The mother of Europe’s most prolific art thief was in court in France Thursday, charged with throwing away art her son had stolen. “When Mireille Breitwieser, a former nurse, found out that her son Stephane, 33, had been arrested on suspicion of stealing paintings worth tens of millions of pounds from museums across Europe, she rushed into his bedroom and started chopping up all the canvases she found there, prosecutors said yesterday.”
Tag: 01.07.05
Accused Art Thief Attempts Suicide
The art thief accused of stealing 23 works worth an estimated €1bn in France, plus two in Denmark and one in Austria, has tried to commit suicide in his cell. “Police have put Stephane Breitwieser, 33, under suicide watch following the attempt, which could delay his trial in Strasbourg, officials said. A fellow detainee alerted authorities to the hanging attempt, the officials said.”
Rattle And The Berlin: A Tempestuous Match
Simon Rattle has been music director of the Berlin Philharmonic for two years. How does he get along with his musicians? “They always want to know why we are doing something. They don’t just do it – they are not an obedient orchestra in that way, but they are a very creative orchestra. They are not that easy to deal with but it’s a lot of fun. Big temperaments, big personalities. It’s difficult.”
Don Quixote Turns 400 (Would He make It Today?)
“One wonders: Would Don Quixote pass the test and be published in New York today? I frankly doubt it. It would be deemed what editors call “a trouble manuscript”: too long, the story line problematic, the plot stuffed with too many adventures that do too little to advance the narrative and too many characters whose fate the reader gets attached to but who suddenly disappear. And that awkward conceit of a character finding a book about himself! The style! Those careless sentences that twist and turn!”