Berlin Art Boom Busts

“Berlin – home to an estimated 600 galleries – which has boomed like no other city as an art capital in recent years, is now feeling the pinch. Galleries are closing every month, international conglomerates are shutting down their local branches and many others are downsizing or laying off employees. Profits are reportedly down by a third.”

L.A.’s Great Billboard Debate

Christopher Hawthorne: “[T]he idea that billboard growth is an assault on our collective urban-design principles is at best a red herring. This is a place where billboards and other kinds of signage have long aspired to the size and prominence of architecture – [and] not just the famed Hollywood sign… At the same time, many of our buildings have long dreamed of becoming signs, or at least performing a credible imitation of them.”

Brewer, Villazón Cancel High-Profile Met Gigs

Soprano Christine Brewer, citing a knee injury that keeps her from moving on stage, has pulled out of next month’s run of Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera. Her appearances as Brünnhilde, Brewer’s first in a complete, fully staged Ring, were among the most anticipated events of the season. Meanwhile, vocally troubled tenor Rolando Villazón has withdrawn from at least the first two performance of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, beginning next week.

The Tenor That Opera Keeps Rediscovering

The old saying that there are no second chances in the theater is belied by tenor Stuart Neill, who’s getting his fourth wind. After early successes, including recordings with Colin Davis and Michael Tilson Thomas, he had a five-year exile from opera, retooling his voice and singing Christmas carols in suburban Philadelphia. Now, having saved La Scala’s opening night (and its worldwide simulcast), Neill is finally getting re-engaged. He tells David Patrick Stearns what it took to get there.