Australian Ballet May Be Headed Toward Strike

The company’s dancers have reportedly notified both Australia’s labor commission and their union that they may begin a work stoppage if negotiations, which have continued for several months, grind to a halt. At issue is pay, which dancers say is too low for a workload that has risen to more than 250 performances a year.

Rio’s Orchestra And Opera Musicians, Unpaid For Months, Are Reduced To Food Drives And Playing In The Street

Members of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, along with the orchestra, chorus, and ballet company of the Teatro Municipal performed on the street in front of the opera house to draw public attention to the fact that they haven’t been paid since February – and to ask for donations of non-perishable food for the worst-off among them. The performers are yet more victims of the financial emergency in effect in Rio de Janeiro state since before last summer’s Olympic Games.

Dueling High-End Auctions Reveal A Fascinating Battle Over Pricing Art

“The Spiegels, who died eight years ago, left their art to their two daughters, who each received half of its estimated value. For this month’s auctions, one chose Christie’s and the other, Sotheby’s—though not without intrigue within the houses themselves. The companies expect the works could sell for more than $160 million, the two largest art consignments of the bellwether spring auction season. The dueling auctions on May 17 and May 18 illustrate the challenges of valuing estates involving art, as well as the hard edges and personal animus underpinning what might seem a genteel business.”

Freud’s Favorite Fresco (And What It Taught Him About Memory)

“In the small Italian town of Orvieto in 1897, Sigmund Freud had a revelation. In the town’s cathedral, before a depiction of the Last Judgement by the Renaissance painter Luca Signorelli, the 41-year-old psychoanalyst felt he had found ‘the greatest’ depiction of the theme he had ever seen. The intense and violent fresco, which carries an odd sexual energy, was seared into his mind. Yet upon his departure, ‘to his immense frustration, Freud could not recall the name of the artist.'”

Sydney Opera House’s Opera Theatre To Begin $52M Renovation, Including ‘Acoustic Enhancement System’

The $71 million (Aus) project in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the first part of a $273 million (Aus) plan to renovate the entire complex, will replace engines, hoists, and other backstage equipment as well as a “state-of-the-art acoustic enhancement system” (presumably electronic) to improve the auditorium’s famously poor sound quality. (And Sydney’s leading newspaper now has no arts writers to cover this story.)