A Goya painting has been recovered in Montenegro. “The oil painting, Count Ugolino, had been lifted from a gallery in Turin, northern Italy, in December 2001. Goya’s work – which evokes a gory episode from Dante’s Inferno – was retrieved during a raid on a flat near the Montenegrin capital of Pogdorica.”
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Germany Remembers WWII In Its Art
It seems like there’s a memorial to war or the Holocaust on most streets in Berlin. “The Germans are correct in asserting that no other country has ever taken such a monumental (pun intended) step toward memorializing its own crimes. That’s just not what national memorials generally do. But Berlin is a city in which almost every street evokes complex historical events; Germany is a country rich with sites of its tragic past.”
Carlo Maria Giulini, 91
The conductor was music director of the Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. “Once, during a rehearsal with soprano Kathleen Battle, he left the podium and stood a few inches away from her face. “Your singing is very beautiful but your acting is too human,” he said, quietly. He wanted a “purely spiritual” effect. He proceeded to conduct her from a distance of six inches, and she sang like the angel he expected.”
Tearing Down Celebrity With A Simple Photo
The end of the Michael Jackson molestation trial sparked a predictable run of outrage in the tabloid papers which had already convicted the pop star in their pages. Phil Kennicott says that the use of celebrity photos to tear down individuals deemed to be too big for their britches has been elevated to a horrifying art form in recent years. “The camera is the weapon of last resort against celebrity. The camera is, of course, essential to the making of celebrities, but it can also break them with extraordinary speed and efficiency. The perp walk, the mug shot and photographs such as those [of Jackson] that ran yesterday are a populist scourge against people who are presumed to live by laws more lax and accommodating than those to which mere mortals are subject.”
Toronto Music School Hits Fundraising Target Early
Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music has reached its CAN$60 million fundraising goal early, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held this week for the school’s spectacular new Telus Centre for Performance & Learning. The early start was made possible when an elderly alumnus of the school chipped in an unexpected CAN$2 million gift to put the campaign over the top. The new building will provide the RCM with “two floors of academic space, more studios and classrooms, and state-of-the-art technology facilities.” A second round of fundraising, with a goal of CAN$25 million, will begin in the fall.
48 Hours Of Chaos, Beer, And Art
Call it a gimmick, call it a waste of resources, but there’s no question that the 48-Hour Toronto Film Challenge, which dares amateurs to put together a short flick featuring several mystery elements in only two days, is a hell of a good time for those involved. Unless, of course, you miss the deadline by five minutes…
The Show That Might Be Too Good For Broadway
“Is it too English? Will it be too expensive? Can they cast it? Will it resonate with Americans? These are the questions confronting the producers and creators of Billy Elliot as they contemplate a Broadway production of what critics [in London] are calling the best British musical ever… [The show] probably can’t be done for less than $12 million to $14 million and, with its large cast and crew, will surely have a weekly running cost of $600,000 or more… Casting is another issue. Child labor laws aren’t as strict in the United States as they are in England, but because of the physical demands of the show, [the UK director] says it’s essential to have three, ‘ideally four,’ Billy Elliots. Where to find them?”
How To Survive Russian Roulette
It was last November when first-year grad student Joseph Deutch pulled out a gun in his UCLA performance art class and proceeded to play Russian Roulette in front of his horrified classmates and professor. Since then, two tenured professors have resigned in protest of the university’s failure to immediately suspend Deutch, calling his actions “domestic terrorism,” and a full investigation has been completed by the school. But Deutch remains enrolled at UCLA, and the dean of students says that there are no plans to expel him.
It’s Awfully Big, But At Least It’s Canadian
Following the recently announced merger of Canadian cinema chains Cineplex Galaxy and Famous Players, 63% of Canada’s movie screens will be controlled by a single company, an unheard-of situation for a country that fanatically protects its native culture against incursions from Hollywood. But behind the deal is a single individual, 51-year-old immigrant Ellis Jacob, who has quietly risen through the ranks to become a major player on the international film scene. Jacob points out that while the merged company might resemble an American-style corporate monolith, it will also represent the first time that a majority of Canadian movie screens have been controlled by a Canadian company.
T.O.’s Power Plant Gets A New Sparkplug
“Sources close to The Power Plant, Toronto’s premier non-collecting showcase for cutting-edge contemporary art, confirmed yesterday that a search committee has picked Gregory Burke to succeed Wayne Baerwaldt as the gallery’s director. Baerwaldt, who came to The Power Plant in March, 2002, after running Winnipeg’s Plug In Gallery for 13 years, announced his resignation in February and completed his term in Toronto June 2. Burke is currently in Venice overseeing New Zealand’s participation in the city’s famous Biennale. He also was curator of New Zealand’s first-ever presentation at the Biennale, in 2001. For the last seven years he’s been director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth on New Zealand’s Northern Island.”