterday. Audiences are more demanding of opera now. It’s no longer enough just to have great singing; people expect a total visual, dramatic and musical experience for their buck. – Chicago Tribune
WIGGING OUT
For all its musical riches, London’s concert venues are decidedly second-rate acoustically. Except for one place – Wigmore Hall. It’s hard to describe what the Wigmore means to those of us who play there. It has partly to do with the acoustics — which are perfect, as good as you’ll find anywhere — and partly to do with the intimacy. When you’re on stage, the audience feels incredibly close.” – New York Times
ANATOMY OF A BALLERINA’S CAREER
Two years ago New York City Ballet’s Jenifer Ringer seemed to be caught on a frigid downward draft, endangering a once promising career. But she managed to pull out of her dive to become one of the company’s promising new principals. – New York Times
HISTORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN DANCE
“The origins of much American entertainment – jazz, blues and rock-and-roll, social dancing from the Twist to the Hustle to college-fraternity stepping, as well as hip-hop culture, just to give a few examples — go back to the African slave trade. Those whose lives were uprooted and stamped with foreign ways in turn left an indelible mark on the art of their adoptive land.” – Washington Post
SELLING ART
Our cultural institutions have been pushed to attract ever greater audiences to justify their success. “It’s a difficult moment because, on some level, not-for-profits are being asked to be very entrepreneurial. At the same time, there’s a growing awareness that if this is pushed too far, then the issue of cultural and artistic integrity can be compromised.” – Los Angeles Times 12/24/00
DARING ART THEFT
Thieves have stolen three of Sweden’s most prized paintings – by Rembrandt and Renoir. “An armed gang entered the museum on Stockholm’s waterfront just before it closed on Friday. One of them, brandishing a submachine-gun in the museum lobby, threatened staff and visitors, while another two, also armed, ran upstairs and snatched the small paintings, valued by police at about £25 million.” – Scotland on Sunday
RETURNING ART
“The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, was signed by President George Bush in November 1990 after years of discussion among scientists, museum curators and Indian groups. It seeks to reconcile two profoundly different value systems, one based on the primacy of reason and science and the other revolving around spiritual and religious values. In the decade since the law was passed, it has had a profound effect on museums and the philosophy on which they are based.” – New York Times
IN BARS WITH GUITARS
For its current exhibition on guitars, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has been advertising in non-traditional places – like bars and the sides of buses. “We’re seeing a lot of college students who, for the most part, don’t come to the museum that often. We really have seen an expanded audience, a lot of people who say that other than a fifth-grade field trip, this is their first time here.” – Boston Herald