Support The Arts

Welcome back Dear Readers.

So nice to see you.

In today's Washington Post

Anne Midgette writes a very nice article on how

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/23/AR2010042300047.html)

The Obama White House 

might better support

American Classical Music.

This article reminded me of how poorly 

The Arts are supported in general.

I thought back to the hundreds of concerts I've been to 

and to how few, if any, 

 Heads of State were ever in attendance.

I have often looked up to The Presidential Box

at The Kennedy Center and seen complete strangers. 

Our papers are peppered with pictures of Obama at basketball games, shooting hoops,

throwing out the first pitch...

wouldn't it have been nice seeing The Obama's at the recent Mitsuko Uchida concert?

Anne suggested a number of interesting concert possibilities which included performances of the music of some of our finest contemporary American Composers:

Steve Reich

Meredith Monk

 & William Bolcom

To that I suggested:

Obama might introduce John Adams when he's in town next month conducting a number of concerts of his own works. 

That Obama might organize a concert

Song of Remembrance

In Honor of President Lech Kaczynski & his wife,

and colleagues who died so tragically in that plane crash a couple weeks ago. 

The concert could be a combination of the upcoming 

Maurizio Pollini concert of the works of Chopin.

The Paderewski Piano Concerto

(Paderewski was the virtuoso Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, 

and Third Prime Minister of The Republic of Poland) 

and jazz

by Polish Jazz Great

Tomasz Stanko.  

As a PS to the article I suggested performances of a couple other

 contemporary American Composers of note:

Lowell Liebermann

and

Peter Lieberson.

Anne's article also made me think of how in general The Arts are neglected. 

I was reminded of the beautiful inscriptions on the walls of 

The Kennedy Center.

All of you Dear Readers, 

throughout the world, need to read this. 

You need to remind those governing you of the importance of The Arts.

That The Arts are crucial to mankind. 

We must put down our guns

and pick up our batons

and paint brushes.

"President Kennedy was a great supporter of the arts; inscribed on the walls of the River Terrace, just outside the Grand Foyer, you will find quotes from speeches in which he spoke of his vision for America's cultural life.

 THERE IS A CONNECTION, HARD TO EXPLAIN LOGICALLY BUT EASY TO FEEL, BETWEEN ACHIEVEMENT IN PUBLIC LIFE AND PROGRESS IN THE ARTS. THE AGE OF PERICLES WAS ALSO THE AGE OF PHIDIAS. THE AGE OF LORENZO DE MEDICI WAS ALSO THE AGE OF LEONARDO DA VINCI, THE AGE OF ELIZABETH ALSO THE AGE OF SHAKESPEARE, AND THE NEW FRONTIER FOR WHICH I CAMPAIGN IN PUBLIC LIFE, CAN ALSO BE A NEW FRONTIER FOR AMERICAN ART. Letter to Miss Theodate Johnson, Publisher, Musical America, September 13, 1960

 I AM CERTAIN THAT AFTER THE DUST OF CENTURIES HAS PASSED OVER OUR CITIES, WE, TOO, WILL BE REMEMBERED NOT FOR VICTORIES OR DEFEATS IN BATTLE OR IN POLITICS, BUT FOR OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE HUMAN SPIRIT. On behalf of the National Cultural Center which would come to bear his name November 29, 1962 

TO FURTHER THE APPRECIATION OF CULTURE AMONG ALL THE PEOPLE. TO INCREASE RESPECT FOR THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL, TO WIDEN PARTICIPATION BY ALL THE PROCESSES AND FULFILLMENTS OF ART — THIS IS ONE OF THE FASCINATING CHALLENGES OF THESE DAYS." The Arts in America,” Look, December 18, 1962 

THIS COUNTRY CANNOT AFFORD TO BE MATERIALLY RICH AND SPIRITUALLY POOR. State of the Union Message, January 14, 1963

 I LOOK FORWARD TO AN AMERICA WHICH WILL REWARD ACHIEVEMENT IN THE ARTS AS WE REWARD ACHIEVEMENT IN BUSINESS OR STATECRAFT. I LOOK FORWARD TO AN AMERICA WHICH WILL STEADILY RAISE THE STANDARDS OF ARTISTIC ACCOMPLISHMENT AND WHICH WILL STEADILY ENLARGE CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL OF OUR CITIZENS. AND I LOOK FORWARD TO AN AMERICA WHICH COMMANDS RESPECT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD NOT ONLY FOR ITS STRENGTH BUT FOR ITS CIVILIZATION AS WELL. At Amherst College, October 26, 1963

 I LOOK FORWARD TO AN AMERICA WHICH WILL NOT BE AFRAID OF GRACE AND BEAUTY. At Amherst College, October 26, 1963"

I am hoping all of you, Dear Readers, can read and understand this.
And I would love to hear from all of you, all over the world, 
to hear your thoughts on this matter.

Global Around Town - Anniversary & Award

Hello again Dear Friends.

I've been very bad.

I've been procrastinating.

You see

it was on

 December 12, 2008

that the first edition of

Global Around Town

hit the stands.

And this is the first chance I've had

to thank you for accompanying me

on the first year

of this journey.

So to you I say

Happy Anniversary!

And I hope that you're up for

our continued travels

and exploration of The Arts.

My intention in all of this has been to preview events in the Arts

so that you too might enjoy & experience them as I do.

Following are a few of "My Favorite Things" from this past year:

For the first edition we traveled to Paris

for the premier of Richard Dubugnon's Violin Concerto

performed by Janine Jansen with Esa Pekka Salonen and Orchestre de Paris.

We traveled to Copenhagen

to celebrate one of the

Fathers of Scandinavian Design: Arne Jacobsen.

In Rome

we went to hear -

"A Secret Rose: Concerto for 100 electric guitars Orchestra Contemporanea,

conducted by Rhys Chatam, a multimedia event. Described as "an imaginary jam session with John Cale, Tony Conrad and the Ramones".

Last Spring we took in the tulips in Amsterdam

with trips to The Cobra Museum for all the brilliant works of Jorn, Appel, and Alechinsky.

We dined on rijsttafel at Sama Sebo and enjoyed fine cigars at Hajenius.

In Milan,  when we took a break from all of the great Art & Design,

we shopped and dined at Carla Sozzani's

10 Corso Como

while reveling in

The Manifesto Of Futurism

1. We want to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and rashness.

2. The essential elements of our poetry will be courage, audacity and revolt.

3. Literature has up to now magnified pensive immobility, ecstasy and slumber. We want to exalt movements of aggression, feverish sleeplessness, the double march, the perilous leap, the slap and the blow with the fist.

4. We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing automobile with its bonnet adorned with great tubes like serpents with explosive breath ... a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.

5. We want to sing the man at the wheel, the ideal axis of which crosses the earth, itself hurled along its orbit.

6. The poet must spend himself with warmth, glamour and prodigality to increase the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements.

7. Beauty exists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character. Poetry must be a violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man.

8. We are on the extreme promontory of the centuries! What is the use of looking behind at the moment when we must open the mysterious shutters of the impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We are already living in the absolute, since we have already created eternal, omnipresent speed.

9. We want to glorify war — the only cure for the world — militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas which kill, and contempt for woman.

10. We want to demolish museums and libraries, fight morality, feminism and all opportunist and utilitarian cowardice.

11. We will sing of the great crowds agitated by work, pleasure and revolt; the multi-colored and polyphonic surf of revolutions in modern capitals: the nocturnal vibration of the arsenals and the workshops beneath their violent electric moons: the gluttonous railway stations devouring smoking serpents; factories suspended from the clouds by the thread of their smoke; bridges with the leap of gymnasts flung across the diabolic cutlery of sunny rivers: adventurous steamers sniffing the horizon; great-breasted locomotives, puffing on the rails like enormous steel horses with long tubes for bridle, and the gliding flight of aeroplanes whose propeller sounds like the flapping of a flag and the applause of enthusiastic crowds.

In Barcelona we celebrated the birth of Mies van der Rohe

 

with a visit to his

 

Barcelona Pavilion.

 

We continued our celebration with trips to

 

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia,

 

dinner at the magnificent

 

Jean Luc Figuera,

 

and chocolate and more chocolate

 

at

 

"The Christian Dior of Chocolate"

 

Cacao Sampaca.

 

 

 

I've tried to bring great films to your attention, and to point out what a great job

 

Film Movement  does. 

 Lucky to have attended the US premier of

 

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

 

I brought that to you immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've tried do bring great literature your way...

 

 

 

 

 

and great painters 

 

with works by Mary Hambleton & Ken Buhler.

 

You were curious about...

Some of

My Works

 And of course there's been plenty of great Music!

 
 

 

And the FOOD!!!!!!

We've dined at many of the finest restaurants in the world.

Shared menus...

... and a recipe or two.

Who could forget my brother's famous

Pineapple Coconut Matzoh Farfel Kugel?

Contributions by the ever generous and completely indefatigable

Global Around Town Senior Travel Correspondent

Doug Wingate

have been nothing short of immense!

Traveling like a spinning top,

almost non stop,

(I'm wondering where he is now)

he brought us:

 Dining tips from Honk Kong

Theatre in NYC

Trips to India, Nepal, Bolivia & Peru...

Thanks Doug!

Global Around Town Senior Music Correspondent

Don Yaffe

assisted with his ruminations on Django Reinhardt.

Creating and working on this blog has been an amazing experience.

I have learned a ton.

At times it has been terribly frustrating.

Most of the time, sharing this beauty, is very meaningful and fun for me. 

Where else could I hope to share this amazing pick up line that I may one day use?

 In Subiela's great film  

The Dark Side of the Heart

the protagonist Oliverio approaches a woman in a bar

with this:

"I don't care if a women has breasts like magnolias

or like dried out prunes.

 

Or skin like a peach,

or like sandpaper.

 

I could care less if in the morning her breath is like an aphrodisiac,

or if it's like an insecticide.

 

I'd be more than willing to accept a nose

that would win first prize at a carrot show.

 

But there's one thing.

 

I'm very strict about this.

 

I will not permit, under any circumstances,

a woman who can't fly."

Where else but on my very own little blog can I point out little delicacies like that?! 

And it seems that

there have been many of you out there

 and around the world

who have enjoyed and participated in my folie,

 Global Around Town.

I have worked with 

and met many amazing people from all over.

In particular,

Lala, of My Castle in Spain

and

Willow, of Life at Willow Manor

have been great sources of love, support, & inspiration.

Thank You Girls!

Ah yes...

and thanks  for 

The Beautiful Blogger Award! 

It's nice to know that someone out there is sharing this experience 

and appreciates my aesthetic. 

Thank you all for joining me this past year.

I hope you will continue along this path with me as we seek

The Most Exciting Events in the World of the Arts.

All the best,

David

Shall We Kiss?

With all my friends

 either heading to 

or returning from Paris

right now,

I decided on taking a romantic little trip there as well.

Settled into my comfy couch last night 

I viewed 

Shall We Kiss?, 

a cute little gem, 

the answer to which is a resounding,

Mais oui!

Certainement!

Stephen Holden 

described 

Shall We Kiss?

as a

"mouth-watering Gallic soufflé" . 

And I say... 

Isn't it time for dinner?