A NASA astronaut will be taking some music with her into space next month. And no, it’s not on an iPod. Stephanie Wilson, a lifelong fan of the Boston Symphony, approached music director James Levine about the idea of taking something symbolic into orbit, and wound up the recipient of a page from the conducting score of Beethoven’s 9th, signed by Levine and the musicians of the BSO.
Author: sbergman
Slutting Up Vivaldi
Was Vivaldi a preening sexpot who used his rock star-like fame to feed his voracious appetite for virginal teenage girls? Well… um, no, probably not, actually. But that first sentence grabbed your attention, didn’t it? So it’s no surprise that several recent books and an upcoming Hollywood “biopic” are using that same exaggeration as their main come-on.
Not Everyone Likes Cultural Exchanges
The simmering tensions between Iran and the West apparently aren’t limited to the geopolitical arena. This summer, after taking a German orchestra on a Mideast tour which included two concerts in Tehran, conductor Michael Dreyer received more than 100 irate e-mails from people who don’t approve of his efforts to reach across international boundaries with music. But he isn’t the only one making the attempt…
What Good Are Demos When So Few Are Watching?
TV networks may still covet the 18-to-49-year-old demographic, but the latest ratings show that huge numbers of Americans of all demographics are simply watching a lot less network TV, and that bodes ill for the traditional network model. “If you’re simply standing at the top of a boat that’s sinking, it might not be worth crowing too loudly.”
68 Groups To Get Cash From Cleveland Arts Tax
A cigarette tax approved last year by Cleveland-area voters to help fund the arts is expected to pull in $17m this year alone, and the money will be divvied up between nearly 70 local arts groups. “Seventy-two institutions submitted applications to a panel of nine arts and culture experts from outside Ohio, which convened this week and commented on the strengths and weaknesses of each application. Institutions qualified for support if they scored 75 or higher out of 100.”
Shakespeare Portrait Looking Like The Real Thing
“A portrait believed by its Canadian owner to be the only likeness of William Shakespeare painted in his lifetime got a major boost in its credibility this week when experts in the United States announced that the ink identifying the portrait as such dates back to the Bard’s era.”
New Leadership For PA Arts Academy
“The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has named both a new president/chief executive officer and a new museum director. Edward T. Lewis, 73, former president of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, will become president of the entire institution on Nov. 1. David R. Brigham, 43, an art scholar who was most recently executive director of the Allentown Art Museum, began work Monday as director of the academy museum.”
Working-Class Kid With A Posh Price Tag
The Broadway-bound musical version of Billy Elliot “which will open in the fall of 2008 at the Imperial Theatre, is budgeted at $18.5 million, making it one of the most expensive non-Disney musicals ever… One thing is clear: Broadway has turned its back on the working and middle classes. If you’re not rich, if you don’t have a loft in SoHo or a three-bedroom on the Upper West Side or a house in Westport, get lost, we don’t need you, you can’t afford us.” So it’s ironic that the story of a young working-class boy fighting to break free of his status should be so expensively embraced by the Broadway power brokers.
Queen-Sized Bed, Bath, Cable TV, And A Van Gogh
An innkeeper in France is attempting to raise $30m or more to purchase a Van Gogh landscape at auction. If he is successful, the painting would hang in the attic room where the painter died two days after shooting himself in 1890. “The plan is dismissed as a mad fantasy by some curators and art dealers,” but the innkeeper seems to be skilled at attracting backers.
Great Art, Yes. But Should It Really Belong To You?
When cosmetics heir Robert Lauder bought a Klimt portrait for $135m last year, it instantly made him one of the world’s most famous collectors. “But for some experts in Holocaust restitution research, the show raises another issue related to Mr. Lauder’s trove: He declines to issue documentation of his private collection for public scrutiny.”