Aurelia Butler

More stories

  • 88 Shares159 Views

    in Music

    What if Orchestras Were More Like Netflix?

    As subscriptions face an uncertain future, classical music could look to the membership models of streaming services and gyms for inspiration.Perhaps you spend your mornings at the gym, working out with the help of a playlist on Spotify. In the evening, you wind down with Netflix or a movie on Max. As you go to bed, you might even open a meditation app to help you fall asleep. Then you wake up, and do it all again.A routine like that is built on memberships that provide unlimited access to something for a monthly fee, and are tightly woven into our lives in part because they’re convenient. (Dangerously so: I’m far from alone in having realized too late how many free trials have turned into valves quietly hoovering up money from my bank account.) Why, then, have they not caught on in classical music performances?The model could go something like this: You pay a monthly membership fee to your local symphony orchestra that entitles you to attend however much you’d like. As with a gym or a streaming service, some people may go often; some, not at all. Regardless, the orchestra receives steady revenue, and you have full control of your calendar, with the ability to make plans even the day of a performance.While a handful of orchestras have experimented with this model, it hasn’t become standard because most institutions already have a long-established ticketing program they prefer: subscriptions. In that system, people are sold packages for a season, which involves planning evenings out up to a year or more in advance. This works for those who like to go on the same night of the week, or sit in the same seat. Orchestras, in turn, are provided with financial security.According to the League of American Orchestras, subscriptions have bounced back from a pandemic slump strongly enough that they grew by 7 percent from 2019 to 2024. Administrators, however, have long been anxious about the future of the subscription model. Less than a decade ago, the League itself commissioned a study that revealed subscriptions were not only in decline, but also out of touch with how people plan and purchase entertainment today.The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, shown performing in April, was an early adapter of the member model. “There just aren’t that many people in April who want to commit to concerts from September to June,” the ensemble’s leader said.Claire Loes for the St. Paul Chamber OrchestraWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 100 Shares189 Views

    in Movies

    At Telluride, Experimental, Topical and Sometimes Crazy Movies

    A documentary made with Legos and a biopic starring a CGI monkey showed alongside films about abortion restrictions and other subjects in the news.As the 51st edition of the Telluride Film Festival came to a close on Monday, the films seemed to sort themselves into two categories: experimental or topical. The documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville and the musical director Michael Gracey each took big, ambitious swings to tell the stories of Pharrell Williams and the British pop star Robbie Williams (no relation). One used Legos. The other a CGI monkey. Other filmmakers turned the lens on issues in the news like transgender-care laws, abortion restrictions and further matters facing voters in the November election.And as always, conversations swirled around what will and will not go the distance to the Oscars in March.The director of Telluride, Julie Huntsinger, told the media at the start of the festival on Friday to prepare themselves for some crazy movies (though she used a more colorful term). It was less a warning than a promise, and it was followed by Neville’s film “Piece by Piece,” which was filmed entirely with Legos, depicting pop and rap superstars like Jay-Z, Missy Elliott and Pharrell Williams.“What if nothing is new?” Williams says in the glossy depiction of his life, due in theaters Oct. 11. “What if life is like a Lego set and you’re just borrowing from everyone else?”Later that evening Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”) relied on the magicians at Weta FX to depict Robbie Williams as a monkey, an approach that allowed the audience to “see Robbie as he sees himself,” the director told the crowd. Robbie Williams compared the experience of debuting his story to being “like an 11-year-old who’s having the best day possible.”“Piece by Piece” uses Legos to tell the story of Pharrell Williams.Focus FeaturesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 75 Shares169 Views

    in Music

    The Timely Dude-ology of MJ Lenderman

    The in-demand sideman and Wednesday guitarist sharpens his tragicomic musical portraiture on a new solo album, “Manning Fireworks.”MJ Lenderman has been traveling light. In a London Airbnb on a recent afternoon, the 25-year-old rock musician (the MJ is for Mark Jacob; friends call him Jake) had a day off from his summer European tour with the band Wednesday, with plans to catch a screening of “Alien: Romulus.” Asked if he’d picked up any souvenirs on his travels, he searched his luggage, producing just a Nature’s Bakery fig bar and a bottle of tequila.“I tend to not buy things on tour,” he said on a video call, dressed in a T-shirt with the logo of a friend’s record label (Sophomore Lounge). And the success of Wednesday’s most recent album, “Rat Saw God” from 2023, has kept him on the road. The LP, earmarked by his laconically fierce guitar and the frontwoman Karly Hartzman’s vivid storytelling, elevated the band to a new tier. Lenderman’s guitar and vocal harmonies are also prominent on “Tigers Blood,” the acclaimed LP by the kindred Southern indie rock act Waxahatchee, particularly on its single “Right Back to It,” his standout duet with the singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield.This Friday, Lenderman releases his latest solo album, “Manning Fireworks,” doubling down on his skills as a singer-songwriter frontman — skills on striking display on the single “She’s Leaving You,” a Neil Young-style country-rocker involving an unfortunate character who evidently discovers that what happens in Las Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas. Opening on the withering couplet “You can put your clothes back on/She’s leaving you,” it accrues comically damning details on a downward spiral that resolves with an incongruously anthemic chorus. “It falls apart,” Lenderman drawls, offering cold comfort over a terrifically catchy hook, “We all got work to do.”The combination of humor and poignancy — John Prine was a master of it — is a trick few songwriters can pull off. Lenderman can. “I tend to like that in the stuff that I consume,” he said, listing some creative touchstones. “Larry Brown — I’ve read most of his books. Harry Crews. Certain filmmakers, like Todd Solondz. The Coen brothers. I love David Berman’s songwriting. Will Oldham. Bill Callahan, too; his lyrics are super airtight. I’ve been obsessed with ‘37 Push Ups’ — it’s an old Smog song. Whatever that character is, is kind of a blueprint for the kind of characters I like to write about.”Lenderman’s new solo album is a flipbook of misshapen masculinity, toxic and otherwise.Erin Brethauer for The New York TimesOn “Manning Fireworks,” those characters might be described as Questionable Dudes. “Wristwatch” is a droll sketch of a braggart inspired, Lenderman explained, by Andrew Tate and “this idea of alpha males gaining popularity. People spend thousands of dollars thinking they can learn how to be the ‘perfect man’ or something. It’s embarrassing.” Lenderman describes the lyrics of the title track as “kind of a laundry list of what makes this character a jerk,” one that builds from the couplet “One of these days you’ll kill a man/For asking a question you don’t understand.” The album is a flipbook of misshapen masculinity, toxic and otherwise.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 125 Shares199 Views

    in Movies

    George Clooney Talks About Biden and ‘Wolfs’ With Brad Pitt

    He also addressed the release plan for his new movie, “Wolfs,” co-starring Brad Pitt.Midway through a Venice news conference for the crime caper “Wolfs,” one reporter told George Clooney that she would ask the question on everyone’s minds.“That I look so good up close?” Clooney quipped.Though the 63-year-old was certainly sporting a nice tan, the big question wasn’t about his movie-star looks or even about “Wolfs,” which premiered Sunday evening at the Venice Film Festival. Instead, Clooney was asked about the effect of a July 10 guest essay he wrote for The New York Times Opinion section that called on President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to step down as the Democratic nominee.At the time, it was considered one of the most high-profile examples of Hollywood’s big-donor class losing confidence in President Biden after his debate against Donald J. Trump in June. Some journalists in the Venice press room applauded Clooney at the mention of his influential essay, but the star demurred. “The person who should be applauded is the president, who did the most selfless thing that anybody’s done since George Washington,” Clooney said about President Biden, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee for the Democratic Party in late July. “All the machinations that got us there, none of that’s going to be remembered and it shouldn’t be. What should be remembered is the selfless act.”Alluding to the ascension of Harris, Clooney continued, “I’m very proud of where we are in the state of the world right now, which I think many people are surprised by. And we’re all very excited for the future.”Still, that wasn’t the only tricky question Clooney had to field during the news conference. Co-starring Brad Pitt, “Wolfs” is an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser — the two actors play rival fixers who must reluctantly work together to cover up a crime scene. The movie was originally earmarked for a wide release in theaters before debuting on Apple TV+. But after the streamer endured a recent run of theatrically released flops like “Argylle” and “Fly Me to the Moon,” that plan was significantly cut back.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 113 Shares189 Views

    in Music

    Antônio Meneses, Lyrical Brazilian Cellist, Is Dead at 66

    He began playing as a child and quickly found success for his technical command and, as one critic put it, his “thoughtful elegance.”Antônio Meneses was 10 when he and his four brothers were recruited for the Rio Municipal Theater Orchestra. Their father, a French horn player in Rio de Janeiro, decided that his children should play string instruments to increase their employment odds.By the age of 24 Mr. Meneses had exceeded his father’s expectations: He had won two major international cello competitions, including the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and was on his way to making recordings of Brahms and Richard Strauss with Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. He was later recruited by Menahem Pressler to become the last cellist in the late 20th century’s greatest piano trio, the Beaux Arts Trio.Mr. Meneses, who became one of his generation’s premier cellists and an important figure in the musical life of his native Brazil, died on Aug. 3 in Basel, Switzerland. He was 66.His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his agent, Jean-Marc Peysson. The Brazilian news media said the cause was brain cancer.With his serious, concentrated playing, his singing tone, his sure technique and his absolute dedication to the musical text, Mr. Meneses marked himself as a musician’s musician.He was sought after by conductors like Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado and Andrew Davis, and by recitalists like the great Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, with whom he recorded Brahms and Schubert, as well as the pianist Cristina Ortiz, his compatriot, with whom he recorded a memorable Villa-Lobos disc.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 125 Shares179 Views

    in Music

    Pete Wade, Guitarist on Countless Nashville Hits, Dies at 89

    His clean tone and less-is-more approach made him a studio stalwart and a pioneer of what came to be known as the Nashville Sound.Pete Wade, a prolific and versatile Nashville studio guitarist who played on scores of blockbuster hits — including Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms” and Sonny James’s “Young Love,” two of the most popular country records of the middle to late 1950s — died on Wednesday at his daughter’s home in Hendersonville, Tenn., near Nashville. He was 89.His daughter, Angie Balch, said the cause was complications of hip surgery.A member of the loose aggregation of top-flight session musicians known as the Nashville A-Team, Mr. Wade played on numerous records regarded as classics. Among the best known were Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City” (1968), Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden” (1970), Crystal Gayle’s “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” (1977), George Jones’s “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (1980) and John Anderson’s “Swingin’” (1983).All five of those records were No. 1 country hits; “Brown Eyes” and “Rose Garden” also won Grammy Awards and crossed over to the pop Top 10. “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” another Grammy winner, was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2008.“Pete Wade treated all of them the same way,” the music journalist Peter Cooper said, referring to the many artists Mr. Wade accompanied, at an event celebrating his legacy at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016. “He listened, he comprehended, he added what would help, and he left out anything that would distract or water down.”Mr. Wade in 1954, the year he moved to Nashville. Soon after arriving, he joined Ray Price’s band, the Cherokee Cowboys; he went on to work with Mr. Price on and off for almost a decade.via Country Music Hall of Fame and MuseumAn empathetic musician whose clean tone and less-is-more approach lent themselves equally to rhythm and lead playing, Mr. Wade, who also played fiddle, bass and steel guitar, had a special affinity for collaborating with steel guitarists.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 188 Shares109 Views

    in Movies

    The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Disney+, Max, Hulu and More in September

    “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,” “A Very Royal Scandal,” a “Walking Dead” spinoff and “Agatha All Along” arrive.Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of September’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)New to Amazon Prime Video‘A Very Royal Scandal’Starts streaming: Sept. 19Earlier this year, Netflix debuted a movie called “Scoop,” about the complicated negotiations that led to Prince Andrew’s headline-making 2019 interview with BBC Two’s “Newsnight,” covering his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The three-part mini-series “A Very Royal Scandal” tells the same story in a little more detail, with a screenplay from Jeremy Brock (the co-writer of “The Last King of Scotland”). Michael Sheen plays Prince Andrew, while Ruth Wilson plays Emily Maitlis, the interviewer, who kept pressuring the prince with follow-up questions, asking him to account for all the time he had spent with Epstein over the years.Also arriving:Sept. 10“The Money Game”Sept. 24“Evolution of the Black Quarterback”Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier in “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol.”Emmanuel Guimier/AMCNew to AMC+‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol’ Season 2Starts streaming: Sept. 29When this spinoff of “The Walking Dead” was first announced, it was supposed to be the story of the soulful hunter Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and his hard-edge pal Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) venturing into new territories together in a zombie-ravaged world. But when that territory turned out to be Europe, McBride had to drop out for what was described as logistical reasons. Her Carol made a cameo at the end of Season 1 though; and she is now on board for Season 2 (as well as an already announced Season 3). This new season will find Carol searching for her friend in France, while Daryl reluctantly gets more involved with the twisted political situation overseas, trying to help some good people make things better.Also arriving:Sept. 6“The Demon Disorder”Sept. 7“All You Need Is Death”Sept. 12“The Tailor of Sin City”Sept. 13“In a Violent Nature”Sept. 16“Candice Renoir” Season 10Sept. 20“Dandelion”Sept. 26“Wisting” Season 5Sept. 27“Oddity”Sept. 30“The Bench” Seasons 1-2We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 113 Shares129 Views

    in Music

    Fatman Scoop, a D.J. and Rapper, Dies at 56

    He was at the Hamden Town Center Park in Hamden, Conn., when he collapsed onstage on Friday night.The rapper Fatman Scoop, whose hoarse and booming voice brought an electric energy to songs by Missy Elliott and Mariah Carey, and who performed the underground club favorite “Be Faithful,” died after collapsing onstage during a performance on Friday. He was 56.A statement from the rapper’s family posted to his Instagram account confirmed his death but did not provide a cause. The post described him as “the undisputed voice of the club” and as a performer with an infectious stage presence.A video taken at the concert, at the Hamden Town Center Park in Hamden, Conn., appeared to show people performing CPR behind equipment on the stage.Lauren Garrett, the mayor of Hamden, said that paramedics had attempted lifesaving measures.Fatman Scoop, whose birth name was Isaac Freeman III, rose to prominence and international recognition after the song “Be Faithful,” in which the rapper performs over beats by the Crooklyn Clan, became the No. 1 single on the U.K. Billboard singles chart in 2003, more than four years after the track’s initial release.The song, which primarily samples “Love Like This” by Faith Evans, is a constant thrum of bass lines and lyrics from Fatman Scoop as he works to hype up a crowd.“You got a $100 bill get your hands up; you got a $50 bill get your hands up” are the opening lines to the track that goes on to rhythmically instruct a crowd to make noise.Questlove, the drummer for the Roots and the author of “Hip Hop Is History” (2024), wrote his appreciation on social media for the song and Fatman Scoop: “I want to thank FATMAN SCOOP for being an embodiment of what hip-hop was truly about,” he wrote. “To just forget about your troubles and live in the moment and allow joy in.”Fatman Scoop was born on Aug. 6, 1968, and grew up in Harlem, learning the art of hip-hop from his peers and those already making noise in the scene.“I am a disciple of Doug E. Fresh,” Fatman Scoop said in a 2023 interview with Urban Politicians TV, speaking of the New York City rapper who is also known as the Human Beat Box. “He was the neighborhood star.”“Everything that I learned, pretty much, I learned from Doug,” he added.Fatman Scoop was formerly a D.J. on Hot 97, an FM radio station in New York, which described him as a “legendary hype man and radio personality” in an online tribute. It said he helped usher a digital era for the station, bringing a video camera to what had been strictly a radio operation.Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.Missy Elliott recognized his impact in a tribute on social media on Saturday, saying “Fatman Scoop VOICE & energy have contributed to MANY songs that made the people feel HAPPY & want to dance for over 2 decades.” More