Herbert Axelrod, the New Jersey businessman famous for selling a collection of rare violins to the New Jersey Symphony, “pleaded guilty to a federal tax fraud count yesterday in a deal that spares the elderly millionaire from the threat of prosecution on a panoply of other dubious acts… The count, aiding and abetting the filing of a false tax return, carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, but prosecutors have agreed to seek a term of 12 to 18 months.”
Blog
Berlin Symphony To Go Private
Berlin’s cultural groups are struggling to stay alive. Now, “following the Berlin Senate’s decision this past summer to cut subsidies, the Berliner Symphoniker, the smallest of the city’s eight official orchestras, is looking to start anew — as Germany’s first private orchestra. In doing so, the director is hoping to return to solvency and set an example for Germany’s other struggling cultural institutions.”
FBI Recovers Stolen Art In St. Louis
About $2 million worth of art was found. “The art, which had been reported stolen on Oct. 13, included works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Willem De Kooning, Mark Rothko and others. It belonged to an out-of-state family that had stored the items in the St. Louis area, authorities said.”
Peter Hall Takes On A New Theatre
British theatre legend Peter Hall has a new challenge with a new theatre. “The burly, indefatigable and often outspoken father figure of modern British theatre, who created the Royal Shakespeare Company and then took the National Theatre to its present home on the South Bank and ran it for an often turbulent decade, has found a new berth in Kingston-upon-Thames.”
An Inspiration: Demand-Based Ticketing
A London theatre is trying a new ticket-pricing scheme. The earlier you buy, the cheaper your ticket. “For all 27 performances, the first 20 seats will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis at £10 each, the next 20 at £20 and so on, until only the final 20 seats are available priced at £30 each.”
BBC Makeover Begins
BBC director Mark Thompson shakes up the BBC, cutting thousands of jobs and relocating some staff divisions out of London. “Mr Thompson promised fewer repeats on BBC1, more money for high quality drama, comedy, news and current affairs and children’s programmes, and an increased focus on “distinctive” shows. Two and half thousand middle managers and support staff will be made redundant and a further 400 will go in the factual and learning division, the hardest hit by plans to outsource more programmes to independent producers.”
BBC Cuts Weigh Heavily
Morale at the BBC is at an all-time low. “Breaking the news of 2,900 job cuts, with thousands more to follow, and a 15% budget cut, Mark Thompson said the BBC’s “creative prize” came with a “price tag”. The move, aimed at boosting annual savings to £320m in three years, is being seen as the start of what is likely to be a frenzied period of horse-trading with the government before the renewal of the BBC’s royal charter in 2006.”
Good Foreign Movies Ineligible For Oscars This Year
Some of the best and most-popular foreign movies of the year are ineligible for foreign-language Academy Awards this year. “The main dispute centers on an old academy directive that allows overseas countries to submit only one film a year for Oscar consideration. Critics say the rule punishes prolific filmmaking countries such as Spain, which had to choose between two very strong contenders this year. The academy guidelines also ignore the boom in international co-productions, where any number of countries may join forces to make a single movie.”
Australia Council To Be Rethought
The Australia Council, the federal government’s main arts funding body, is being restructured. “On the chopping block are the council’s new media and community cultural development boards, which give grants respectively to artists working in new media, and with communities such as disadvantaged youth, prison inmates and the homeless. It is believed some of the operations of those boards will be handled elsewhere in the organisation. The restructure is the outcome of a six-month review of the council’s operations.”
Classical, Jazz Grammys Announced
The Grammy nominations are out In the classical categories, conductor René Jacobs and composers John Adams and Jennifer Higdon are among the most-cited. Jazz nominees include saxophonist Branford Marsalis, drummer Roy Haynes, and pianist Bill Charlap.