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CATEGORY : [] 2024/03/29 20 : 34
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[PR]上記の広告は3ヶ月以上新規記事投稿のないブログに表示されています。新しい記事を書く事で広告が消えます。



Does This Mean Goldman Sachs Will Sell Stradivari Bonds?
CATEGORY : [News Articles] 2008/11/21 23 : 07
Financial Instruments
by Daniel Menaker
November 24, 2008
The New Yorker



Mark Ptashne, a molecular biologist in his late and skeptical sixties, is a precisionist in everything he does. For example, he won the Lasker Award for discovering exactly how genes are turned off and on. He owns a Gyro Swing golf club, which whirs as it responds to his swing and vibrates when he doesn’t keep his left arm in the right position. And—his great passion in life—he owns and plays and lends out violins, two of which are artifacts of the most exacting craftsmanship. He began playing during his adolescence. “They say you can’t really learn at that age,” he said. “Like so much else ‘they’ say, that’s bullshit.” He has made a creditable CD to prove it. And he started a company, Genetics Institute, mainly in order to make enough money to buy one of his treasures—a Guarneri del Gesù. He now owns quite a few other fiddles yet is at pains to make it clear that he is not a collector but a musician and a devotee.

Both treasures—the Guarneri and a Stradivarius—were just lying out there the other day on top of a piano as Ptashne took a living-room practice golf swing. Lying there like hats or remotes or what-have-you. The Strad had seen action the night before at, of all places, the Blue Note, the jazz club in the Village. Luke Bulla, the fiddler in the band led by Jerry Douglas, Dobro virtuoso, was playing it. It had been lent to him, he said, by Ptashne, through a network that involved someone’s brother-in-law. After the session, backstage, Mr. Bulla offered up the violin to hold. But the offeree, who has a very bad history with expensive wineglasses and vases, declined. This same offeree had recently read an article about violins being an excellent financial bet. Given our tempora and mores, he got curious about whether he had just seen the, um, soundest investment of all.

Arguably, he had. During the market upheavals of recent weeks, spot gold prices bobbed at around eight hundred dollars per ounce. The best Stradivarius violin, on the other hand, could have gone for something like seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars per ounce. That’s twelve million dollars for an avoirdupois pound of wood, if you want to be crude about it, and why shouldn’t you, these days? In this and in other ways, the great violins are, ounce for ounce, among the most valuable commodities in the world. There is even a Web site called stradivariinvest.com. Almost alone among investments, important violins have proved immune to economic downturns. Auction prices for Stradivariuses have increased from about two hundred thousand dollars in 1980 to about three million dollars today.

The person who provided those numbers is Stewart Pollens, who runs a business called the Violin Advisor and used to be a conservator of fine instruments at the Metropolitan Museum. “As opposed to paintings and other works of art, there are no fads here,” he said last week. “Artists can be in or out. Few people want to acquire a gigantic Mother and Child oil these days.”

But, like most violinophiles, Pollens, who is married to the violinist Stephanie Chase, cannot really see the instruments in quite the same light as, say, wheat futures. And that’s the problem with violins as a market. Those who, like Ptashne, buy them because they love them often can’t bear to sell them. “What am I going to do?” he had said in his living room. “The money is basically locked up.” He put the Gyro Swing aside and played a little Bach on the Stradivarius on which Mr. Bulla had played a Bill Monroe tune just the night before. And then a little more Bach on the Guarneri—darker and more rustic in tone. It was melancholy music, as if to mourn a world in which not enough is not for sale.



Copyright: The New Yorker @http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2008/11/24/081124ta_talk_menaker
PR


こめんと [ 1 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
Thomas Adès Breaks The Law
CATEGORY : [News Articles] 2008/11/21 23 : 01
15 illegal minutes with Thomas Ades
By Lawrence A. Johnson
Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 5:34 pm

South Florida Classical Review





It is almost nine o’clock on the east coast, and three hours earlier in Los Angeles. Thomas Ades has just finished a rehearsal with the L.A. Philharmonic, and the Englishman widely regarded as the most brilliant composer of his generation says that he is nervous.

About being interviewed? “No, I’m nervous because I’m afraid of getting busted for speaking on the phone,” he says with a laugh. Ades is referencing California’s recently enacted ban on using cell phones while driving. “I’m talking to you in the car and I shouldn’t be doing it. I have to keep an eye out for cops.”




>> →つづきはこちら:Click here for the rest of article

こめんと [ 0 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
Changing The Culture Of Perpetual Crisis
CATEGORY : [News Articles] 2008/11/21 22 : 56
Symphony plays on despite tough times

November 20, 2008
Liz Monteiro
RECORD STAFF


WATERLOO REGION

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony needs to come up with new ways to raise money rather than relying on "crisis fundraising,'' says the orchestra's executive director.

Genevieve Twomey told the Waterloo Region Record's editorial board yesterday that the symphony will continue to maintain its programming during the economic downturn.

"The economy is presenting us with a challenge,'' she said.

Twomey said the history of the symphony has been one of crisis.

"We can't operate in the way the symphony has operated in the last five years,'' she said. "We have to operate differently.''

Two years ago, the symphony was the verge of bankruptcy. A community-wide campaign raised $2.5 million and saved the symphony.

At the symphony's annual general meeting earlier this month, numbers showed the symphony was ending its fiscal year with a loss of $275,000.

Tickets sales in 2008 were down over $170,000 from 2007. Also, the symphony's endowments are down by $77,000.

"We are cognizant that we have a deficit,'' Twomey said.

"I acknowledge the history of the symphony. It's part of the organization we are today,'' she said. "But we need to move forward.''

Twomey said the local symphony is the largest regional orchestra in Canada. It has 52 musicians.

"We spend a lot of time talking about finances. We need to talk about music,'' Twomey said.

Twomey said music director Edwin Outwater has "invigorated" the orchestra's music programming. The community's confidence has grown since Outwater came to the symphony, she said.

"People are engaged by him,'' she said.

lmonteiro@therecord.com


Copyright: The Record @http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/446967

こめんと [ 0 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
修士号取得ですっ!
CATEGORY : [College] 2008/11/19 20 : 57
2007年9月〜2008年8月の修士課程中、まったくジュギョウのことやコースのことを、こちらには記載していませんでした。Mixiには大分愚痴やらいろいろダークなことを書いていましたが…。


が、なにわともあれ。
本日、英国時間15時半過ぎ、ニッポンよりメール有り。



無事、修士課程取得しましたっ☆



先週あたりから、欧州勢を中心に各地から聞こえてくる朗報にビクつく毎日。
が、ついに実家に封筒がきました。

手に汗をにぎり、送られてきたPDFファイルをオープン…
成績、びっくりです。
ありえないぐらい良い最終論文成績に本人、今だ疑心暗鬼です。
あれで74%は考えられません。
「ロンドンの父」にハルマゲドン級の大感謝。
proof-readingをしてくれた彼の「エイゴ的貢献」のおかげです。
音楽学部の成績もなかなか良かったですけど、他はまぁスレスレの55%前後。

誰よりも喜んでくれているのは、ロンドンの父。
小躍りしてくれてます。
我が両親(実親)は「なんかすごく点数低いけど、大丈夫なの?」

、、、、、え、えくすきゅーず み〜?

電話越しに、イギリスの大学成績評価制度の説明をし、71%以上とることが、どんなに大変なことかを力説し(ってゆーか、我が母校が甘過ぎたんですよ。)、一問一答式じゃなくて血反吐路を吐く想いで書いた論文のすごさを力説し…。

でも、、実父「へぇー。」
そして、実母「ふーん。」


もう、いいです。
君たちに理解してもらうのを、娘は諦めました。
卒業式に来ると張り切る実母です。
ロンドンの父と一緒に参列してください。


ああああああああああああ。
卒業式、着物着ちゃう、under ガウン?(気が早い。)

祝わないといけません。
Bond Streetの近くの日本食屋でお寿司食べないとっ!
ピカデリー界隈の老舗ステーキ屋に行かないとっ!

でも、何故か胃が痛い…
なにを精神的圧迫に感じているんでしょうか、my胃腸。


最後に。
修士課程中、遠くに近くに支えてくれた皆さん、本当に有難う。
本当に本当に本当に有難うございます。


以上、「世界の中心で喜びを(無音で)叫ぶ」wackyでした(笑)




こめんと [ 2 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
Louvre opens galleries for first time to musician -- Pierre Boulez
CATEGORY : [News Articles] 2008/11/14 22 : 44
Nov 6, 2008


PARIS (AFP) — For the first time in its history, the Louvre museum Thursday opens its doors to a musician, France's renowned contemporary composer and conductor, Pierre Boulez, giving the classical arthouse a modern touch.

To the French, the 83-year-old supremo of serial, experimental and electronic music born in the central Loire valley is what the Japanese call "a living national treasure", celebrated for his unique contribution to music and to intellectual life since the 1950s.

Scheduled to run until February 9, the show titled "The Louvre Invites Pierre Boulez" gathers together art and music in a medley that includes an exhibition, 11 concerts, six filmed concerts and talks.

Curated by the maestro himself, the art show titled "Work:Fragment" gathers 70 works by artists such as Ingres, Cezanne, Degas, Delacroix, Kandinsky, Klee, Giacometti and Picasso alongside scores from Wagner, Bartok and Varese and works by writers from the 19th and 20th centuries.

"Modernism is based on the fragment," Boulez told AFP, pointing to a 1952 nude sketch by De Kooning, "while previously this would have been considered a preparory draft."

The sketch, one of a series of "Women", showed "something that hasn't yet taken shape but is on the way," Boulez added.

Also rarely on public show are Russian-born Stravinsky's first drafts of "The Rite of Spring", a work from the 20th-century composer often conducted by Boulez -- which he said underlined "the chronological anarchy of invention."

In a hallway, Boulez enthusiasts can stop to listen to his 1996-1998 work "Sur Incises" for three pianos, three harps and three mallet instruments.

Boulez, who began composing at 23 and was influenced by Olivier Messiaen, was one of the leaders of a post-war movement to greater abstraction and experimentation in music and in 2002 won the Glenn Gould Prize for his contributions.

But he has also directed some of the world leading symphony orchestras and ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, and is currently Conductor Emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Visitors to the Louvre show will be treated to live concerts including a free December 2 performance featuring Boulez conducting Stravinsky's "The Firebird".

The modernist master also joins a debate with architect Jean Nouvel, this year's winner of architecture's top prize, the Pritzker, on the building of a Paris Philharmonic Hall, due to be opened in 2012.


Copyright: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIVDu8PVir97KPJTy00t2NeXBp0g

こめんと [ 0 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
The Rise and (Potential) Fall of Philanthrocapitalism
CATEGORY : [News Articles] 2008/11/14 22 : 37
PHILANTHROPY
The Rise and (Potential) Fall of Philanthrocapitalism

Billionaires brought their business sense and ambition to charitable giving. Now what?


By Georgia Levenson Keohane
Posted Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, at 6:42 AM ET




Talk about unfortunate timing. With the global economy reeling from the excesses of Wall Street, Mathew Bishop and Michael Green give us the incredulously titled Philanthrocapitalism: How the Rich Can Save the World. Bishop, the chief business editor at the Economist, first described how the barons of the new economy were revolutionizing philanthropy by applying their business principles—and sweeping ambition—to their charitable endeavors in 2006. Now he has teamed up with Green, an international development expert, to chronicle how this "movement" of philanthropists has "set out to change the world." The world is indeed changed: This gilded age has come to an abrupt and hard stop, and with it, perhaps, has come a tempering of irrational exuberance about the potential of outsized philanthropists to be, in Bishop's words, "superheroes for solving some of society's problems."

Bishop and Green offer an exceptional synthesis of the influence of the private sector on the field of philanthropy, and this book should be required reading in any MBA or public policy program. But the authors fail to probe some hard questions thoroughly enough: Is the "new" philanthropy really even "new"? And is the private sector the best exemplar of corporate governance, accountability, or long-term investment savvy—particularly when it comes to complex and persistent social and economic problems? With the pillars of global capitalism quaking and government bailouts that will, inevitably, limit public spending for social needs, these are more than academic questions.

In their engaging—if incomplete—history of philanthropy, the authors cite the influence of Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth, in which he described the rich as merely stewards of their economic surplus and advocated giving wealth away in one's lifetime, rather than leaving it to heirs. The Gospel has inspired tycoons from John D. Rockefeller, the world's first billionaire, to philanthrocapitalist par excellence Bill Gates, who received a copy from Warren Buffett. So, what, exactly, is philanthrocapitalism, and how does it differ from the philanthropy of those earlier titans of industry? First, the scale is unprecedented. The wealth creation of the last quarter-century—adjusted for historical inflation and the recent collapse—dwarfs any other period in history. At the start of 2008, the United States claimed 1,000 billionaires and the world 2,500. And charitable giving in the United States has increased accordingly, more than doubling from $13 billion in 1996 to nearly $32 billion in 2006. Second, this wealth has been created by entrepreneurs in tech, finance, and other industries who now channel their energy, drive, and principles to philanthropic endeavors. According to Bishop and Green,

philanthrocapitalists are developing a new (if familiar-sounding) language to describe their business like approach. Their philanthropy is "strategic," "market conscious," "impact oriented," "knowledge based," often "high engagement," and always driven by the goal of maximizing leverage of the donor's money. Seeing themselves as social investors, not traditional donors, some of them engage in "venture philanthropy." As entrepreneurial "philanthropreneurs," they love to back social entrepreneurs who offer innovative solutions to society's problems.




To read the rest of article, go to <http://www.slate.com/id/2204525/>


Copyright 2008 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC










こめんと [ 0 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
A Disappearing Number
CATEGORY : [Theatre/Musical] 2008/11/11 21 : 10
2008.10.25
19:45
Barbican Theatre


"A Disappearing Number"
Complicite





少し前ですが、去年見逃してしまったコンプリシテ(日本語だと、テアトル・ド・コンプリシテとも呼ばれます)の「A Disappearing Number」を観に行きました。Upper Circleの安い席でしたが、舞台はなかなかよく見えました。

この作品は、2008年オリヴィエ賞(Olivier Award)や2007 Critics' Circle Theatre Award、Evening Standard Theatre AwardでBest New Playに選ばれたりしている超注目作品です。

コンプリシテは、1983年に奇才Simon McBurney(現芸術監督)が、Annabel Arden、Marcello Magniと一緒に旗揚げをしたdevising companyです。Devisingというのは、improvisingと似ているようで、違うのですが、つまり、最初から固定の脚本などがあるわけではなくて、作品の制作過程で監督やスタッフ、役者が話し合いをしたり、ワークショップをしながら作り上げていくというスタイルのことです。Improvisingは、場当たり的な即興という意味が強いですよね。もちろん制作過程がimprovisingも取り入れられているとは思います。

日本でも、野田秀樹さんが文化庁の在外研修時代にコンプリシテで研鑽をつまれたとかで有名でしたが、最近は世田谷パブリックシアターにもよく来ているようです。野田さんと言えば、5月か6月にSoho Theatreでみた『The Diver』は本当に恐ろしいほど素晴しかったです。

さて、作品のストーリーですが、4人のメインキャラクターがいて、それぞれの人生での「数学」をめぐったお話です。いっても、かなり大雑把なので、以下、バービカンの公演情報より抜粋

Taking as its starting point one of the most mysterious and romantic collaborations of all time, this is a story about connections between ideas, cultures and times. In London a man attempts to unravel the secrets of his lover. In Bangalore a woman collapses on a train. In Cambridge in 1914 Englishman GH Hardy seeks to comprehend the ideas of the Indian prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan. A Disappearing Number weaves a provocative theatrical pattern about our relentless compulsion to understand.


(Copyright: Complicite)
上記写真をクリックすると、コンプリシテの『A Disappearing Number』のオフィシャル写真ページにとびます。


お話は、ケンブリッジ大学教授であるHardyの著書『A Mathematician's Apology』を取り巻くように進みます。数学には180度縁のない私でも読んでみたいなと思うぐらい、人間ドラマがリアルに伝わってきます。(と今、HardyのWiki日本語版を読んでいたら、オンライン(英文・pdfファイル)で読めるようです。)


バックの映像の使い方や、多面的な舞台の魅せ方は、さすがコンプリシテです。お話の練り込み方も、複雑なのに美しい織物をみているかのようでした。それから、インドの音楽というか音楽的要素もところどころにあり、あぁ上手いなと。最後に終わった時に、全部が1本のラインに繋がる感覚にはゾクッとします。


次回のコンプリシテのロンドン公演は、2009年1月末〜のバービカンでの『Shun-kin』です。谷崎潤一郎の『春琴』を題材に、世田谷パクリックシアターとの共同制作作品で、3月には世田谷パブリックシアターにもまた行くようです。なので、トウキョウ近辺の皆さん、ぜひチェックしてください。




こめんと [ 0 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
Yes We Can
CATEGORY : [Words] 2008/11/09 09 : 12
オバマ氏が勝ったアメリカ大統領選挙。
投票率は60%も超え、これはケネディの時を上回るそうです。

一時期は、ペイリンの投入で共和党マケイン陣営が連日メディアで大きく取り上げられ、流れが変わってしまうのかとも思いましたが、そのペイリンが色々と批判を受けるようになった最後の数週間。(なにせ、副大統領候補になってから衣装代やメイク代に15万ドルも計上したというんですから、ビックリです。)私はもともとペイリンのべちょべちょした声と話し方が、どうも嫌いで反ペイリンでしたし、彼女が闘ガン中マケイン候補に何かあった場合に「大統領になる」というのもあまりにもどうかと思っていました。

米国だけでなく、世界が黒人初大統領誕生に熱狂しています。
いささか奇妙にもみえるし、少し怖くもみえます。
もちろん、歴史的にこれが何を意味するのかを考えると、この大きな新しいエネルギーと人々への精神的な影響力というものは計り知れません。

オバマ氏の生い立ち、経歴、数々のスピーチ。
彼の新しいキャンペーン戦略方法。
彼に魅了される理由はいっぱいあります。

でも、何故こんなに人々の心に訴えてくるのか。
でも、何故こんなに人々はオバマに希望と夢をみるのか。


どこかの記事で、彼のスピーチは「テンポがいい」と読みました。
「Yes We Can!」に代表される彼のスピーチは、いつもとてもわかりやすいですし、言葉の組み合わせから生まれる語感がとても綺麗だと思います。(どんなことがあっても、ブッシュ大統領のような「ええ!?」というような英語の間違いはしないでしょう。)


というわけで、今日は選挙勝利日のシカゴでのオバマ氏のスピーチを載せたいと思います。

家族への言葉、キャンペーンマネジャーや関係者の言葉、マケインへの言葉。
そして、投票してくれた人びと、ボラティアへの言葉。

There are many who won't agree every policy and decision I make as a president. We know that the Government can not solve every problems. But I always want to be honest with you to the challenges we face. I will listen to you. .... I will hear your voice. I need you. And I will be your President.

Struggle and progress,
The time we were told we can't.
People were depressed with that american dream.
Yes we can....

The time women voices were silent and hopes were dismissed
She lived to see them stand up and reach for the better.
Yes we can....

A man touched down the moon.
A wall came down in Berlin.
The world is connected by all science and imaginations.
And this year, this election, she touched the screen and casted her vote
Because it's 160 years old in America it's the best of the darkest (....)
She knows how America can change.
Yes we can.





オバマ氏勝利に関したサイト&ブログで、オススメだと思う記事。

チーム・オバマが勝った夜 ー「他者を受け入れる」ことの強さ
from ビンボー留学便りのその後「LA・新米記者の奮闘日記」

Now comes the hard part for Barack Obama
from The Times Online

Obama: How Change Came to America (24ページ ePaper)
from The Times Online



こめんと [ 0 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
Remembrance Day
CATEGORY : [British] 2008/11/08 23 : 04
11日は「Remembrance Day(国民哀悼の日)」です。
戦争や軍事奉仕で亡くなった人への敬意を表し、追悼をするとても大切な日です。

この時期になると赤いポピーのバッジをつける習慣があって、今年は私もつけています。バッジは胸元につけられる紙で出来たものから、タクシーや車の前につけられる大振りのもの、アクセサリー風のものまでいろいろな種類があります。紙で出来たバッジは大抵は買うのではなくて、赤い羽根募金と同じように募金をすることで、街のいたる場所でもらえます。去年までは、英国国民ではないからと敬遠していましたが、今年こそは世界中で戦争や紛争にまきこまれて、亡くなっていった人たちに何か意思表示が出来るといいなと思い、思い切ってつけました。

今、11日を控え、BBC1でRoyal Albert Hallで行われている礼拝が放送されています。女王陛下を筆頭に王室各人、政府主要人、各英国軍部隊の代表、戦没者遺族、その他関係者が参列します。英国国教会が式典を礼拝形式で進めていきます。英国各地から聖歌隊も呼ばれています。
明日は、Remembrance Sundayで、Whitehall(Westminsterエリア)を中心にして、式典が行われます。



(Copyright: The Times Online)



先週は、All Saint's Dayで、同じようにコーンウォールにある大きな聖堂で行われた礼拝の様子が、BBCで放映されました。2000人はいるであろう大聖堂は、たくさんの合唱団でうめ尽くされ、厳かに、でもオルガンに率いられて、それは威厳ある力強い礼拝でした。


クリスマスも24、25日と同じように礼拝がテレビで放送されます。女王の国民に向けたクリスマススピーチも、毎年放送されます。



この様な式典をこうやって、TVで放送できるのは、英国が英国国教会を国教と位置づけているからこそなのでしょうが、これも英国の文化構築に大きな役割を買っているのではないかと感じます。外部からきた人間としては、こういう礼拝や式典などをみていると、英国らしさとは何なのか、何を「人々」が大切にしているのか、何が文化を形どっているのか、そんなことを垣間みるような気がします。






こめんと [ 0 ] とらっくばっく [ ]
ご無沙汰しています
CATEGORY : [おしらせ/Notice Board] 2008/11/06 08 : 04
長い間、更新をしていませんでした。

8月に修士論文を提出し、9月〜10月頭は日本に帰省し、修士課程中にお世話になった関係者の方々や業界関係者の方々にお会いしたり、お仕事をさせていただいたり、とにかく忙しくて友達にも満足にあえないまま、あっという間にロンドンに戻ってきました。

修士課程の結果は、今はまだ解りません。
どうか通過していますように、と祈るばかりです。

ロンドンで、フラフラしているわけではなくて、半分インターンのようなアルバイトを音楽系事務所でしています。でも、それだけで生活が成り立つわけはないので、修士課程予科時代に働いていた音楽配信会社へ復職して、さらに忙しいです。貧乏ヒマなし。

ロンドンにいつまでいるべきなのか、今後何をどうしていくべきなのか、自分の中での方向性を見失いつつあり、本当に不透明極まりない状態です。


でも、頑張らないといけない、というのだけは確かなので、もう一度出直したいと思います。





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