Last fall, Thomas Oberender, tired of fighting for funding and prestige for his programming in a festival dominated by opera and classical music, announced that he was leaving Salzburg after this summer. But now that his nemesis, artistic director Jürgen Flimm, is moving on to Berlin, Oberender has changed his mind.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Television Stalwart Don Galloway, 71
The actor “played well-groomed, straight-arrow characters in myriad television shows and movies, most famously on the series Ironside, in which he was the sidekick of the wheelchair-bound detective played by Raymond Burr.” He was also a frequent guest star on more than 30 series over the years, “making him one of network television’s most familiar guest stars.”
Dallas Symphony Announces 2010 European Tour
“People in Europe are hearing nice things about us,” says new DSO music director Jaap van Zweden. “Whenever they ask me, I tell them how inspiring the orchestra, the hall and the people around us are. They would like to see for themselves.” Among the stops on the 10-concert tour are Birmingham, Manchester, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna and Cologne.
Italy Foils Major Art Theft
“Italian police have recovered 10 masterpieces, including a painting attributed to an artist who worked on the Sistine Chapel, that were stolen in 2004 from an ancient religious complex in Rome, officials said Tuesday… The works were wrapped in newspapers and hidden in the trailer of a suspected art smuggler, police said.”
Kansas City’s Kauffman Center Still Needs $60 Million
Even as architect Moshe Safdie’s performing arts center – the future home of the Kansas City Symphony, Ballet and Lyric Opera – rises atop a hill near downtown, ” the $405 million project is [only] 85 percent funded. Most the money that’s yet to be pledged is needed to build a $40 million endowment.”
Oliver Stone Chews Coca With Bolivian President
In a new take on cultural diplomacy, the ebullient noisy filmmaker “kicked a soccer ball and chewed coca leaves” with the Andean head of state yesterday. “Stone’s meeting with President Evo Morales is likely fodder for the director’s documentary on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Morales.”
George Steel To The Rescue At New York City Opera
Less than four months after taking the reins at The Dallas Opera, Steel – who made the Miller Theatre a major force in New York’s cultural life – is turning around and coming back to the city to lead its troubled second opera company.
Chicago Tribune Goes Tabloid
“The financially struggling Chicago Tribune will undergo yet another metamorphosis, announcing Tuesday that it will launch a smaller, tabloid-size version in an apparent bid to deliver a blow to the rival Chicago Sun-Times.” The new version, intended for newsstand sales, will carry the same content as the broadsheet edition, which will be available for home delivery only.
What Yahoo Needs From Its New Boss (Besides ‘Adult Supervision’)
Robert D. Hof says that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz should “nuke the current management structure once and for all” and focus on what the portal does best. “More than anything, Yahoo’s uniqueness lies in its unmatched collection of curated media properties, from Finance to Sports, that have large, loyal, and distinct audiences that advertisers still love.”
Orlando May Scale Back Performing Arts Center
“Mayor Buddy Dyer said today that city will look at both revamping the financing plan and scope of the performing-arts center and the Florida Citrus Bowl… The biggest challenge will be finding a new financing plan that doesn’t rely so heavily on the tourist tax, which is now in free fall.”