DAMAGED INSTRUMENTS

The Dallas Symphony got a rude surprise when they got off their plane for a European tour. Several of the orchestra’s instruments had been damaged in the cargo hold of the plane. “The basses had literally come unglued, apparently while stored in the un-air-conditioned cargo hold of an American Airlines Boeing 767 jet during a 3½ hour on-the-ground delay Wednesday night at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.” – Dallas Morning News

BASTARDIZING BEETHOVEN

Gustav Mahler was always after the bigger better thing. So when he rewrote Beethoven’s symphonies, he really believed he was making them better. “In the years since Mahler’s death in 1911, the ‘painted-over’ Beethoven editions have been largely ignored and so, for the most part, his acts of barbarism could only be read about and imagined. Starting Thursday, though, audiences at the Kennedy Center will have a rare opportunity to hear for themselves what all the fuss once was about.” – Baltimore Sun 09/03/00 

BASIC SERVICES

“Whether in the complexes built by labor unions, radical fellowships or the city’s Housing Authority, New York – uniquely among American cities – has for more than 80 years insisted upon culture as a part of the social compact, something as essential to the working class as affordable rent and medical care. Such ventures have proved essential to New York’s prominence as a cultural capital, while remaining oddly invisible – because few New Yorkers realize the vast extent of union developments or recognize that public housing here defies the stereotype of fetid, crime-ridden projects.” – New York Times 09/03/00 

ARTIVISTS IN SF

“The Bay Area – indeed, all of California – is under siege by nouveau- riche pilgrims who apparently have little use for indie rock, dance clubs, dance studios, alternative art galleries, underground theater or one-screen repertory movie houses. But San Francisco’s arts community isn’t taking this invasion lying down – unless one counts going limp during arrest.” – San Francisco Chronicle 09/03/00

RENOS THAT THREATEN

London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre is in dire straits. A £48 million refurbishment in 1998 is at the heart of the problem. The theatre in central London underwent a  in a project designed to create ‘Britain’s leading theatre for presenting dance’. But problems associated with the project not endanger the theatre. – The Independent

UNDERSTANDING MR. B

The Kennedy Center is throwing a Balanchine festival, featuring six companies dancing 14 ballets. “The festival does not claim to be as comprehensive as the New York City Ballet’s yearlong survey of Balanchine in 1994, or even a collection of seminal works. (His first great work, “Apollo,” is not on the schedule.) Rather, its distinction should lie in providing a new understanding of the Balanchine canon.” – New York Times

STICKING TO THE STORY

Choreographer Matthew Bourne created a sensation with his offbeat “Swan Lake.” Now he’s back with a new version of “Carmen,” which he’s renamed “Car Man.” “This time I wanted to do something dirty, earthy, tethered to the ground. At first I even thought of setting Car Man in a meat factory, with carcasses on hooks. The dancers here are playing real people. It’s like rehearsing with actors: we argue about their motives when I suppose we should be designing movements. But my skill is as a director of stories, not movement for its own sake. I’d get bored if I was doing abstract dance.” – The Observer (London)

MODERN WORTH

Old master paintings come to us with a history of consideration and validation. But what makes a piece of contemporary art a masterpiece? “To find out, ARTnews asked eight people, including art historians, museum directors, curators, and an artist, to discuss what they consider to be the greatest works of three pivotal artists of the last 50 years: Jasper Johns (b. 1930), Andy Warhol (1928-87), and Gerhard Richter (b. 1932). Each focused on one of the artists while sometimes commenting on the others.” – ARTnews