Tag: 04.08.20

Budapest Festival Orchestra Saved By The Government Its Conductor Keeps Criticizing

Iván Fischer, who founded the ensemble and led it to become one of the most admired in the world today, has been a vocal critic of the increasingly autocratic rule of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Nevertheless, Orbán’s government and the city of Budapest have announced an arrangement to increase the subsidies that the long-strapped BFO needs to survive. – OperaWire

NEA Releases Guidelines For Distributing Its $75 Million In Coronavirus Relief To Arts Organizations

“A wide variety of non-profit organizations can apply for a share of the money, including ‘arts organizations, local arts agencies, statewide assemblies of local arts agencies, arts service organizations, units of state or local government (and) federally recognized tribal communities or tribes.’ But all applicants … must be previous NEA award recipients from the past four years.” – Chicago Tribune

Explosion And Fire: Latest Snafu To Beset Construction Of Berlin’s Humboldt Forum

Two pots of hot tar took flame at an entrance to the old palace that’s being rebuilt to house the ethnographic collections of Berlin’s various museums. The incident sent black smoke through the city, but actual damage was limited to discoloring of the building’s façade. The $700 million project has been bedeviled by schedule and cost overruns as well as controversy over the contents of its collection, which includes a number of the Benin Bronzes. – Artnet

L.A. Phil Cancels Rest Of Regular Season, Cuts Musicians’ And Staffers’ Pay

“Payroll reductions of 35% in the aggregate will include the layoffs of 94 part-time employees and pay cuts of more than 35% for the leadership team, the orchestra said. Orchestra members will receive 65% of their weekly minimum scale beginning April 20.” Music director Gustavo Dudamel will forgo his salary. The Philharmonic will maintain health insurance for all full-time employees. – Los Angeles Times

Broadway Theatres Will Remain Closed At Least Through June 7

“Even though the [Broadway] League has extended the shut down, many Broadway insiders don’t expect performances to resume until July at the earliest, with some predicting that theaters will stay dark into September. The extended closure will likely mean that more shows that were eyeing limited runs will instead opt not to open at all, a fate that has already befallen the likes of Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen and a revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Laurie Metcalf.” – Variety

Small Consolation: Museums’ Hit-&-Miss Attempts to Engage Audiences Via “Virtual Exhibitions”

Too much of museums’ existing online content, now being repurposed, reminds me of “park and bark” — the great opera stars of yesteryear, standing stock-still at center stage and belting out their arias. By contrast, I found much to admire in purpose-built content that some museums managed to put together on the fly. – Lee Rosenbaum

Amsterdam Embraces A New Model For Its Post-COVID Life

“When suddenly we have to care about climate, health, and jobs and housing and care and communities, is there a framework around that can help us with all of that? Yes there is, and it is ready to go.” The central premise is simple: the goal of economic activity should be about meeting the core needs of all but within the means of the planet. The “doughnut” is a device to show what this means in practice. – The Guardian