“If the history of Africa tells us anything, it is that producing great art is no guarantee of winning anyone’s respect. It seems incredible, when you look at the masterpieces of African art in the British Museum, that exploiters and imperialists could ever have dismissed the disparate peoples of Africa as lesser breeds, ripe for the plucking. Africa has created some of the greatest art that ever existed, and the brilliance of it has been known to Europeans for a long time… And yet the African experience suggests that even when oppressors acknowledge, quite fulsomely, the beauty of your art, this doesn’t stop them classing it as ‘primitive’ and continuing to treat you as a lower form of life.”
Tag: 12.29.05
More Chaos At English National Opera
The English National Opera could scarcely be having a worse holiday season, what with the recent resignations of its artistic director and chairman, and the continued browbeatings the company is taking in the British press. Now, music director designate Oleg Caetani has apparently been relieved of the post he was to take up next month. “Sources say that the reason for Caetani’s pre-emptive ejection was the lack of time he could commit to the company – an issue that had caused concern among observers from his appointment in March this year after a 14-month search.”
And A Strike, Too…
“Members of the union Bectu, who work in the technical, managerial and administrative departments at the Coliseum, the English National Opera’s London home, have voted by a massive majority – 94.6 per cent of those who voted – in favour of industrial action over its pay claim [against the beleagured opera company.] While there are no operas, only ballets, on stage until late January, strikes would hit rehearsals for new productions as well as the resumption of operatic performances [in] February.”
The Best Instrument You’ve Ever Laughed At
The trombone is one of those much-maligned instruments, like the bassoon or the viola, which plays a crucial role in the orchestra and yet seems to provoke more snickers than applause. The slide looks silly, the sound is frequently used for comic relief, and a recent episode of the UK’s popular TV series, Doctor Who, featured a campy but sinister lineup of deadly trombone-wielding Santas. “One sometimes detects among trombonists a sense that the world is doing them down.”
Is Barenboim Headed To La Scala? He Seems To Think So.
Daniel Barenboim is fueling speculation that he will soon be named La Scala’s next music director, succeeding the ousted Riccardo Muti. Barenboim will be leaving the directorship of the Chicago Symphony next summer, leaving him available for the post in Milan. “In May, the governors appointed a Frenchman, Stephané Lissner, a friend of Barenboim, as general manager and artistic director. It was he who lured Barenboim, 63, back to La Scala, where he last performed 30 years ago. And, in what was seen by insiders as a possible pointer to the future, agreed to his being the first musician to use Muti’s old dressing room.”