Australia’s symphony orchestras have received official assurances from the government that their rosters of musicians will not be scaled back in the wake of a report which recommended severe cuts. Of course, that doesn’t solve the problem of where the money to maintain the orchestras in their current form will come from, but with the downsizing issue behind them, all sides sound more amenable to compromise.
Tag: 03.25.05
Canada’s Bifurcated Movie Biz
Canada’s Genie Awards for movies was dominated by French Canadian movies this week. “The Genies show was a depressing example of our two-solitudes divide between French and English Canada. After decades of official bilingualism, we are still a land of mostly English-speaking provinces surrounding a separate nation of mostly French-speaking people. The Genies are supposed to recognize the Canadian film industry as a whole. But what I saw on Monday night suggested there really is no national film industry to speak of, because French and English filmmakers and stars don’t even speak to each other.”
Mona Lisa Takes A Holiday (What Will The Tourists Say?)
The room at the Louvre that is home to the Mona Lisa is to be renovated, and for the first time in three decades, the painting will skip a day on show. “Now she is having her room renovated, to handle an average of more than 1,500 visitors an hour. She’ll be off display for one day on April 4 while curators install her in the upgraded digs. The Louvre fears irate crowds if Japanese and American visitors turn up to find an apology hanging from Lisa’s empty spot on the wall. While Rembrandts, Titians and El Grecos can all spend weeks in restoration, under study or on tour, the Mona Lisa has always remained on display.”
Small Jazz Label Signs Up To Save Detroit Jazz Festival
A small jazz recording label has signed on to become the new sponsor of the annual Detroit Labor Day weekend jazz festival, which “found itself on the brink of extinction last month when Ford Motor Co. chose not to renew its title sponsorship for the first time in a decade.”
Bolshoi Opera Scandal Really About Money And Power
The protests and scandal over the Bolshoi’s new opera isn’t really about artistis values after all. “At the center of the silly protest swirling around “Rosenthal’s Children,” the new opera at the Bolshoi Theater, lies a billion-dollar question: Who gets to control the huge budget to renovate the aging building? The debate, alas, is not about cultural values, political ideologies or the preservation of Russia’s artistic heritage.”
Queens Museum To Double In Size
“A $28.5 million plan to double the size of the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is back on track. The city has announced Grimshaw Architects as the new architect for the museum’s expansion and renovation.”
Edinburgh Fest Takes A £500,000 Fall
The Edinburgh Festival had a rotten year at the box office last year. “The Festival’s financial statement for the year ended 31 October, 2004, which has been released to The Scotsman, shows that income from ticket sales fell from £2,237,000 in 2003 to £1,745,000 last year, a fall of almost £500,000. The Festival also faced losses at the Hub, its main centre which it owns and operates, of £120,000. The EIF had to ask for an emergency funding bail-out earlier this year and its financial position is now top of the agenda for the annual meeting to be held at the end of this month.”
Canton Symphony’s Calendar Girls
Women from the Canton [Ohio] Symphony have produced a provocative calendar. ” ‘More Than You Expect from an Orchestra’ features 18 women from the symphony, its staff, board members and supporters in a number of risque poses. ‘We need to change the symphony’s image, to get it away from being stuffy’.”
Every Life’s Worth A Story… (But Do You Have To Publish It?)
“The memoir has been on the march for more than a decade now. Readers have long since gotten used to the idea that you do not have to be a statesman or a military commander – or, like Saint-Simon or Chateaubriand, a witness to great events – to commit your life to print. But the genre has become so inclusive that it’s almost impossible to imagine which life experiences do not qualify as memoir material.”
Copenhagen Gets A New Opera House
“Copenhagen’s is the very model of a modern major opera house. Its size is moderate (about 1,600 seats); the auditorium is tiered and horseshoe-shaped, with adaptable acoustics; and a flexible studio space is attached. Everything backstage is controlled by fingertip technology. The front of house is illuminated by three dazzling chandeliers designed by Olafur Eliasson, famous for his light installation at Tate Modern. It all symbolises openness and accessibility. As yet, the atmosphere in the place seems a bit sterile, more conference centre than fun palace.”