Sole Portrait Of Lucrezia Borgia Identified

“A painting owned by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne has been identified as a portrait of Lucrezia Borgia, an infamous figure of the Italian Renaissance. The oil painting, purchased in 1965, was formerly called Portrait of a Young Man and was thought to be by a Northern Italian painter. On Tuesday, however, the gallery announced it had discovered the painting was by famed Renaissance artist Dosso Dossi who lived 1486-1542.”

Donmar Warehouse Dominates London’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards

The little powerhouse took three big prizes: Best Director – Michael Grandage for Ivanov, Othello and The Chalk Garden; Best Actress – Margaret Tyzack and Penelope Wilton, jointly, for The Chalk Garden; and Best Actor – Chiwetel Ejiofor, beating out Kevin Spacey, Alan Rickman, Kenneth Branagh and Simon Russell Beale with his performance as Othello. Spacey received a special award for his work as director of London’s Old Vic.

Conductor Fired In Germany Over Sexual Harassment Claim

“Conductor Jin Wang, 48, has been sacked from his post in Germany, municipal authorities said Tuesday, after an allegation that he sexually harassed a young woman musician. Chinese-born Wang, who was director of music at the Mainfranken Theatre and conducted the Wuerzburg Philharmonic Orchestra, had resisted pressure to resign after the city of Wuerzburg suspended him on full pay.”

Murakami Animation To Open Hollywood Studio

“Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, whose giant Buddha, bug-eyed monsters and magical mushrooms packed in huge crowds last year at the Museum of Contemporary Art, is putting down roots in Los Angeles. A multifaceted artist who embraces painting and sculpture, film and mass-produced goods as part of a single enterprise, he is planning to open an animation studio here next summer.”

Met Opera Allows Tenor Some Electronic Assistance

“There is an honorable tradition in opera of singers relying on a prompter to provide cues for pitches or words. But during rehearsals for the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” which opens on Friday night, the German tenor singing Tristan, Peter Seiffert, has been using a personal electronic prompter: an earpiece through which he can hear the cues directly.”

On Not Making The A-List

There’s consternation in Philly – and even some bewilderment – that the Philadelphia Orchestra didn’t make Gramophone‘s recent list of the world’s 20 best orchestras. (Worse: the Philadelphians got mentioned in a sidebar with the heading, “Past Glories.”) But there are factors involved in such critics’ polls beyond the perversities of personal preference and groupthink. The time-lag between changes in leadership and changes in reputation, for one, and – in this instance – the perception of hostile treatment by the musicians toward outgoing music director Christoph Eschenbach.