Category: people

Herbert von Karajan made and sold more records than any other conductor in history, he changed the way people listened to music, and changed the public’s expectations of a concert. But he was also a problematic figure – autocratic and politically suspect. A new biography attempts to wade through a sea of charged conceptions about the man. – Boston Globe

“His body of work tapped great social and philosophical themes, captured the economic and racial ruptures and shifts that have defined our culture and, amazingly enough, found beauty in struggle.” – Washington Post

Any sign that North Korea willing to open its doors and forsake its Stalinist, bomb-making ways? It seems there is one man who has appealed to their softer side: magician David Copperfield. Two North Korean diplomats recently journeyed to Las Vegas to catch one of his shows, and invited Copperfield to perform in Pyongyang. “The man of secrets and the men from a country of secrets got along well.” – The New Republic

Britain’s Prince Charles and Saudi Prince Khalid Al-Faisal have joined up for a joint exhibition of their recent paintings in London. Thirty recent watercolours by Charles and 26 oil paintings by the Saudi Prince are going on show. – London Evening Standard

Britain’s Prince William will study art history in Edinburgh after taking a year off. – London Evening Standard

Jane Alexander began her term as head of the National Endowment for the Arts with optimism. Her new book shows that by the time she left the NEA, her “health, idealism and forbearance all suffered. She gripes about flying coach. She complains that the government won’t pay to move her back to New York. ‘The system is so corrupt that it may never be fixed,’ she concludes, sweepingly.” – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

Author Martin Amis at age 50 has gotten around to explaining his life in a new memoir. ” ‘Experience’ is an astonishing memoir, and destined to be imitated by self-chroniclers looking to escape the confines of chronology.” – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

Pop artist George Segal dies in New Jersey at age 75. – CBC 06/11/00

• SEGAL: “He had a very sophisticated and deep understanding of people and expressed that through his sculpture.” – Newsweek

He was 82. “Lawrence rose to fame in 1941 after creating one of the most original and forceful series of narrative works in the history of American art – the ‘Migration of the Negro.'” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

— named principal conductor of the Los Angeles Opera Company. – Los Angeles Times