He was the first conductor to become a true media star, and dominated the American music scene for decades. But who was Arturo Toscanini, and what does his career tell us about the music world then and now?
Tag: 03.25.08
London Tube To Play Classical Music To Tamp Down Crime
“Theories vary as to why it works. One is that it doesn’t fit with antisocial youths’ perception of cool; another that teenagers can hear high-frequency overtones that adults can’t detect, which upset them (though music students of a similar age are evidently immune). As for the rest of us, when TfL did a survey of 700 commuters, ‘they overwhelmingly agreed that hearing classical music made them feel happy, less stressed and relaxed’.”
Joseph Volpe Resurfaces
The former director of the Metropolitan Opera, who retired two years ago, at 67, “has resurfaced at Theater Projects Consultants, a leading theater design firm, at its American headquarters, in South Norwalk, Conn.”
Inuit Artist, Quebec Filmmaker Win Governor General’s Awards
“Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak and Quebec filmmaker Serge Giguere are among this year’s winners of the Governor General’s Awards in visual and media arts.”
Dickens’ Tale To Play Broadway
A new musical based on Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities will open on Broadway in late September.
The Art The Nazis Took
“Of some 100,000 objects that were taken from France and brought to the Third Reich, either through looting or forced sales, at least 60,000 were repatriated to France after the war. Of these, 2,000 items that could not be restituted due to a lack of ownership history or because they had not been looted were given in custody to French national museums like the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and Centre Georges-Pompidou.”
A Case For Rescuing The Columbus Symphony
“Big, mature cities have full-time symphony orchestras. If the Columbus Symphony Orchestra folds, it will be the moo heard ’round the world, and some corporations, for whom municipal prestige and national image are factors in recruiting top people, will rethink moving to or remaining in Columbus.”
Royal Opera Marketing Angers The Critics
Critics are attacking London’s Royal Opera for “showing classic signs of mid-life crisis and going to unseemly lengths to get younger flesh on its seats.”
Idea – Time To Bring Back Arts Education?
“Nearly every arts organization can trace malaise and marginalization to a lack of arts education in schools. What this dearth of arts education has meant to our ability to function as a cohesive, harmonious society is one broad issue.”
Legendary Dealer’s Art Collection To Be Sold?
Ileana Sonnabend’s 20th-century art collection, one of the world’s best-known, may be sold to pay taxes on her $400 million estate.