The famously aggressive gossip columnists at the New York Post have come out swinging against Washington Post arts writer Philip Kennicott, following Kennicott’s scathing review of a new book about the effort to stop the looting of Iraq’s national treasures and mount a recovery effort following the American invasion. The Post calls the review “an unprovoked hatchet job… on Manhattan Assistant DA-turned-war-hero Matthew Bogdanos” and Bogdanos himself is quoted asking “What has that man [Kennicott] ever done for ‘culture?'”
Tag: 02.02.06
China Bans Geisha Over Casting
Chinese censors have banned the film Memoirs of a Geisha, calling the casting (two Chinese actresses portray Japanese geishas in the film) “insensitive… because of Japan’s atrocities during their occupation of China in the 1930s.” China has also banned Brokeback Mountain due to its storyline involving a homosexual love affair between two cowboys.
Union Wants Lip-Synchers Exposed
The UK Musicians Union is pressing British broadcasters to institute an on-air system to notify viewers when a musical performance is being lip-synched, saying that such a system would encourage more bands to perform live. “Just as when you buy a can of beans and it tells you what’s in the beans, we think if you are going to buy a ticket for a show or watch a band on the TV, you should know exactly what it is you are buying and what you are watching.”
Ozawa Ill
Conductor Seiji Ozawa, 70, has canceled all his winter engagements with the Vienna State Opera, where he is music director, due to a severe bronchial infection and a case of shingles. Ozawa, who has led the VSO orchestra since 2002, is expected to recover, and plans to keep all his summer engagements.
Simon Rattle’s Rough Year
“Life isn’t getting easier for Simon Rattle. The golden boy of classical music who seemed incapable of wrong moves has become the single most visible conductor in the world – while having a contentious split from his second wife, losing sleep thanks to Jonah, his 11-month-old son with his new partner, Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená, and, as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, receiving unnervingly polarized reactions from critics and audiences… He also faces chronic funding uncertainty with his home orchestra, whose city of residence is virtually bankrupt. Even a sunny, seemingly unflappable personality like Rattle’s can’t whitewash these circumstances. Can the collective wear and tear be worth it?”
Welsh ‘Direct Funding’ Plan Defeated By One Vote
The Welsh National Assembly has narrowly defeated a controversial plan submitted by Culture Minister Alan Pugh which would have bypassed the Welsh Arts Council and seen six of Wales’ largest arts groups funded directly by the Assembly. It didn’t take long for the official debate to descend into shouting and accusations of hidden agendas. “The truth of the matter is that he who pays the piper calls the tune,” said one Assemblyman opposed to the plan, which opponents feared would make arts groups vulnerable to interference by politicians.
New MD In Winnipeg
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has named 35-year-old conductor Alexander Mickelthwate to be its next music director, beginning this fall. Mickelthwate, currently an assistant conductor at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, replaces Andrey Boreyko, who led the WSO for four seasons.
Art Loss Register Helps Find Long-Missing Paintings
“The mystery surrounding the theft of seven French Expressionist paintings from a wealthy American collector almost 30 years ago has been solved by a London court case. The canvases, worth at least £20m, are thought to have shuttled back and forth for decades between Massachusetts, Monaco, a Swiss bank vault and the British offices of Sotheby’s.”