Tag: 04.19.07

London Philharmonic Taps Dutoit As Director

“Charles Dutoit succeeds Daniele Gatti, who steps down as the orchestra’s music director when his contract expires in the summer of 2009. The position has an illustrious pedigree: the list of the Royal Philharmonic’s previous principal conductors includes Thomas Beecham (who founded the orchestra), Rudolf Kempe, Antal Doráti, Walter Weller, André Previn and Vladimir Ashkenazy.”

The British Museum’s World

“It was the first national museum in the world but had nothing nationalist in its purpose, and it remains one of the great achievements of the Enlightenment, an enduring statement that the public realm is intellectual and spiritual as well as physical and economic, and excludes nobody. In 18th-century Europe, this was a uniquely British contribution. Indeed, it still is today.”

First Edition? Eh!

“The thing that strikes me as most ridiculous about first editions (or first printings, if we’re being as anally exact as many of their collectors) is that they should be worth so much more than other almost identical versions of the same book. Very often all that distinguishes a valuable first printing from a near worthless second is one small digit on the title page. It’s a strange way of distinguishing worth and there’s something unappealing about the way book collecting prioritises the rarity of a book over its contents or even its appearance.”

British Museum Considers Elgin Marbles Loan

“Neil MacGregor, its director, said that, like any object in its collection, a loan would be possible if the Greek Government acknowledged the museum’s ownership of the sculptures. The Greek authorities hailed his comments as unprecedented. One source told The Times: ‘This is the first time they’ve ever said they’d let them out of the museum. We’ve said we’re not disputing the ownership’.”

Good News For English National Opera (And Bad)

“ENO’s job cuts and momentary move to smaller venues seem to indicate that it is downsizing. That may be a good thing. The Coliseum is an enormous theater for a company that has traditionally relied on younger, smaller voices. Downsizing may also be a disaster. If the ENO shrinks too much, it’s unlikely that grand works like ‘Aida’ or ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ will survive for long in the repertory.”

Nagano Works On Montreal Symphony’s Canada

Kent Nagano was “hired to rejuvenate Montreal’s premier orchestra after its reputation, and its relationship with its audience, suffered in the wake of a bitter and lengthy labour dispute in 2004-2005. His plans include not only touring the country but also bringing Canadian themes and content to the orchestra’s programming, as his 2007-2008 repertoire shows.”

Remembering Kitty Carlisle Hart

Even into her mid-90s Miss Carlisle was indefatigable. “As she reminisced onstage, telling anecdotes that were just salty enough to suggest the foibles of the numerous legends she knew without toppling them, Broadway was ‘the American musical thea-tah,’ a term she trilled with the zest of a schoolgirl. She made you believe that the dazzling world of famous composers, directors, politicians and show folk in which moved constituted an exclusive place of ultimate glamour and civility that has now vanished.”