“The US Marines in charge of tracking down antiquities of Iraq’s National Museum say their search is “being hampered by strained relations between the US marine corps and officials of the Iraqi National Museum. The marines, who have been given responsibility for finding the missing treasures, say the staff are not cooperating. Colonel Matthew Bogdanus, who commands the taskforce conducting the search, said the officals had yet to provide an inventory of the museum’s possessions. Without that it was impossible to establish how much had been stolen. Baghdad is awash with people offering antiquities, real and fake, to foreigners. In the markets, at street corners and roundabouts, statues and seals said to be more than 5,000 years old are on offer.”
Blog
Is The Chicago Symphony’s Plight Dire?
Jeremy Grant reports that the Chicago Symphony’s financial fortunes are precarious and worrisome. “Due to factors mostly out of [music director Daniel] Barenboim’s control, the CSO faces possibly the most serious financial crisis in its 112-year history. With the US economy in recession, ticket sales are flat and subscriptions are falling. Plunging stock market values have eroded the value of the orchestra’s endowment fund and new corporate and individual sponsorships have all but dried up. This year’s budget is likely to balance, but only because of a one-off draw-down from the endowment. Management predicts the orchestra is likely to swing into a deficit of about $4m-$5m (£2.5m-£3.1m) next year, having slumped to $6.1m in 2002.”
First-Editions Of New Harry Potters Found In Field
Two abandoned first-edition copies of the forthcoming new Harry Potter installment have been found in a field in Suffolk. “The books, found without covers, were dedicated to JK Rowling’s husband, Dr Neil Murray, 37, and her two children, with the inscription: ‘To Neil, David and Jessica who make my world magical’.”
San Francisco Music Scene Dies Off
“After more than a quarter-century of being one of the centers of the pop music world, the famous San Francisco scene has crumbled. While underground rock still percolates in warehouses and lofts around the Bay Area, this insular constituency breeds few mainstream breakouts. For years, the Bay Area music industry nurtured a steady procession of new and exciting rock talents – from Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead to Metallica and Green Day. Today, what’s left of the local industry has disappeared into a crater left behind by the dot-com crash and struggles of the recording business. The dissolution of the area’s music scene has occurred for two reasons: the economic hard times besetting the record industry as a whole, and the creation of new technology that has made recording studios all but obsolete.”
Is Bureaucratic Bungling Destroying Prehistoric Lascaux Paintings?
The prehistoric caves at Lascaux have pictures painted 17,000 years ago. “Because the cave had been naturally sealed for millennia, the paintings were freshly preserved in vivid yellows, reds, and blacks. But in its April issue, the respected French science magazine La Recherche sounded an alarm, announcing that thanks to bureaucratic incompetence a good part of Lascaux may be permanently destroyed. In a story headlined ‘Lascaux, the big mess,’ it reported that the site has been suffering devastating damage from a reinfestation of fungi and bacteria for almost two years – since September 2001. One hundred fifty of the world-famous paintings have developed mold.
See The Concert, Buy The Music
Clear Channel, which dominates the American radio business and is also a major concert promoter, is offering a new deal – go to the concert, then five minutes after it’s finished, buy a recording of the concert you just heard. “Although initially modest, involving only small-audience clubs and theaters in the Boston area, the venture could eventually extend beyond radio and concerts into music distribution. And that could prove troubling to critics, who already complain that the company’s rigidly formatted radio stations prevent diverse artists from reaching the airwaves and that its dominance of the concert business too often forces touring acts to accept unfavorable deals.”
High-Tech Archaeological Vandalism
“Most of the ancient artwork carved and painted into the rock walls and boulders of America’s West survived for thousands of years in quiet obscurity. But technology has changed that. These days, art that once took years for a person to stumble upon can be quickly pinpointed with a GPS, and discoverers can post the coordinates on the Internet. That leaves the ancient, priceless art vulnerable to what the Bureau of Land Management calls ‘digital vandalism.’ A quick peek at the Internet auction site eBay confirms the sites are being plundered and sold piecemeal.”
Leonardo On TV – We Hardly Knew Ye
A BBC series on Leonardo da Vinci was a lot of sizzle without giving away much about who Leonardo really was. “Ever since the 15th century, it sometimes seems, programme-makers have been trying to fit art on to the small screen. Art is not natural television, as nature is. Few of us are ever likely to see the worlds revealed by the Blue Planet in any other way. We all, however, can go to an art gallery. As for seeing the Mona Lisa, we can hardly avoid it. So a programme about art needs a lot of insight and originality.”
Americans Say Only 38 Artifacts Stolen From Iraq Museum, Not 170,000
American investigators who compiled an inventory over the weekend of the ransacked galleries have concluded that 38 pieces of art are missing from Iraq’s National Museum, not the 170,000 that had been reported stolen or broken. “The inventory, compiled by a military and civilian team headed by Marine Col. Matthew Bogdanos, rejects reports that Iraq’s renowned treasures of civilization – up to 170,000 artifacts – had been lost during the U.S.-led war against Iraq. It also raises questions about why any of the artifacts were reported missing.”
NPR Offers New Classical Music Service
National Public Radio has teamed up with KUSC in Los Angeles and CPRN in Colorado to begin offering a new classical music service. “NPR will offer the service to its 732 member stations, 472 of which already carry classical music. “We’re giving them more to work with. The service’s economy of scale will enable even small outlets to have high-quality announcing and programming.” The music service will compete with existing networks produced by Minnesota Public Radio and Chicago’s Beethoven Network.