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Collecting Hitler

It’s a fairly well-known fact that Adolf Hitler started out as an artist. It’s also fairly well known that he wasn’t a very good one. But that hasn’t stopped the market for authentic Hitler artworks from booming. “Isn’t the business of collecting the personal effects of Nazis – even their artwork – rather questionable?” Of course it is, and most art dealers won’t go near the stuff. But for the “narrow band” of collectors who are interested, price (and geo-political baggage) seem to be no object.

Musical Education or Indentured Servitude?

“The last bars of Ravel’s Bolero had just died away to applause, but when conductor Volker Hartung tried to return to the stage for an encore, dozens of police officers blocked his way. To the shock of spectators, Hartung was led from the concert hall in handcuffs. The German maestro spent the next two nights in jail as investigators questioned him for allegedly violating French labor law in a case that suggests the European dream of free movement of goods and services remains a long way off… Ever since that February 2005 night at Strasbourg’s Palais de la Musique, Hartung and his orchestra have been embroiled in a costly and time-consuming legal mess… French and German unions say Hartung is exploiting young musicians from Eastern Europe and Russia, and the German union went so far as to call work in Hartung’s orchestra ‘a kind of modern slavery.'”

Those Crazy Swedes

In what must surely be one of the oddest pairings in awards history, Sweden’s prestigious Polar Music Prize will be shared this year by conductor Valery Gergiev and rock band Led Zeppelin. The winners, who will be honored by Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustav in May, share a love of dramatic performance techniques, a worldwide following, and not a whole heck of a lot else.

Crescent City’s Arts Scene Slowly Reemerging

There’s no question that New Orleans’ cultural scene has been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. But Harry Shearer sees signs of life from the city’s artists, even if the money needed to rebuild the big institutions isn’t there yet. “There are messages everywhere of resilience and defiance, of bringing the city back. Live Music is Back!, says one poster. Another announces a series of poetry evenings in a Quarter bistro. When all else is stripped away, the capital-unintensive arts endure, as does the place’s irreducible eccentricity.”

Proving, Once Again, That People Love Free Concerts

13,000 people packed the Mall in Washington, D.C. last weekend to watch a simulcast of Washington National Opera’s production of Porgy & Bess on a huge, 18-by-32 foot video screen. “When Angela Simpson sang Serena’s lament ‘My Man’s Gone Now,’ the applause was thunderous. And the cheers were repeated for almost every song from Indira Mahajan as Bess and Gordon Hawkins as Porgy. And for once, the cheers and the notes weren’t trapped by the chandeliers of the Opera House but floated off into the blue sky over the Mall.”

The Spoils of Victory

The best part about winning a major literary prize is usually the increased sales that go along with the honor. And this year, the candidates for Canada’s Giller Prize have even more reason than usual to lick their chops at the prospect of a win. This year’s shortlist is jam-packed with authors most of the public has never heard of, and such little-known writers are traditionally the ones who benefit most from the exposure a major award affords. Publishers are gearing up for tomorrow night’s announcement as well: the winner will see an immediate additional print run of 20,000 copies, to be on shelves within two days.

Another Candidate Pulls Out Of The Race In Cleveland

One of the leading candidates to replace Katherine Reid as director of the Cleveland Museum of Art has withdrawn his candidacy. Charles Venable, deputy director for collections and programs at the museum, apparently withdrew from consideration last week, though he hasn’t said why. Venable is the second potential director to duck out of the search – in September, the director of Atlanta’s High Museum also said he would no longer be a candidate.