Author: sbergman

Architecture Foundation Gets New Exec

“Seeking to fill the void left by the departure of its first full-time curator, the Chicago Architecture Foundation has named Gregory K. Dreicer as vice president of exhibitions and programs. Dreicer, the founder and director of a New York City-based exhibition design firm called Chicken & Egg Public Projects, starts next Monday.”

Serial Disappointment

This was supposed to be the season that appointment TV made its comeback, in the form of several high-profile serial dramas on major networks that everyone hoped would entice viewers to keep coming back for more. Instead, the serials have been dropping like flies, leaving what few loyal viewers they had to wonder how the story would have ended.

Met’s Simulcasts Winning Fans

Donald Rosenberg says that the Metropolitan Opera’s new high-tech simulcasts, which allow opera lovers across the country to view live productions at their local movie theaters, is a revolutionary idea that is long overdue. “The close-ups allow us to take in facial expressions we might miss when sitting in an actual opera house. The shots from the stage into the theater provide perspectives most audience members never see. The experience is no substitute for the real, visceral thing, but it’s far better than merely listening to the matinee on the radio.”

Cleveland Back In The Recording Game

The Cleveland Orchestra will make its first commercial recording under music director Franz Welser-Möst this week, taking advantage of a new agreement with the musicians’ union which allows live concert recordings to be used for commercial releases without the usual upfront payments to the musicians. The recording of Beethoven’s 9th symphony will be Cleveland’s first new CD in seven years.

Madison PAC On The Fiscal Ropes

Madison, Wisconsin’s three-year-old Overture Center for the Performing Arts is in a financial hole, plugging shortfalls with money it won’t be able to replicate in future years. A 29% drop in ticket sales and an over-reliance on those sales to meet budget goals aren’t helping, either. The center is hoping that an aggressive fundraising campaign can keep it from having to ask city or state officials for a bailout.

SF Opera Names New Chief Conductor

Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti has been appointed music director of the San Francisco Opera, succeeding Donald Runnicles, who departs the post at the end of the 2008-09 season. Luisotti, who made his debut the company in 2005, will conduct a minimum of four productions each season. “Luisotti’s rise as a conductor has been strikingly rapid, dating from his international debut in Stuttgart in 2002. Since then, he has made acclaimed debuts in Paris, Toronto, Munich and Los Angeles.”

Carlo Ponti, 94

Italian film producer Carlo Ponti, best known for his work on Doctor Zhivago and his marriage to Sophia Loren, has died in a Swiss hospital, aged 94. “During a career spanning four decades Ponti produced more than 140 films and worked with directors including Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard and David Lean. However, he was equally famous for discovering Loren as a teenager and turning her into one of the world’s most glamorous stars.”

Making Culture A Priority In L.A.

The Mayor of Los Angeles likes to think of himself as a major advocate for art as a center of public life. He’s hardly the first politician to pay lip service to the arts, of course, but after 18 months on the job, reviews of Antonio Villaraigosa’s cultural master plan are winning cautious support from local arts leaders hardened by years of political neglect.

Hollywood Can’t Kick The Habit

Smoking is on the rise in Hollywood films, and public health advocates are appealing to the industry to cut it out. “60 per cent of [films released in 2006] depicted smoking, with more than 15 cigarette-related scenes an hour. This compares with only 10 scenes an hour for films of the 1950s.”