New Music reBlog: 2009 Salute To Idleness Vol.1

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December 31, 2009

2009 Salute To Idleness Vol.1

It’s the last day of 2009, folks! To be honest, it doesn’t feel all that exciting since for Miss Mussel (and, she suspects, most of you) the year begins in September when concert season starts up again. Nevertheless, it seems a small commemoration is in order if for no other reason than everyone else seems to be excited about it.

As such, Miss Mussel presents her 2009 Salute To Idleness

Here’s how it’s going to go down. Four posts have been queued up packed full of links, videos and other means of edification/distraction. Since productivity will drop to record lows as the day reaches its end, they have been arranged from brainy to silly. No one wants to read the Atlantic while they’re waiting for the final working minutes in 2009 to disappear into the hourglass.

Ok – here are a few links to get you started:

From the Plus ça change department: “François Mitterand’s motive in building the Opéra Bastille was essentially the same as the Duke of Mantua’s motive in staging Monteverdi’s operas, namely the representation of power….. Financial pressure has also been a constant, for opera is unusual if not unique among the arts in that its production costs invariably outrun income.” From Tim Blanning’s review of Daniel Snowman’s reportedly excellent new book The Gilded Stage: A Social History of Opera

Language: Yet Another Thing Ruined By The Middle Class – “People tend to go nuts around the English language. Of course, most of us are nuts anyway, but the language is always there, in the ether, or staring at us from a page, and if we’re feeling particularly cranky, it never fails to provide a ready excuse for us to fly off the handle.” Carolyn See reviews Lexicographer’s Dilemma in the Washington Post.