The Bamberg Symphony stages a conducting competition, but not just any conducting competition. “In Bamberg, the entire city searched along with the orchestra for a person with charisma, an ear for music and a clear beat, with unmistakable body language and a feel for the orchestra as a social system. Such an unruly concert as that which was performed on the closing evening of the competition to such an enthusiastic audience at the same time is probably only conceivable in such an environment, where almost 10 percent of the population has a subscription to the local symphony orchestra and the musical ensemble is visibly supported by the city as a collective.”
Blog
Architectural Frustration
A combination of budget constraints and public outcry have made the Art Gallery of Ontario’s expansion a shadow of what it was intended to be, says Frank Gehry, and though he’s committed to seeing the project through, he’s disgusted with what he sees as a Canadian unwillingness to take chances. “The thought of walking off the job at the AGO has crossed his mind. As somebody with profound childhood memories of Toronto, who first experienced art at the AGO, Gehry wants the building to be spectacular. But he shakes his head at his architectural ambition for Toronto.”
A Challenger To Chicago Lyric Opera Emerges
Chicago Opera Theatre was founded 30 years ago as n alternative to the Chicago Lyric Opera. But “with the appointment five years ago of former Glyndebourne chief Brian Dickie as general director, it has begun to offer productions with musical and theatrical qualities worthy of international attention. In its first season in the new, acoustically splendid, Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater, Chicago Opera fulfils its new promise with the much-belated Chicago premiere of Benjamin Britten’s 1973 Death in Venice.”
Gehry Does Hockey
Is there anything that Frank Gehry isn’t designing? Hot on the heels of his newest eye-catching building on the MIT campus, the über-architect of the moment has designed the trophy for the World Cup of Hockey, to be held late this summer in Minnesota. “The trophy is essentially a thin metal cup, made from copper and nickel, contained within a thicker, outer column of subtly swirling, clear plastic. It has the effect of a vase chilled inside a column of carved ice.”
Challenge To Archibald Portrait
A challenge has been filed against the winner of this year’s Archibald Prize for portraiture. The striking portrait done in graphite and charcoal of actor David Gulpilil that won the competition “has proven a crowd pleaser at the Art Gallery of NSW, also taking out the $2,500 People’s Choice Award last week. The Archibald bequest, however, states the prize had to be awarded to a painting.”
Huge Drop In US Book Sales In 2003
“With a struggling economy and competition for time from other media, 23 million fewer books were sold last year than in 2002, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Book Industry Study Group, a non-for-profit research organization. Sales fell to 2.222 billion books, down from 2.245 billion in 2002. The decline was in both hardcovers and paperbacks, in children’s books and general trade releases. Even sales of religious titles, often cited as a growing part of the publishing industry, were flat.”
FBI Investigating Axelrod’s NJSO Deal
“The FBI is investigating the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s high-profile purchase last year of Stradivarius violins and other rare instruments from Herbert Axelrod, the philanthropist who fled to Cuba in April after his indictment on federal tax fraud charges… At issue in the NJSO deal is whether Axelrod inflated the value of the stringed instruments… to make himself eligible for a large tax write-off. Axelrod, 76, claimed the strings were worth $50 million, a figure that has since been roundly questioned by violin dealers and appraisers. Axelrod ultimately agreed to sell the collection to the New Jersey orchestra for $18 million.”
Why Nazi-Looted Art Isn’t Being Returned
A couple of years ago, art looted by the Nazis was one of the biggest stories of the art world. “Yet, despite all the headlines, relatively little of this looted art has so far been restituted. True, it represents only a small proportion of what the Nazis stole from Jews. After World War II, hundreds of thousands of works were recovered by Allied forces and duly returned to their owners or their heirs.The issue today relates to art that was recovered but was not restituted and art that was resold during the war and ended up in museums and private collections. In theory, a structure is in place to address the problem.” But the reality…
Maybe A Set Of Handcuffs Would Help?
Why can’t classical musicians hold on to their priceless instruments? “In January, violinist Gidon Kremer left his $3-million Guarneri del Gesu violin on an Amtrak train. In 1999, New York police helped Yo-Yo Ma recover his $2.5-million Stradivarius cello after he left it in a New York taxi. And two years later, cellist Lynn Harrell also left his $4-million Stradivarius in a taxi, when he got out at his New York apartment.” Throw in the recent theft of L.A. Phil cellist Peter Stumpf’s $3.5 million cello, which he left overnight on his front doorstep, and the question has to be asked: are we really supposed to feel sympathy for such forgetful musicians?
It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane! It’s… a musical landscape?
A fleet of hot air balloons hovering over the UK city of Birmingham awakened residents this week with a specially designed “musical landscape… Although the music devised by sleep psychologists was designed to stimulate sweet dreams, balloon pilots watched residents run out into the street to observe the fleet hovering just a few hundred feet above them. The early morning stunt marked the launch of Birmingham’s bid for a share in a £15 million Arts Council fund for promoting cultural events, backed by Fierce!, an international festival of live art.”