Quen Elizabeth believes her musical tastes have been unfairly disparaged. “We are not philistines. Philip and I are interested in music and we’ve had this terrible press,” she says. So she’s announced a new music prize: the Queen’s Medal for Music. “To be awarded on St Cecilia’s day, November 22, the winner will be someone who has had a “major influence on the musical life of the nation”, and may be of any nationality. St Cecilia is the patron saint of music.”
Tag: 03.03.05
Yet Another Musician Starts His Own Label
“Composer Michael Nyman is mounting a challenge to the record industry with the launch next month of his own label, MN Records. Citing frustration with the major labels that have released his work, Nyman will inaugurate the imprint with a solo piano album.”
La Scala’s Woes Deepen (Why, It’s Operatic!)
“La Scala is being paralysed by a crisis of Verdian theatricality that has led to rebellion and strikes, and is now prompting a head on clash between two of the titans of contemporary opera.
From his tranquil villa-cum-studio near Rome, Franco Zeffirelli has watched the goings-on in Milan with growing alarm…”
UK Police Bust Major Art Theft Ring
UK police have busted an art theft ring responsible for millions of pounds of art thefts from homes and galleries in the past few years. Two men and a woman have been arrested and half a million pounds worth of stolen art recovered from the Flogg It auction house in east London and several other premises. But art worth some 30 million pounds taken in thefts over the past two years was still missing.”