Category: people

Erstwhile philanthropist Alberto Vilar has left a trail of debts and unhappy investors who finally lost patience with him

Philanthropist Alberto Vilar is not a sympathetic figure, no matter all the money he gave to opera. But “whatever the outcome of the charges against him, only a blinkered diva worshipper could deny the vast amount of good that Alberto Vilar has done. Setting aside his $45 million to the Met, which went mainly on braindead productions, and another $10 million or so to Placido Domingo enterprises, Vilar will go down in the records as the man who installed seatback surtitles in major opera houses, introduced young singers’ programmes all over the place and generally gave a hard-pressed art a chance to step back and take stock of itself. His greatest benefice, and the least acclaimed, was his saving of Covent Garden.”

Alberto Vilar, the man who gave away millions to the arts, apparently can’t make bail to spring himself from jail. “His attorneys asked a federal judge Tuesday to delay a bail hearing that might have sprung their client from jail. That hearing has been rescheduled for Friday. Until then, a man once reputed to be among the country’s richest men — in 2004 his personal fortune was pegged at $950 million by Forbes magazine — will reside in the Metropolitan Correction Center in Manhattan.”

“Alberto Vilar, a New York money manager and benefactor to that city’s Metropolitan Opera, the Los Angeles Opera and other leading cultural institutions worldwide, was arrested late Thursday and charged by U.S. authorities with stealing $5 million in client funds, which he allegedly used to pay bills and continue his philanthropy.”

“Elsa Hilger, 101, the first woman in the world, other than harpists, to be a permanent member of a major symphony orchestra, died May 17 at Wake Robin Retirement Community in Shelburne, Vt. Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski hired her as a cellist in 1934. She never missed a performance – except the day her son was born – until retiring in 1969. And she retired only because of union rules.”

“Rochberg was one of the most successful composers of the 1970s and ’80s. His Violin Concerto was championed by Isaac Stern, who performed it 47 times between 1975 and 1977; his Symphony No. 5 was premiered in 1986 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti and his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra was premiered in 1996 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch.”

Ruth Laredo has died of ovarian cancer. “She was particularly known for two sets of recordings: the complete solo works of Rachmaninoff and the piano sonatas of Scriabin, both recorded in the 1970s and re-issued in recent years. Ms. Laredo also recorded works by Ravel, Brahms, Chopin and Beethoven, among others, and was nominated for a Grammy Award three times.”

Getty curator Marion True is caught in a difficult test of antiquities ownership. “In a case that attorneys and True’s colleagues say is highly unusual, if not unique, she has been indicted in Italy on criminal charges involving the acquisition of antiquities. The trial — at which she is not required to appear — is scheduled to begin July 18. True, 56, is accused of criminal conspiracy to receive stolen goods and illicit receipt of archeological objects. The indictment also alleges that she in effect laundered artworks through a private collection to create a phony paper trail of their provenance.”

Tracey Emin has a new exhibit that highlights a significant shift in her artistic style. It also highlights something, um, a bit more personal. “Were it not for the fact that nearly every work in the exhibition shows the artist luxuriantly masturbating, it would be possible to imagine that Tracey Emin had transformed herself into an artist with the sensibility of a Victorian lady watercolourist.”

Ismail Merchant, half the creative team of Merchant Ivory, has died at the age of 68. “Along with his creative partner James Ivory, he made such acclaimed period films such as Howards End, A Room With A View and Remains of the Day. Merchant Ivory won six Oscars since the pair’s famous partnership began in 1961 with German-born screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.”