Museum Removes Five Klimts After Anonymous Threat Vienna's celebrated Belvedere Museum has taken down five paintings by Gustav Klimt after receiving an anonymous threat from an individual who threatened to destroy them. "Sources in the gallery said the mail had threatened the paintings would be destroyed to stop them being restored to heiress Maria Altmann, niece of their orginal Jewish owner who was driven out of Vienna and stripped of his possessions by the Nazis in 1938." The Belvedere had agreed to return the paintings earlier in the week. Monsters & Critics (UK) 01/20/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 1:02 pm
Native Galleries Welcome In Toronto, But What Do They Accomplish? The Royal Ontario Museum has finally opened its long-awaited gallery focusing on the history of native peoples in Canada. The gallery seems primed for success, but it brings up an uncomfortable irony for North America's aboriginals: having been forced from their land, mistreated for centuries, and generally denied the opportunity to reestablish their native culture, native peoples are now forced to view their history through the prism of the white man's museums. "How can the museum transcend the guilty legacy of cultural vandalism that haunts it?" The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:56 pm
Police Recover $60 Million Stolen Salt Shaker "Austrian police have recovered a $60m 16th Century figurine stolen in 2003 called Saliera, or salt cellar, after a suspect turned himself in. Experts established it was an authentic work by Florentine master Benvenuto Cellini... It was found on Saturday, buried in a wooden case near Zwettl, a town about 55 miles north of Vienna." BBC 01/22/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:27 pm
Is NYC's Armory Project A Zero-Sum Game? The announcement that New York's eye-catching Seventh Regiment Armory will soon be transformed into a 55,000-square-foot "visual and performing arts institutions" was greeted happily across much of the city's arts world. But not everyone is happy: "for dozens of dealers and show organizers across the country and abroad, the cavernous Park Avenue space [has been] a crucial sales point for their wares." The New York Times 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:23 am
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Successful Partnership in San Diego When San Diego Opera decided to replace its in-house orchestra with the musicians of the San Diego Symphony last year, some in the city's arts scene were dubious. But one year into the partnership, the symphony and opera both pronounce themselves well pleased with the results. San Diego Union-Tribune 01/22/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 11:28 am
Louisville Orchestra Threatens Musicians With Shutdown The management of the cash-strapped Louisville Orchestra pulled out of contract negotiations with its musicians last week and went public with what it says is the musicians' "complete disregard for the challenges facing the orchestra." The orchestra's executive director says that the ensemble may shut down before the end of the current season and reorganize in bankruptcy. The musicians say they were "stunned" by the announcement. Louisville Courier-Journal 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:50 am
- Dug In Over Health Insurance The stalled contract talks between the Louisville musicians and management can be summed up in two words: health care. "The orchestra now pays 99 percent of individual players' health-care premiums. In its first offer, management sought a $50,000 savings in overall health-care expenses through a variety of options. The musicians' Dec. 23 counterproposal included phased-in coverage for dependents -- calling for the orchestra to pay 100 percent of dependent/family premiums in the 2008-09 season. The orchestra deemed that absurd." Louisville Courier-Journal 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:48 am
Fort Worth CEO Resigns Under Pressure The president and CEO of the Fort Worth (Texas) Symphony Orchestra has been forced to resign after less than two years at the helm. Katherine Akos, who came into the job with an impressive resume including stints as a professional violinist and as a top fundraiser for the San Francisco Conservatory, reportedly had a hard time replicating her success in Texas, and her relationship with FWSO music director Miguel Harth-Bedoya was described as "frosty." Fort Worth Star-Telegram 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:43 am
Midori's Teachers Go On Strike "Music teachers who carry out the work of the foundation established by the violinist Midori went on strike on Thursday, denouncing what they said were a lack of raises, unfair pay and attempts to limit pensions." Teachers in the program are paid $40 an hour, but say they are given only a few hours of work per week and are asked to travel for hours between classes. "The foundation countered that the teachers were making unreasonable demands on an organization created to do good." The New York Times 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:29 am
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Google Declines To Turn Over User Info "Google is rebuffing the Bush administration's demand for a peek at what millions of people have been looking up on the internet's leading search engine — a request that underscores the potential for online databases to become tools for government surveillance... The government wants a list of all requests entered into Google's search engine during an unspecified single week — a breakdown that could conceivably span tens of millions of queries... Yahoo, which runs the internet's second-most used search engine, confirmed Thursday that it had complied with a similar government subpoena." Wired 01/20/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:34 pm
Arts Leaders Warn Scotland Arts leaders across the UK are lining up to slam the Scottish government for its decision to fund several of Scotland's largest arts groups directly, rather than going through an independent arts council, as has been the norm. One observer called the move an "erosion of the 'arm's length' principle," and the head of the Arts Council of Wales described himself as "gravely concerned" by the development. There is no sign, however, that the Scottish Executive is reconsidering the plan. Scotland on Sunday (UK) 01/22/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:12 pm
Garden State Growing Grass Roots Everyone knows how big symphony orchestras and prestigious theatres get funded. But how do smaller arts groups, whether professional or amateur, come up with the cash and venue space to do what they do? The answers can be as varied as the groups themselves, and many organizations are constantly scrambling to make use of available resources, and generate new ones. In New Jersey, a new plan from the state arts council aims to channel money and resources to local, grass-roots arts groups more efficiently, and to assist the recipients in how to best direct their efforts. Newark Star-Ledger 01/22/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:00 pm
Princeton Gets $101 Million Arts Gift "Peter B. Lewis, the Cleveland philanthropist known for his tough standards, is giving his alma mater, Princeton University, $101 million to expand its creative and performing arts activities, including the creation of an artists-in-residence program... Mr. Lewis, who said he chose the figure of $101 million to top the last large donation to the university ($100 million), called the arts 'an important part of life I didn't know when I was at Princeton and didn't know when I was a kid.'" The New York Times 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:20 am
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The Changing Face Of Mozart "More nonsense has been written about Mozart than almost any historical figure except Jesus Christ." He was poisoned by a jealous rival, he was a musical manifestation of God, he was an offensive and boorish idiot savant - the myths abound, and they are all demonstrably false. "Every generation has admired Mozart, but some more than others and in remarkably different ways. The changing perceptions of the man and his music are themselves almost a small social history." The Age (Melbourne) 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:37 pm
Wondering What Rush and Hannity Will Be Talking About This Week? In his latest audio message to the world, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden singled out a certain left-wing Washington historian as being worthy of praise. You might think that having the world's best-known terrorist as a fan would be a nightmare scenario for such an author. But 72-year-old William Blum isn't running from the endorsement: in fact, he says he's quite pleased. Washington Post 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:35 am
Wilson Pickett: Screaming His Way Into Our Hearts "In a classic soul era largely defined by crooners and shouters, [Wilson Pickett, who died last week at 64,] was a screamer, a throat-shredding force of nature who always seemed about to bust a gut or blow a gasket. He called what he did 'grits music,' and it could scald a listener or fire up a fan's imagination." Washington Post 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:31 am
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Spamalot Heads Home The Monty Python-inspired musical, Spamalot, is headed back to its spiritual and linguistic home. The wacky show, which has broken ticket sales records on Broadway, will begin a run in London's West End this fall. The Guardian (UK) 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 1:10 pm
Rings Engagement Will Be A Costly One, But Sales On Track "The final cost of the long-awaited stage adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which begins previews at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre on Feb. 2, may exceed its projected budget of CAN$27-million... [Still,] the most ambitious and expensive stage show in history seems to be on track. As of this week, advance sales were closing in on $15-million." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:53 pm
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Does Dishonesty Power The Publishing Industry? As much fun as it may be to debate the seriousness of James Frey's literary crimes, it's really not as big a deal as many are making it out to be, says Simon Caterson. In fact, America's literary history is chock full of scandals and hoaxes, and sometimes, it even seems that the entire inustry is powered by near-constant controversy. The Age (Melbourne) 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:42 pm
Sony Gets Into The E-Book Game E-books have been touted for years as the next big thing in literature and technology, but they've never caught on with the reading public in a big way. Later this year, though, Sony will attempt to succeed where others have failed with a new generation of electronic readers featuring a high-tech screen utilizing tiny "microcapsules... that look far more like ordinary paper than a liquid crystal display... The E Ink technology also conserves batteries because current is used only when pixels need to change their color -- between virtual page turns, the Reader consumes no current at all." Wired 01/22/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:30 pm
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Is ABC Pandering To The Christian Right? More than a year ago, ABC Television began production for a new reality show featuring a gay couple and their adopted son moving into an exclusive neighborhood in Austin, Texas. The show wound up being, by all reports, a fascinating look at American society and the ability of neighbors to change and adapt to the people around them. But ABC yanked the program off its fall schedule and has yet to announce whether it will air. Now, there is speculation that ABC pulled the show to avoid offending four major "religious right" groups which recently lifted their boycott of the Disney-owned ABC. The New York Times 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:14 am
Getting Current In Minnesota A little over a year ago, Minnesota Public Radio bought a competing classical music station in the Twin Cities and changed its format, much to the consternation of some classical music fans in the area. But in the year since MPR launched the station now known as The Current, it has been the talk of the local radio scene. With its DJs picking the songs they play, focusing on local rock bands and national acts that don't get the time of day on most corporate-controlled FM stations, the station has cultivated a seriously loyal following, and affected nearly everything about the music scene in the Cities. Minneapolis Star Tribune 01/21/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 10:02 am
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PBT To Bring Back Orchestra On A Limited Basis Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has reached an agreement with its 47 musicians to restore some live music to its performances for the 2006-07 season. PBT laid off its orchestra last summer and has been using recorded music this season - the musicians filed an unfair labor practices complaint in retaliation. "PBT leaders have promised to hire the musicians for two of the company's five productions during its 2006-07 season, which will be announced in two weeks." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01/19/06
Posted: 01/22/2006 12:19 pm
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