Nike Wagner, director of Bonn’s Beethovenfest: “The connoisseurs of bygone times are giving way to the consumers of today. And these people tend to gravitate toward the mainstream, toward popular big events with pop, rock and entertainment. Yet classical music, in the widest sense, has always been written and intended for a minority audience. So it’s paradoxical – but this way, the highest quality, ‘elite’ works are also getting exposure.”
Are Human Beings The Only Political Animals? (Nope)
“If all social life is political, won’t it be necessary to think of the designation ‘political animal’ as a genus name, including many species, rather than as something unique to human beings? After all, and as Aristotle knew well enough, there are many highly social species of animals.”
Mikhail Baryshnikov: Why I Finally Agreed To Play Nijinsky
“It is a sign of Baryshnikov’s confidence in his director” – Robert Wilson – “that he has agreed to play Nijinsky, a role that has been suggested to him ‘at least 15 times’ in his life and which he had always turned down.” (One f those invitations came from no less than Ingmar Bergman.)
How The World’s Most Popular Tarot Deck Was Designed (In 1909) And Came To Market (In 1970)
No, the set of cards most of us know doesn’t come from the Middle Ages. It’s “is a product of the intuitive thoughtfulness of an American-born occult scholar in late 19th century London, a British-born creative visual genius who studied art in New York City and lived in Jamaica, and a businessman whose first book was about coal mining techniques … These three people, essentially, are the only reason any of us know much of anything about tarot.”
Leonardo Da Vinci Invented A Refrigerator
“The design, which has been dated to around 1492, included both a drawing of the machine and a theoretical explanation of how it would work … It was likely designed for drinks, or perhaps sorbets and desserts, the report says.”
Fighting Back: The Battle Against Ticket Bots That Buy Up All The Best Seats For That Show You Want To See
“Ticket resale, at its pricier end called “ticket scalping,” is legal in Seattle. But bot critics argue that computerized purchasing prevents ordinary users from getting the seats they want, forcing them to buy from a third party at exorbitant prices. With a new state law outlawing bots going into effect in late-July, ticket sellers are gearing up to take legal action against bot users in future sales.”
Ludovic Morlot Extends With Seattle Symphony
“The Seattle Symphony has extended music director Ludovic Morlot’s contract for two additional years, through 2019 …. Morlot’s original agreement covered the time span of September 2011 through August 2017.”
Ira Glass Takes Full Ownership Of ‘This American Life’
“Both [Chicago Public Media] and WBEZ will still benefit from This American Life, having agreed to kick over their shares in exchange for a portion of future profits from both TAL and Serial. In turn, all 22 employees of This American Life will become Glass’s employees.”
Guy Who Tried To Charge His Phone On A Broadway Set Gives Press Conference (With The Play’s Publicists)
Nick Silvestri, age 19, in a prepared statement: “I don’t go to plays very much, and I didn’t realize that the stage is considered off limits. I’ve learned a lot about the theater in the past few days – theater people are really passionate and have been very willing to educate me.” But the Hand to God publicists organized the event. Does that mean the entire thing was a publicity stunt?
It’s True: Le Corbusier Was An Anti-Semitic Fascist
“[He] was involved from the 1920s until the mid-1940s with a series of far-right fascist publications that were anti-Semitic, often racist, and always totalitarian and ultra-nationalist. … [ He] attended fascist rallies in the 1920s, privately supported the Nazis, and sought work between 1940 and 1942 in Marshall Pétain’s Vichy. (Albeit Le Corbusier, intriguingly, also sought employment in Soviet Russia, but was turned down.)”
The Pittsburgh Symphony Is Fighting A Pretty Darn Scary Drop In Attendance
“After raising ticket prices for two consecutive seasons, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has seen its 2014-15 sales for Mellon Grand Classics drop from 61 percent of Heinz Hall capacity to 50 percent. The Pops series dropped from 62 to 56 percent.”
After 40 Years Of Fame, An Artist Finally Gets A Solo Show At Home
Marcia Hafif, now 86, “speaks softly and moves gracefully. But the unassuming manner belies a bold adventurousness. A discussion about painting might segue nonchalantly to talk about ‘a little affair’ in Mexico, her journeys through Iran or her larger-than-life Circassian great-grandfather, who fought against the French in Mexico in the late 19th century.”
All Of Our Digital Photos Are Going To (Bit) Rot, And We Should Print Them All
“Millions of people could lose their entire photo collections. This may sound trite until you consider that many people even have critical image like the birth of a child stored in the cloud. Not wise. Our entire photographic history from the past decade is literally at risk.”
The Wolfpack Brothers’ Obsessive Remakes Of Films Show Us How To Do It Right
And for the siblings, who were locked in their apartment all of their lives by their father, things are working out: “The Tribeca Film Institute has commissioned them to reenact a clutch of Robert DeNiro films, while the San Francisco Film Institute hired them to recreate scenes from three iconic films that take place in the City by the Bay: Mrs. Doubtfire, Dirty Harry, and Sister Act.”
Texting In The Theatre Is Rude, Sure, But It’s Also Flat-Out Stupid For Your Cell Phone’s Battery
“Broadway theaters weren’t built for cell phone usage—many of them date to the early 20th century. They’re made of marble on the outside and have thick walls on the inside, which absorb sound. … Even from a technical standpoint, using your phone in a theater is pointless — your battery drains even if the phone just stays in your pocket.”
The MFA Students Who Quit USC En Masse Get A Gallery Show
“Soto said he’s pleased to bring the focus back to art: ‘I felt like the best thing was to give them autonomy and see what it is they wanted to do in their space.'”
Making History While Writing Late Night Comedy
Robin Thede, the first African-American woman to head a comedy writing team for a late night host: “The thing about tragedy is that it causes people to react in a myriad of ways … [and] some of them are very hilarious. You don’t make fun of the actual tragedy. You make fun of the ridiculous ways people react to it.”
So, How Exactly *Was* Harper Lee’s ‘New Novel’ Found?
Or, “Eight Different Ways To Describe How ‘Go Set A Watchman’ Came To Be A Published Novel.”
Stressed UK Libraries Are Increasingly Being Run By Volunteers
Between March 2010 and March 2014: 337 libraries have closed in the UK – a fall from 4,482 to 4,145. The number of volunteers has increased 100% – from 17,550 to 35,818.The number of full-time staff has decreased by 22% – from 24,746 to 19,308. The number of books lent has fallen by 20% – from 309 million to 247 million
UK Libraries Exist Now Because Of Volunteers
“There are twice as many voluntary staff manning the UK’s 4,000 libraries than professional workers.
However it has been said that this community-led model is not sustainable.”
Are Our Ticket Prices Too High? National Theatre And Royal Shakespeare Companies Respond
In its response to Mark Rylance’s comments, the National said it was “committed to sharing our work with as many people as possible. We agree with Mark that affordable ticket pricing plays an important role in that, and use our public funding to help achieve that accessibility.” Tickets to its main house shows, its spokesperson continued, ranged from £15 to £55, with no additional booking fees.
Harper Lee’s “Watchman” Is… Disappointing. Should It Have Been Published?
“What immediately strikes you reading this first chapter is its utterly conventional voice, its lack of spark and intimacy. There are glimpses of the sharp, knowing phrases that characterise Mockingbird, but much of the prose of Watchman, not to put too fine a point on it, is pedestrian to the point of clunking.”
Harper Lee’s “Watchman”: Biggest Pre-Order Interest Since Harry Potter
“The novel, which is currently the number one best-seller on Amazon.com, is due to be published on 14 July.
Amazon did not give any figures for pre-orders, but publisher HarperCollins said it had ordered an initial US print run of two million.”
Amazon’s New Algorithm Appears To Be Blocking Reviews By The Most Dedicated Fans
“The online retailer appears to have tightened up its review policy to weed out people boosting their mates’ books with glowing notices, but whatever algorithms they’re using to work this out seem also to be catching anyone who engages with their favourite writers on social media.”
Actor Omar Sharif, 83
“Sharif died of a heart attack in a Cairo hospital, his longtime agent, London-based Steve Kenis, and the head of Egypt’s Theatrical Arts Guild, Ashraf Zaki, told The Associated Press. The actor had been suffering from Alzheimer’s.”