Advocating a more “civilized” United States – and simultaneously fighting a cultural Cold War -- John F. Kennedy implausibly proclaimed that only “free artists” functioning in “free societies” could produce important art. In the same breath, Kennedy denied the legitimacy of political art. Delivering words written by Arthur Schlesinger, he maintained: “If art is to nourish … [Read more...] about The Artist and the State: Mexico and “Engineers of the Soul”
Are Orchestras “Better than Ever”? — What Not to Tell a Young Musician
Two summers ago I had occasion to spend a week with gifted high school musicians at the Brevard Music Festival – an idyllic cultural retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. Jason Posnock, Brevard’s artistic administrator, is not only a superb violinist but a reader and thinker and believer in humanities-infused programing and pedagogy. Thanks to Jason, I was entrusted … [Read more...] about Are Orchestras “Better than Ever”? — What Not to Tell a Young Musician
“Redes” Lives! — The Iconic Film of the Mexican Revolution and what it says to us today
In his most important speech about the place of culture in the national experience, delivered at Amherst College mere weeks before his death, President John F. Kennedy said: “In free society art is not a weapon and it does not belong to the spheres of polemic and ideology. Artists are not ‘engineers of the soul.’ It may be different elsewhere. But democratic society -- in … [Read more...] about “Redes” Lives! — The Iconic Film of the Mexican Revolution and what it says to us today
The Arts in America — Is the Pandemic a Perfect Storm?
In 1987, my Understanding Toscanini was the most discussed, most reviled book about classical music to have appeared in recent memory. Its subtitle was “How He Became an American Culture-God and Helped Create a New Audience for Old Music.” I used Arturo Toscanini -- for decades, the most famous and influential classical musician in the US, hailed as a “priest of … [Read more...] about The Arts in America — Is the Pandemic a Perfect Storm?
Porgy and the White Police
Though a prominent British reviewer of what became the hit Met production of Porgy and Bess called Gershwin’s landmark 1935 opera “a period piece,” it loudly resounds today. Consider the first act confrontation between a white detective and a black community. “Race is critical to Gershwin’s conception,” observes the Gershwin scholar Mark Clague in the most recent … [Read more...] about Porgy and the White Police