“Gustavo Dudamel, a 25 year-old Venezuelan with a film-star look in his eyes and the physical stature of Paul Newman without heels, has been storming concert halls on scant rehearsal this past year as a last-minute substitute. He helped the Philharmonia out of a hole at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, deputised for Esa-Pekka Salonen and Zubin Mehta in Switzerland and Israel and went on air worldwide by stepping in for Neeme Järvi at the BBC Proms. He’s smart, he’s cute and, in case you’re getting interested, he has just married a ballet dancer, Eloisa Maturen. All the right moves, in just the right order, and backstory to break hardened hearts.”
Blog
Overlooked – The Piano Duo
“Nobody overlooks the qualities of a lone pianist, or the importance of the pianist in a trio. But when it comes to the pianist in a duo, the public seems to suffer from piano blindness.”
A Royal Collection No One Sees
Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Collection of art is vast. “It has 7,000 paintings, 500,000 prints and 30,000 watercolours and drawings. Apart from these few rooms off Buckingham Palace, you can also see parts of the collection in the other Queen’s Gallery at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and in the various royal palaces that are open to the public. But this is a fraction of the whole. Furthermore, it remains unclear precisely what is in the collection, and where it is displayed (or not). There is no publicly accessible inventory of the Royal Collection.”
Sotheby’s: Our Price, Guaranteed
Sotheby’s is increasingly offering guaranteed sales prices to sellers. “If a picture sells for more than the guaranteed amount, the auction house keeps the extra money. If a picture doesn’t sell, the house risks losing all or part of the guarantee if it can’t resell the picture for enough money later.”
Smithsonian Investigating Sales Division Salaries
“The Smithsonian’s Office of the Inspector General is looking into the executive compensation and accounting practices of Smithsonian Business Ventures, the division of the institution that operates its retail and publishing enterprises.”
SF Ballet Loses Some Stars
San Francsico Ballet is losing some of its biggest stars. This week, principal Yuri Possokhov, a “towering figure on the Opera House stage since 1994”, said he will retire from the company in July. “They are dropping like worn-out toe shoes over on Franklin Street. Two of the most memorable members of the corps are also leaving this year — Amanda Schull and Megan Low.”
Trying To Unravel Greek Antiquities Seizure
Last week Greek authorities seized 300 illegally acquired artifacts on a remote island. “Last week’s discovery was one of the biggest illegal antiquities cases in recent years, and police suspect international smuggling rings were involved, Greek culture minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said. However, he said there was no evidence yet supporting media reports of a link between the police raids and a dispute between Greece and the Getty Museum. Greece is seeking the return of four ancient artifacts from the museum, arguing that they were illegally exported.”
Today’s TV: Show Me The Money!
The most popular TV shows in America right now are all about money. “Some media observers say these shows succeed, in part, by exploiting the economic anxiety in society today. Shaky pensions, mounting medical co-payments, rising gas prices and seemingly endless downsizing in the American workplace can leave consumers — and TV viewers — longing for a show-me-the-suitcase-of-cash solution.”
ReganMedia Departs NY For LA
Publisher Judith Regan is moving her operations to Los Angeles next month: “New York is like a bad relationship that you can’t get out of, because you still think the sex is good. Well, I think the sex is pretty good in L.A. too!”
US Funding For Deaf Theatre Ends
The funding, which came from the Department of Education, was canceled in late 2004 when an earmark for cultural experiences for the deaf was struck during the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities in Education Act. The money itself stopped coming to deaf theater groups last year. “We don’t know exactly why it was removed,” a department spokesman, Jim Bradshaw, said Tuesday by e-mail. “An explanation does not appear in the legislation’s report language. About all we can tell you is that since it was an earmark outside of the department, we defer to Congress’ judgment on this.”