Author: sbergman

The Best Laid Plans…

Kiri Te Kanawa’s farewell recital tour is causing major headaches in Vancouver, where venue problems have given way to waves of angry ticketholders who are only finding out this week whether their tickets will get them into Thursday’s or Sunday’s show. The Vancouver Recital Society is “desperately worried that a concert that sold out more quickly than anything in VRS history will wind up being a bust – with empty seats at both performances.”

Detroit Museum Returns Venetian Gem To Its Ceiling

“Tintoretto’s enormous ‘The Dreams of Men,’ one of the stars of the Detroit Institute of Art’s permanent collection, was reinstalled last month in a specially designed octagonal ceiling perch 24 feet above the ground. The painting — an oil on canvas measuring more than 12 feet long and 7 feet wide and depicting gods and mythological figures — was painted for the bedroom ceiling of a well-to-do Venetian merchant around 1550. More than 450 years later, the DIA has returned the work to its original ceiling orientation, offering Detroiters an exhilarating perspective that no other museum in the United States can match.”

Holocaust Photos Offer Chilling Counterpoint

A new collection of photos on display at the Holocaust Museum amounts to “a scrapbook of sorts of the lives of Auschwitz’s senior SS officers that was maintained by Karl Höcker, the adjutant to the camp commandant. Rather than showing the men performing their death camp duties, the photos depicted, among other things, a horde of SS men singing cheerily to the accompaniment of an accordionist, Höcker lighting the camp’s Christmas tree, a cadre of young SS women frolicking and officers relaxing, some with tunics shed, for a smoking break. The photos provide a stunning counterpoint to what up until now has been the only major source of preliberation Auschwitz photos, the so-called Auschwitz Album.”

Volkov To Depart Scotland

Conductor Ilan Volkov is stepping down from his role as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. “Volkov’s first child, Nadia, was born this August in Israel, where he is co-owner of a new music club. He will pursue a freelance career with orchestras like the Washington Symphony and the Czech Philharmonic as well as keeping ties to the BBC SSO.”

Tenure Scrap In Philly

Last season, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s new principal cellist, Hai-Ye Ni, was told that she was not being granted tenure by the orchestra, and would not be brought back for the 2007-08 season. It was a major blow for a cellist who has enjoyed a successful solo career and who had quit a section job with the New York Philharmonic to come to Philadelphia. “But a grievance was filed with the union, lawyers were called, conversations were had, and now she’s back. Music director Christoph Eschenbach has agreed to extend her stay, giving her another year of probation.”

New York’s Art Matriarch

“Each Sunday afternoon a motley queue of artists assembles outside an unremarkable house in Chelsea, New York. Once inside their work will be judged by the 95-year-old owner, Louise Bourgeois, the most eminent female sculptor alive… Visitors have been known to leave in tears after a terse critique. Bourgeois has been holding these salons for more than 30 years.”

The Booker Shortlist: A Judge’s View

The shortlist for the Man Booker prize is one of the most closely watched rankings in the literary world. But how is the list arrived at, and what behind-the-scenes debates lead to a shortlist like this year’s, in which prominent names are ignored in favor of rising young authors? “When five people have to agree on 13 books from a 110-strong original entry, there are bound to be casualties.”

Cronenberg Takes Top TIFF Prize

“Eastern Promises, a London-set thriller by director David Cronenberg, won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, which closed on Saturday after screening 349 films over 10 days. The award came with a $15,000 prize. The top Canadian award went to Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg.”