Visual Arts

Billion-Dollar Suit Filed To Recover Nazi-Looted Art An American lawyer is suing for $1 billion to recover art looted by the Nazis. "The suit, brought by a new group calling itself the Association of Holocaust Victims for the Restitution of Artwork and Masterpieces, calls on two leading Austrian banks, the Austrian government and Sotheby's auction house to return paintings and other works allegedly sold without the permission of their original Jewish owners. 'Not one painting has been restored -- not one,' Edward Fagan said, contending the missing artworks include paintings by Monet, Cezanne, Delacroix and other Impressionist masters. 'These victims are suing to recover their property'."
CBSNews.com 04/01/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 6:08 pm

Getty, World Monuments Fund, Team Up To Help Iraq's Cultural Heritage "The World Monuments Fund and the Getty Conservation Institute are to collaborate with Iraq’s Ministry of Culture and State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to repair the damage sustained as a result of the 2003 war. The initiative will not deal with the restoration or protection of Iraq’s museums, but with endangered buildings and archaeological sites. The goal is to mobilise international resources to help repair Iraq’s cultural heritage and to help build the infrastructure and expertise that are required in the country’s conservation and heritage management sectors." The Art Newspaper 04/02/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 5:44 pm

Chicago - The Buildings That Worked (And Those That Didn't) City downtowns are the accumulation of building ideas that survive to be built. But there's a shadow history too - the buildings that for one reason or another didn't make it past the idea stage. "Lost opportunities like that make you cringe, and there are others, including unbuilt residential towers that blow away the monotonous condo high-rises now deadening the cityscape." Chicago Tribune 04/04/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 5:28 pm

Music

The Amateur Cliburn Time once again for the Amateur Van Cliburn piano competition. It's actuallt called the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, and 75 pianists from eight countries and 27 states will compete in Fort Worth from May 31 through June 5. "The field of competitors, once again heavy on people from the medical professions, will perform in a three-part, elimination-style competition at Texas Christian University's Ed Landreth Auditorium. The 75 were selected by the foundation from 110 recorded applications and written statements from amateur pianists age 35 and over." Fort Worth Star-Telegram 04/04/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 6:37 pm

Why The Long Island Phil Is A Tough Sell Why is the Long Island Philharmonic sort of problem is one that confronts almost anyone who presents live classical music. The 'event' aspect of live music has been challenged on one hand by the advent of electronic reproduction of music and on the other by what we might think of as the "museum-ification" of classical music generally. The development of new technologies that make performed music readily and easily available has had a profound effect not only on how and when people listen to music but on what listeners expect to hear." Newsday 04/04/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 6:14 pm

• Previously: Damage Control When the Long Island Philharmonic canceled the remainder of its 2003-04 season earlier this month for fiscal reasons, questions about the viability of a small-budget regional orchestra playing in the shadow of New York's juggernaut of a music scene were inevitable. But the orchestra's chairman insists that the arts are as valuable on Long Island as they are in Manhattan, and is calling on state and local government to increase their commitment to funding regional arts groups. Larry Austin also denies reports that the Philharmonic is in danger of permanent collapse, saying that the decision to cancel this season's last concerts will make the orchestra stronger overall. Newsday 03/25/04

Lost Bach Manuscript Found A lost musical score by JS Bach has turned up in the estate of a Japanese pianist. "The 1728 composition, called "Wedding Cantata BWV 216," was found among the papers of Japanese pianist Chieko Hara, who died in Japan in 2001 aged 86." BBC 04/04/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 5:55 pm

Get Your Red Hot Music Here... Recording companies are trying all sorts of new ways to deliver their product to consumers. "Offerings for consumers that are already available or in the works range from free song downloads (awarded after buying a bottle of soda or a cheeseburger) to the ability to walk into a Starbucks and choose from thousands of songs to make a CD." Christian Science Monitor 04/02/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 5:35 pm

People

Deborah Voigt On The Public Attention About Her Weight: "I remember one review where the critic made some comment about my weight but went on to say the tenor - who by the way was a very, very large man - had 'the shoulders of a linebacker.' And I thought, What is that? How come I'm heavy and he has the shoulders of a linebacker? So yes, it's a double standard - and it shouldn't surprise any women with a professional life." New York Post 04/05/04
Posted: 04/05/2004 9:04 am

Denis Stevens, 82 - Musicologist, Monteverdi Scholar The one-time Grove's editor was a champion of the music of Monteverdi. "Stevens felt a mission to demonstrate the validity and accessibility of musicology as a discipline, often deploying what one former colleague called a 'wry and penetrating sense of humour'. He gave it full rein in an essay on the performance of the Monteverdi Vespers, complaining of 'the cabalistic obscurantism that now surrounds it, fostered by misinformed musicians and pseudo-musicologists'. He had absolutely no time for a misguided veneration of the past." The Independent (UK) 04/05/04
Posted: 04/05/2004 8:26 am

Fleisher: Of Pianos, Hands And Botox Leon Fleisher is back playing the piano two hands. And how did he cure his famous hand malady? "His worldwide search for a cure ended in the mid-1990s when an injection of Botox, of all things, relaxed his fingers, allowing him to play two-handed piano for the first time in decades. (Botox, a toxin that causes botulism, is better known for its cosmetic use as a muscle relaxant that smoothes the wrinkles of aging celebrities, among others.) Now in the middle of a worldwide tour, Fleisher has just signed with Vanguard Classics to record his first two-handed album in 40 years." Newsweek 04/04/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 8:01 pm

Architect Renzo Piano On The Artists Who Have Influenced Him: "I’ve been a very close friend to people like Luciano Berio, John Cage, Pierre Boulez. This is what is great about art: there are no frontiers. You are friends among writers, and you steal from writers, the next day you steal from musicians, the next day you steal from a sculptor or a painter. It is always like that. It’s a continuous robbery one from the other. But it’s a robbery without a mask." The Art Newspaper 04/02/04
Posted: 04/04/2004 5:52 pm

Theatre

Mamma Mia! It's A Hit! When it opened in London in 1999, Mamma Mia was considered a small "filler" show. But it's become a huge hit. "Currently generating more than $8 million a week in ticket sales, "Mamma Mia!" has grossed more than $750 million worldwide, including $200 million on the West End and $150 million in New York. If the current box office activity continues, the show should easily pass the billion-dollar mark set by "The Phantom of the Opera."Mamma Mia!" has yet to open in a city or country where it hasn't clicked, whether you're talking Korea, the Netherlands, or Australia. The show claims to have been seen by almost one in every 10 Australians." Backstage 04/04/04

Where Have The Blockbuster Touring Shows Gone? "We are coming off what I call the 15-year feast, which basically started with the British Invasion - Cats, Les Miz, Phantom (of the Opera), Miss Saigon - segueing into Lion King. That period of time built the subscriptions up, it built buildings up all over the country in these 2,500- to 5,000-seat theaters. Now where are the shows to fill these barns, and what do you do?" Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 04/04/04

Virtual Orchestra Wins The Road Broadway musicians are fighting against the "virtual orchestra." But "the war has already been won (or lost, depending on your point of view) on the road. Almost all touring shows, whether union or nonunion, travel with fewer musicians than the composer intended. If you've been to a musical in the past few years, undoubtedly you've heard synthesizers, samplers or even a Sinfonia in place of strings, woodwinds and other instruments." Orange County Register 04/04/04

Beware: We're Not On Broadway Anymore "Some shows that are part of a "Broadway" series have as much to do with Broadway as Velveeta has to do with cheese. Blinded by the "Broadway" moniker, familiar logos and memories of past performances, theater goers can easily be duped into thinking the show they will be getting is straight from Broadway. Many are knock-offs, cheap shows that reflect little of the original production. Look at their programs, and in the actors' bios you'll find they are just-out-of-school kids in starring parts whose major credits include work on cruise ships, theme parks and university productions." Hartford Courant 04/04/04

Denver: Theatre's Closing A Story Of Broken Promises The Walden Family Playhouse suddenly closed in Denver. "Walden handled the news of its exit surreptitiously and disingenuously, prompting many to suspect that its recent one-year anniversary was tied to a planned exit strategy. But that would mean Walden had a strategy in the first place, which it apparently did not. By pulling the plug on the development of new work here and hitting the road where Walden can recycle everything it created here in cities across America, Walden proved it couldn't care less about the many broken promises made to the people of Denver." Denver Post 04/04/04

Media

Poll: King Kong Is Scariest Movie Monster Ever The film magazine Empire polled film experts as to what they thought thr scariest movie monsters ever were, and King Kong leads the list. "The poll comes right up to the present day with in sixth position the spider queen Shelob, who entangled actor Elijah Wood in last year's Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." BBC 04/04/04