Letters on Arts and Culture

Writers, biographers protest W.W. Norton’s decision to “permanently” remove Blake Bailey’s biography of Philip Roth from print

Tue, 04 May 2021 05:28:46 GMT

Bailey’s book, likely to be the standard work on Roth’s life for some time to come, has been “pulped” and its author turned overnight into a “non-person.” There is no precedent for this in recent times.

The contemporary relevance of Ludwig van Beethoven on the 250th anniversary of his birth

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 05:05:09 GMT

Beethoven was the most profound musical voice during a period in which humanity progressed in quantum leaps. His works are ineradicably connected with the striving for human liberation.

Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle—A remarkable exhibition

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 02:16:03 GMT

A timely and long overdue exhibition of Struggle: From the History of the American People reunites this remarkable series of paintings by Jacob Lawrence, the famed African-American artist, for the first time since they were completed in 1956.

German artists, cultural institutions fight for survival in COVID-19 crisis

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 04:02:39 GMT

German artists and cultural institutions fear bankruptcy and destitution as the coronavirus crisis deepens and the government refuses to allocate adequate funding.

Collected Ghazals: Poet Jim Harrison regains spontaneity through a fixed verse form

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 03:48:29 GMT

Harrison’s eclectic approach to the ghazal produced collage-like poems that combine personal and social concerns.

Right-wing press in Germany steps up attacks on pianist Igor Levit

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 02:57:16 GMT

The Süddeutsche Zeitung editorial board’s initial defence of its article, as well as subsequent articles in Die Welt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Neue Zürcher Zeitung, reveal that these leading newspapers share essentially the same line as the far right Alternative for Germany.

On the brink: A photographic examination of social cleansing in London

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 22:48:59 GMT

“My aim is to focus on existing council properties that have been neglected due to the lack of maintenance. It’s imperative to showcase the decay of these buildings as it’s been a deliberate strategy to run them down.”—photographic artist Sarah Douglas

Further signs of the “devastating impact” of the pandemic on arts and artists: What are the implications?

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 01:51:12 GMT

The ongoing destruction of the jobs, incomes and aspirations of tens of thousands of artists of every kind in the US and elsewhere has a significance that goes beyond the immediate cultural sphere.

Rick Poynor’s David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian: An important new work on the revolutionary socialist, artist and defender of historical truth

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 03:34:47 GMT

If David King is not better known, it is attributable largely to the shift to the right in so-called intellectual circles, their hostility to the October Revolution and their growing social indifference.

Live music industry in the US faces “massive collapse” due to pandemic

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 03:42:23 GMT

The devastation has implications that go beyond even the immediate economic situation, as desperate as that is. The coronavirus crisis is threatening to wipe out a considerable portion of cultural life in the US.

Tenor Placido Domingo, defending his character and reputation, retracts “apologies” for alleged sexual harassment

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Operatic tenor Placido Domingo told an interviewer for Spanish television last Saturday that his apologies last February for alleged sexual misconduct had been taken out of context, and that he was not guilty of abuse or mistreatment.

76 Days: The drama of the Wuhan lockdown

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 05:00:00 GMT

This year’s event presented some 60 feature films, a sharp decline from the more than 330 screened in 2019, with the festival organizers forecasting a 50 percent decline in revenue throughout 2020.

Ghosts of West Virginia: A moving new album by Steve Earle & The Dukes

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The album was created in conjunction with a stage play about the 2010 Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine explosion in West Virginia, which killed 29 coal miners.

Julian Bream (1933-2020): Pioneer of the classical guitar

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 05:00:00 GMT

A turning point for Bream was hearing recordings of Andrés Segovia (1893-1987), another great guitarist, whose transcriptions of Baroque compositions helped shape the modern repertoire.

Sinclair Lewis’s novel Main Street at 100

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 05:00:00 GMT

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Main Street, the breakthrough work of an author who would become, in 1930, the first American awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

American comic writer and performer Carl Reiner, 1922-2020

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Reiner may not be a name known by many under a certain age, but his influence and impact on American comedy and performance in the postwar period was considerable.

Season 4 of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why: Biting off more than it can chew

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The latest season is the final one in the series about the lives and difficult circumstances of a group of teenagers at fictional Liberty High School.

The coronavirus crisis, the government’s aid package and the attempt to strangle German art

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 05:00:00 GMT

On closer inspection, the German government’s aid package proves to be a sham and a step towards neutering and strangling a diverse cultural landscape.

Cultural resources wiped out by COVID-19 crisis: 13 percent of museums worldwide may never reopen

Wed, 27 May 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Some 95 percent of the world’s museums are currently closed, and more than 11,000 institutions may remain closed after the pandemic recedes.

The New York Times exposes journalist, #MeToo crusader Ronan Farrow as a dishonest fraud

Wed, 20 May 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Farrow has been the golden boy of the American media since the publication of his supposed exposé of Harvey Weinstein in the New Yorker magazine in October 2017.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters: One small step for Fiona Apple

Fri, 15 May 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The new album, which resonates during our time of quarantine, reflects the singer’s personal growth, as well as the regressive influences of her Hollywood-celebrity environment.

Classical musicians, orchestras and opera companies confront COVID-19 lockdown

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Freelance and younger musicians are especially hard hit by cancellations and shutdowns.

COVID-19’s devastating impact on artists

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Ninety-five percent of arts workers in the US have lost income due to the coronavirus pandemic, with 62 percent now unemployed, according to a recently published survey by Americans for the Arts.

Star Trek: Picard—The prospects of an aging icon

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Set late in the 24th century, Star Trek: Picard concluded its 10-episode season in March to generally favourable reviews, if a mixed reception from the faithful.

Detroit Symphony musicians to take 20 percent pay cut

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Orchestras, opera companies, museums and other cultural institutions face severe revenue strains due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are responding with major cuts.

Leading orchestras and musicians move to free online performances in response to the coronavirus pandemic

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Some of the most important cultural achievements of humanity, previously locked behind paywalls or limited to local audiences, are now available to virtually everyone in the world who has access to the Internet.

A comment by writer and director Andrew Birkin on Speer Goes to Hollywood

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The WSWS has received a letter from writer and director Andrew Birkin in response to its review, posted on March 11, of Speer Goes to Hollywood .

The controversy surrounding Jeanine Cummins’s novel American Dirt

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The novel American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, which describes the plight of refugees in Mexico, has come under attack primarily because its author is not Latina.

National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood—How the US military and CIA go about their propaganda operations

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The book, by Matthew Alford and Tom Secker, presents extensive evidence that US government departments and agencies use multiple means to manipulate content and even block production of Hollywood films.

2020 Academy Awards: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite from South Korea wins major awards

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Parasite deserved to win the most serious awards, being markedly superior to every other film up for consideration. Bong’s effort is a complex, troubling work.

Neil Peart, renowned drummer for rock band Rush, dead at 67

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Peart, the hard-driving drummer and lyricist of the Canadian progressive rock band Rush, died on January 7 at the age of 67.

Scott Z. Burns’ The Report exposes CIA torture, then absolves the Democrats

Fri, 29 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

The Report is a film dramatization of the events surrounding the US Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into and writing of a report on pervasive CIA torture under the Bush administration.

Modern-day philistinism and reaction: the New York Times considers “canceling” French painter Paul Gauguin

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

The Times published an article November 18 with a headline that posed the question, “Is It Time Gauguin Got Canceled?”

Michael Winterbottom’s Greed: A searing indictment of the super-rich

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Greed offers a sharp and often funny critique of the impact on society of rule by a criminal financial oligarchy and deserves a wide audience.

Striking Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians return to work, ending three-month work stoppage

Mon, 30 Sep 2019 05:00:00 GMT

The one-year contract signed last week accedes to management’s demands to cut the symphony’s summer season, while doing nothing to guarantee salaries.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood: Quentin Tarantino’s non-conformist conformism

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Tarantino’s latest film reimagines 1969 Los Angeles and the disintegration of the traditional studio system.

Modern art in Germany and the Nazis Part 2: The Die Brücke painters

Fri, 26 Jul 2019 05:00:00 GMT

The exhibition at the Brücke Museum represents a welcome change in favour of art appreciation based on a critical examination of contemporary history.

Racialism and money-grubbing: The New York Times explains why “more critics of color” are needed

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 05:00:00 GMT

In the interests of honesty, “Race-fixated upper middle class continues its campaign for positions and money” ought to have been the headline of an opinion piece published by the New York Times July 5.

Marching Song, play co-written by Orson Welles about abolitionist John Brown, to be published after 85 years

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Todd Tarbox has edited the play and Rowman & Littlefield will publish it in August. This is a significant cultural event. Marching Song is an important historical drama.

A conversation with Todd Tarbox, editor of Marching Song

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 05:00:00 GMT

David Walsh spoke recently with Todd Tarbox, who has edited and overseen the publication of Marching Song, a play co-written by Orson Welles in 1932 about the abolitionist John Brown.

San Francisco School Board votes to destroy left-wing murals they claim are “racist” and “white supremacist”

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 05:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday evening, the San Francisco Unified School Board voted unanimously to destroy or cover over the historic 1936 “Life of George Washington Murals” at a district high school. The vote is a reactionary decision that marks a new stage in the censorship drive that began last December.

San Francisco residents voice opposition to censorship of George Washington High School murals

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Numerous residents spoke out against the destruction of art and the need to contextualize the murals for a younger audience.

Behind the cover-up of the 2008 Universal Music Group vault fire

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 05:00:00 GMT

The recent exposure of Universal Music Group's concealment of the loss of a huge trove of postwar popular music reveals the corruption of the corporate elite, as well as the compliance of news media.

Mayor Emanuel intervenes to shut down Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 05:00:00 GMT

As part of his final act on behalf of the city’s financial elite, outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel has offered to intervene to end the nearly two-month strike by Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) musicians

Paper Flags, Tehran: City of Love and Belmonte—Alienation, loneliness and other problems

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Paper Flags, Tehran: City of Love and Belmonte—three films from France, Iran and Uruguay, respectively—were screened at the recent San Francisco film festival.

Warner Bros. CEO’s resignation sheds revealing light on Hollywood and #MeToo campaign

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Kevin Tsujihara, one of the American film industry’s most powerful executives, resigned March 18 after texts were made public indicating he had promised to promote an actress’ career in exchange for sex.

A reply to a comment on the obituary of Sri Lankan filmmaker Lester James Peries

Tue, 24 Jul 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Our basic objective was to examine Peries’s general contribution to Sri Lankan cinema and how he came to be known as its father.

A concert of relative rarities by American composer Aaron Copland

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Copland’s jazz-influenced Piano Concerto deserves a higher profile in the orchestral repertoire.

Stephen Parker’s Bertolt Brecht. A Literary Life—a welcome biography that raises big historical issues

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 05:00:00 GMT

One of the most talented and influential playwrights of the 20th century, Brecht adapted to Stalinism, with pernicious consequences for his career and work.

Professors’ group charges Obama administration with undermining academic freedom and due process

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 05:00:00 GMT

A report by the American Association of University Professors points to the reactionary role of the sexual harassment industry on university campuses.