Good Morning,
Four different institutional stories today, all of them answers to the same question: what is a major cultural institution actually for? The Met is absorbing the Neue Galerie — its building and Ronald Lauder’s collection of 20th-century Austrian and German art — beginning in 2028 (The New York Times). Lincoln Center, meanwhile, is committing $335 million to make its fortress-like western edge less of a fortress, with a new 2,000-seat amphitheater anchoring a redesigned Damrosch Park (Time Out New York).
So: two strategies for staying relevant: absorb, or open up. Then there’s CBS News Radio, which after 99 years just signed off for the last time, a national institution dissolving rather than reinventing (CBS News). And the Louvre, where a French Parliament report concludes the crown-jewel theft happened because the museum spent years putting prestige ahead of basic security. Two audits flagged the problem, but nothing got done (ARTnews).
Also: a renowned Georgian opera bass-turned-opposition-leader was sentenced to seven years for organizing a protest against an authoritarian government (OperaWire), and Live Performance Australia reports that the most-performed “classical” music in the country last year was the score from Pirates of the Caribbean (ABC).
All of our stories below.
