“As a common language of celebration or eulogy, as a means of expressing collective joy or sorrow, classical music is indeed a dying tongue. Would 2,500 people cram into the nave and transept of the National Cathedral today to hear Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War, as they did in January 1973, when Leonard Bernstein conducted a concert in protest of President Nixon’s second inaugural?” – American Scholar
A Crisis Of Truth?
It seems irresponsible or perverse to reject the idea that there is a Crisis of Truth. No time now for judicious reflection; what’s needed is a full-frontal attack on the Truth Deniers. But it’s good to be sure about the identity of the problem before setting out to solve it. Conceiving the problem as a Crisis of Truth, or even as a Crisis of Scientific Authority, is not, I think, the best starting point. There’s no reason for complacency, but there is reason to reassess which bits of our culture are in a critical state and, once they are securely identified, what therapies are in order. – Los Angeles Review of Books
Vijay Iyer: Artist As Ally Of Adjacent Cultures
“This can’t just be about me sounding cool or looking awesome. It has to be in service of something larger. You want to actually open a conversation and activate people’s imaginations, and allow them to imagine a different world than the one we’re in. And that’s the kind of work that an artist can do, because we’re not there to answer questions exactly. We’re there to stir something up, and also to offer an alternative to the reality that we’re inhabiting.” – Boston Review
Saddam Hussein Tried To Reconstruct The Ancient City Of Babylon, And His Abandoned Buildings Are Still There
“In the 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein became obsessed with the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar, who is notorious for waging bloody wars to seize large swaths of current-day Iran and Israel. Saddam saw himself as a modern reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar, and to prove it, he spent millions building a massive reconstruction of Babylon. … Today, it seems to fall between picnic site and abandoned theme park.” – Atlas Obscura
Why Do We Only Equate Innovation And Creativity With Cities?
Few people, particularly those cognizant of current writing on cities, culture, and technology, would blink at the sentence above. “Urban innovation,” the “smart city,” and the “triumph of the city”—these have become familiar as buzz phrases and even book titles. But what about peripheral regions, rural areas, and small towns—can’t they be smart and innovative? And what exactly is meant by “the triumph of the city”? Triumph over what? – CityLab
What I’ve Learned About Arts Journalism In The Past Decade
Diep Tran: “When I was first hired at American Theatre, I thought arts journalism was two things: reviewing shows and interviewing celebrities. But as I’ve grown in my career, I realized that it has become something else for me: Journalism is an act of service. The theatre industry, like most industries, is notoriously tight-lipped in many sensitive areas: compensation (or the lack of it), race and power dynamics, and sexual harassment, to name just a few. Those in power would rather you, the reader and the viewer, look at the art and not look too closely at what’s going on behind the curtain.” – American Theatre
The Baltimore Museum Of Art Pledged To Buy Art Only By Women In 2020. So?
“The first thought that occurred to me when I saw the headline was the fact that collecting a piece of art doesn’t automatically guarantee that the artist will find a viewing audience.” – CityLab
Russia And Syria Make Deal To Restore Ancient Palmyra, Damaged By ISIS
Among the long-term goals of the agreement are the Hermitage and the National Museum of Oman working together to restore 20 Syrian antiquities, primarily from Palmyra; an international campaign to restore Palmyra, seriously damaged by Isis; and the formation of an international expert group under the auspices of Unesco and DGAM, together with the Hermitage and Aga Khan Foundation. – The Art Newspaper
Is Opera’s Glorious Past Trapping It Or Anchoring It?
The very traditions that appeal to longtime fans may be what holds opera back from gaining new fans. How to tell? – The Telegraph (UK)
Against Sameness: Paradise Can’t Be Boring
One view of paradise is that it is a place with no conflict, no sharp edges. But that’s not what most of us want. The peak experiences, the excellence of accomplishment isn’t about frictionless existence, it’s about trying and failing and fixing and learning. – Aeon
Blaming the Victim: The Shocking “Green Vault” Assault at Dresden’s Royal Palace
Any burglarized homeowner knows that a five-minute response time isn’t good enough when you’re dealing with grab-and-go criminals. Art museums should not be lured into false complacency with high-tech gadgetry. They are no substitute for the most basic, essential component of art stewardship — human guards. – Lee Rosenbaum
Audiences Are Choosing ‘Immersive Experiences’ Over Looking At Objects In Museums. How Will The Art Business Handle This?
“Performance and installation pieces are now the preferred media of just such moments at biennials and museum shows. For the second edition in a row, the top prize for a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale was won by a performance. … But where does all this leave the commercial art world, which for centuries has relied on the passive contemplation of painting and sculpture to forge careers, reputations and fortunes? How do you monetise experiential art?” – The Art Newspaper
Biographer Robert K. Massie, Author Of ‘Nicholas And Alexandra’, Dead At 90
“In monumental biographies of Peter the Great (1672-1725), Catherine the Great (1729-96) and Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra, who were assassinated with their five children and others in 1918, Mr. Massie captivated audiences with detailed accounts that read to many like engrossing novels. One was even grist for Hollywood: Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) was adapted into a film of the same title in 1971.” – The New York Times
At ‘Slave Play’ Q&A, Woman Shouts That Playwright Is ‘Racist Against White People’
“According to witnesses, the woman, whom [playwright Jeremy O.] Harris has nicknamed ‘Talkback Tammy’ on Twitter, stood up from her seat and loudly interrupted the Q&A just as it was finishing up. She accused the queer black playwright of being ‘racist against white people.’ At one point, she complained that she didn’t want to hear that white people are the fucking plague all the time.'” Harris patiently responded to her and even sort of defended her reaction afterward, saying “Rage is a necessary lubricant to discourse.” – Gothamist
Two Members Of Nobel Prize For Literature Committee Resign, One Because Of Award To Peter Handke
“Author Kristoffer Leandoer said he was leaving because he had ‘neither the patience nor the time’ to wait for the committee to complete its reforms” called for after the scandal that led to the postponement of last year’s award to this year. He said that his resignation had nothing to do with the very controversial choice for this year’s prize of Peter Handke, but the other departing member, Gun-Britt Sundström, said her decision was for just that reason. – Reuters
As Police Spray Tear Gas, Hong Kong Museum Of Art Closes One Day After Reopening
“Hong Kong police deployed tear gas during a protest yesterday that took place close to the city’s Museum of Art just one day after it reopened its doors to the public. The use of tear gas at the museum, which re-opened after a three-year renovation with a travelling show from the Tate, prompted concerns over whether the police’s wide use of the substance is putting important works and museum visitors at risk.” – The Art Newspaper
How Sesame Street Thrives After 50 Years
“Sesame Street” was inclusive before anyone really knew what that meant, the first safe space. It is a friend to everyone, which has a lot to do with why it’s the first TV show to receive Kennedy Center Honors. – Washington Post
What The NY Phil’s New Home At Lincoln Center Will Look Like
Justin Davidson: The current scheme, a joint Philharmonic–Lincoln Center project, is relatively modest. The auditorium stays where it is but gets gutted and rebuilt (again). In 2022, the orchestra moves out for an extended summer break, from May to November, returns for an abbreviated season in the reconfigured but unfinished hall, and spends most of 2023–24 touring, floating, and sojourning in its ancestral home at Carnegie Hall. The new Geffen reopens in March 2024. (Lincoln Center and the Philharmonic say that they’ve already raised two-thirds of the money.) – New York Magazine
Finally – A Makeover Of The NY Philharmonic’s Lincoln Center Home – Opening In 2024
The reconstruction of David Geffen Hall is finally about to happen — for real, this time. A new plan to transform the acoustically and aesthetically challenged auditorium into a more intimate, better sounding space was unveiled on Monday. – The New York Times
Classical Music’s Streaming Problem
According to a new survey commissioned by Primephonic, 34% of the 1,000 Americans surveyed are interested in listening to classical music, but only 16% actually do so. Put another way, only half of the people interested in streaming classical music are actually listening. Primephonic and Idagio ($10 monthly) — another classical music-only streaming service that launched in the U.S. in 2018 — intend to take advantage of the gap in those numbers, to improve access to classical music by offering new-user-friendly software and guided listening. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Composer Lei Liang Wins $100,000 2020 Grawemeyer Award For Piece Inspired By Climate Change
Boston Modern Orchestra Project commissioned the winning piece, A Thousand Mountains, a Million Streams, which premiered in 2018 in Boston’s Jordan Hall with Gil Rose conducting. The annual, $100,000 prizes reward outstanding ideas in music, world order, psychology, education and religion. – NewMusicBox