Author, blogger and New Yorker classical music writer Alex Ross has a new blog on the New Yorker website. Here's his description:This blog, which takes its name from a part-song by the English Renaissance master John Dowland, will consist of short commentaries, addenda to New Yorker pieces, audio excerpts from recommended new CDs, links to novelties and oddities around the Internet, and the like. My old site, with its library of twentieth-century audio samples, will remain intact, and perhaps expand from time to time. Unquiet Thoughts won't be … [Read more...]
Man in the mirror
(photo from here)Strictly FYI, this is what classical music reads like to the rest of the music world. From BrooklynVegan re: the recent Hope Sandoval show:LA Weekly spent a considerable portion of their Hope Sandoval cemetery show review talking about the NO-photo policy. Now I know why. Hope Sandoval didn't just deny photo passes. She didn't just post warning signs all over the venue (see above). She didn't just have someone give a stern, pre-show announcement. Hope basically had her own security detail on hand to blind and humiliate … [Read more...]
Let’s go to the movies
According to You've Cott Mail according to The Stage News, Sadler's Wells across (le) pond launched movie theater-style previews for upcoming productions last night at the Peacock Theater. From The Stage News:Sadler's Wells director of marketing and communications Kingsley Jayasekera said: "At Sadler's Wells we're always looking for new ways to tell our audiences about what we have coming up. Cinemas do this very effectively to flag up forthcoming film releases, so why shouldn't theatre?"I blogged about this here and endured some criticism from … [Read more...]
Private relations
When soccer moms in army-grade Hummers would double-park on New Canaan's already-narrow Elm Street, my mother would always mutter, or sometimes shout, "Some people think the rules don't apply to them." She would declare a similar sentiment when we'd be in line for the movies and would hear a parent tell his or her child "just say you're 7" to get a cheaper movie ticket. Some people think the rules don't apply to them...and by all means teach your child to lie. I sent out a press release last night with extremely specific instructions on … [Read more...]
For $5,000/day
From my intern, happy Monday at 3pm.I'm fairly certain I went to college with this guy. Several versions of this guy. … [Read more...]
The sun never sets
At 1:20pm today, The Guardian's piece on Dudamel's debut was at the top of the Google News stories. Please note how he beats out the economy, iPhones, Soulja Boy, some sports thing, breast cancer, a celebrity sex scandal, and a fatal deluge. … [Read more...]
Talk to me about ‘Opera News’
As often as possible, on Fridays I will post interviews with colleagues from the field who are far more knowledgeable than I am on various marketing and publicity topics. This week, we have F. Paul Driscoll, Editor-in-Chief of Opera News, on bewitching divas, the good, the bad, and the ugly of opera blogging, and the basics of how to pitch a glossy magazine.F. Paul Driscoll has been Editor in Chief of OPERA NEWS since 2003. He began contributing to the magazine in 1990 and joined the editorial staff as managing editor in 1998. He … [Read more...]
Can’t you see, that I am not afraid?
Via fellow ArtsJournal blogger CultureGrrl via The Onion, this attendance-boosting initiative from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:NEW YORK--Hoping to boost attendance and broaden its base of supporters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art launched a new initiative this week that allows patrons, for the first time ever, to prod and scratch at the classic paintings in its revered collection. "Though it contains more than two million pieces and represents a profound legacy of artistic achievement, most people remain completely indifferent to our … [Read more...]
What a bust
I totally heart this e card, even though I'll be in LA the following weekend for David's movie and will miss the sale. And I do love a sale. Good fonts, good colors, excellent use of cleavage:If anyone from LA Opera is reading, SAVE ME A BODICE! … [Read more...]
Who’s your daddy?
From PC World dot com today:As of December 1, the Federal Trade Commission is going to require bloggers, and prominent tweeters and Facebook types to disclose any paid endorsements to their followers, online friends and readers. These new rules have the potential to change everyone's online habits.The blog rules are fairly straightforward: if you're being paid to write about a product in a discreet way (which reminds me: my, my, MY, this glass of BOLTHOUSE FARMS SINCE 1915 ANTIOXIDANT RICH GREEN GOODNESS FRUIT SMOOTHIE is just delicious and so … [Read more...]
[insert blog post]
Poking fun at typos isn't quite fair since we all make them. I recently got sassy with an auto spellcheck feature on my html mailer program, for example, and sent out a press release with "Trovatore" spelled "Travatore" about five times. Nothing like sending out that first release for a new client and falling flat on one's face. That's how it's done, folks! That is how it's done.I would be neglecting my blogger duties, however, if I did not share this pearl of marketing prowess with you. Here's what APAP, the Association of Performing Arts … [Read more...]
“People will see me and cry.” -the remake of ‘Fame’
Apologies in advance if this post is idiotic. The remake of Fame is to be held accountable, you see, because I am convinced that in the one hundred and seven minutes I sat watching it in the Ziegfeld theater tonight, I actually became less intelligent. I asked my sister if we could leave halfway through, and she insisted, "I'm not leaving before The Song." The most amazing part, though, is that after we suffered through the thing in all its plotless, driveling, anesthetized glory, THEY DIDN'T EVEN SING THE SONG. THERE WAS NO DANCING ON THE CAR. … [Read more...]
Hey, look me over
ArtsJournal editor Douglas McLennan has been working overtime on the National Summit on Arts Journalism. The presentations are today and they are cleverly being live-streamed on the interweb. There are few things funnier than Summits on the Future of Anything after which press clippings are mailed out, so I'm glad the carpet matches the drapes, as it were, of this enterprise. Speakers include Doug, natch, Executive Producer of NPR Music Anya Grundmann, Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (and more importantly, Dartmouth … [Read more...]
First-name basis
You may have heard somewhere that Gustavo Dudamel takes over as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic next week. There have been a couple small news items on the subject. It seems like only yesterday that he and Hilary were performing Mozart for The Pope's 80th birthday. They grow up so fast, don't they?Much as it kills me softly to give the man more press, there was an interesting post over at Sequenza21 earlier this week about how Gustavo Dudamel is talked about in LA Philharmonic press releases. Here is the release excerpt from … [Read more...]