“The nonprofit secured the credit line with two sculptures by the late French artist Aristide Maillol displayed at the opera house, including the 62-inch bronze L’Eté (Summer) and the 69-inch Venus Without Arms … The Met had already pledged a pair of Marc Chagall murals to Bank of America before the credit line came up for renewal in August.”
Category: music
Fancy Feast For The Ears: Music Written Especially For Cats
“New research shows that cats do enjoy music; just not the stuff humans tend to pick. A team of psychologists at the University of Wisconsin created custom music designed to appeal to cats by mixing beats that fall into the same frequency range that cats use to communicate with one another. The songs also have a tempo similar to the beat that cats purr to.” (includes sound clips)
Remake Of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall Will Be Named For Geffen
“David Geffen, the entertainment magnate who has shaped cultural tastes in music and movies and holds one of the world’s leading art collections, is extending his reach into classical music with a $100 million gift that will renovate — and rename — Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.”
The Sad, Sorry Story Behind The Fraudster “Japanese Beethoven”
“The irony is that Mamoru Samuragochi didn’t have to lie. His story was compelling without embellishment. He was the child of Hiroshima survivors; he did have hearing problems; his brother did die young. If he and Niigaki had simply billed themselves as a team, they might have still shared fortune and fame. Instead, Samuragochi cultivated the image of a solitary genius.”
ASCAP Pulled In More Than $1 Billion In 2014
“ASCAP, the music licensing agency, is in one sense fighting for its survival, seeking to change decades-old rules to fit the economics of online music. In another, it is finding ways to distribute more money than ever to its thousands of songwriters. … [Last year was] the first time that ASCAP or any organization like it has raised so much.”
And Then There Were None (New York’s Last Sheet Music Store Closing)
Frank Music has been struggling for years, as music became readily available online, said Heidi Rogers, the shop’s owner. “We went from seeing 15 to 20 people per day to seeing two or three,” Ms. Rogers said on Monday. “I went from feeling like I was at the center of the world to feeling invisible.”
Simon Rattle Appointed Music Director Of London Symphony Orchestra
“The conductor will take up the appointment in September 2017, following in the footsteps of principal conductors including André Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Colin Davis and the current incumbent, Valery Gergiev, who is heading to the Munich Philharmonic.”
Here’s A Provocative Essay About Reasons For Decline Of Classical Music
“To gain a proper and complete understanding of what we call “classical” music is to appreciate that it was all written within the context of societies which were predominantly Christian in nature, and where celebrations of traditional national attributes were not seen as old-fashioned or backward-looking as they often are today.”
In St. Paul: How A New Hall Redefines An Orchestra
“It’s the sound equivalent of what happens when curators at museums do that very careful cleaning process of old masters’ paintings and the colors become more vibrant and you can see all sorts of detail.”
Have We Just Found The Next Terrific Woman Conductor?
Mark Swed: “Word was out. The hall sold out. Presenters from Chicago, New York and elsewhere came to check her out. Managers who didn’t were simply not paying attention. The debut was a preview. Mirga mania can now officially begin.” (What’s more, “[she] was the third exceptional woman to conduct the L.A. Phil in a week.”)