Music critic Tom Service packs off to conducting school. How hard can it be? “As a critic, I’ve spent years talking about what conductors do, blithely assessing their interpretations, gestures, and podium antics, as if I knew how to do it better. Of course, with the virtual orchestra of my imagination, I can kid myself that I do, but what the course made me realise is just how hard it is to communicate your intentions to a group of musicians.”
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The Ubiquitous Muzak
“Muzak began recasting itself in the mid-1980s and got a radical makeover when it relocated [to South Carolina]from Seattle in the late 1990s. Today its “audio architects” blend art and science to deliver original-artist music from Mozart to Gwen Stefani that fits the bill for some 400,000 clients from Dunkin’ Donuts to Bank of America. Muzak owns publishing rights to some 1.5 million songs.”
Shakespeare – Sold For $5 Million
A rare folio of complete Shakespeare has sold for $5 million. “London dealer Simon Finch Rare Books purchased the book — still in its original 17th-century calfskin binding — during a sale at Sotheby’s. The book is one of about 40 complete copies known to exist and one of the few in private hands. Its value was estimated at between $4.6 million and 6.4 million.”
Greece To Close Ancient Theatres
Greece’s two main ancient theatres will be closed in August for urgent repairs, the Greek government has announced. The theatres are used for performances and the crowds have worn down and damaged the ancient sites.
Unknown Shelley Poem Surfaces
A 200-year-old poem by Shelley had been found. “The 172-line poem was included in Shelley’s pamphlet Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things, which was printed in Oxford in 1811. The political work was never published again and its existence has been doubted by some until now.”
European Court Nixes Mega-Music Deal
A European court has reversed approval of a merger of two of the world’s largest recording companies – Bertelsmann and Sony. “The Court said regulators had not adequately shown that the 2004 deal would not hurt competition. The merger created the world’s second-biggest record label.”
Enough With The Hallelujahs Already!
Leonard Cohen’s mournful paean to music, “Hallelujah,” has been around for more than two decades now, but filmmakers and TV producers just can’t seem to get enough of it. Chris Hewitt loves the song, but wouldn’t mind never hearing it again as an all-purpose backdrop to some melodramatic plot twist that could have stood on its own. “Great as it is, the song has become the musical equivalent of a tube of toothpaste. Each time it’s used, it becomes a little emptier, a little less effective.”
How Two Guys Sold Scam Art On eBay
“Their method was simple. They bought cheap paintings at estate sales, antique shops, small auction houses and even garage sales, then turned around and offered them for sale on eBay. They bid against each other (shill bidding) to drive up the prices and wrote descriptions of the art that suggested the sellers didn’t know the extent of the “treasures” they owned. They listed art under a wide range of user IDs (legitimate) and complimented each other’s false practices (illegitimate).”
The Movie Reporter Becomes Playwright
“Retired New York Times Hollywood correspondent Bernie Weinraub this week won the NYC Stellar Network’s competition, 2006 PLAYS IN PROGRESS, an opportunity for emerging playwrights to gain exposure among top theater industry professionals.”
Adele’s New Home
Conventional wisdom these days says that art unfairly looted by invading armies (especially Nazis) should be returned to its rightful owner and country of origin, no matter the consequences. So it was that Gustav Klimt’s famous portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer was removed from Austria’s National Gallery and returned to the model’s heirs last year. Rather than keep the painting, however, the family promptly took it to auction, where it sold for a record $135 million. Now, one of the most famous paintings in the world is hanging in a New York businessman’s Fifth Avenue gallery, 4000 miles from its Austrian home.