Workers at Milan’s La Scala are threatening strike action next week that would cancel the first three performances of “La Boheme”
Tag: 07.02.08
CT Scans Unlock Secrets Of Stradivarius?
Researchers “put five of the ancient instruments and seven modern violins through the scanner. Stoel found that the ancient violins had more even wood density, possibly the result of even growth rings in the summer and winter. The researchers speculated that this difference might influence how vibrations travel through the wood.”
A New Canadian Literary Canon?
Thirty years ago dozens of scholars, critics, authors and publishing types gathered for four days in Calgary for what was billed as the National Conference on the Canadian Novel. They chose a list of the country’s best books. So what would a current list look like? “.As it turned out, not all of the 1978 canon ended up on the trash heap of history. Still, 70 per cent of the works chosen 30 years ago didn’t receive any “votes.”
Sharp Drop In View Complaints To FCC
“While the second quarter of 2007 saw 4,368 complaints come into the agency, the following quarter logged a mere 368 — precisely 4,000 less. During the first quarter, nearly 150,000 complaints came in.”
Ballet Star Irina Baronova, 89
Baronova, an international ballet star who was one of three celebrated prodigies known as the “baby ballerinas” after George Balanchine discovered them in Paris in the 1930s, died on Saturday at her home in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
Real News! Washington Post Hires A Music Critic
The Washington Post last week hired a permanent staff music critic to succeed Tim Page. Anne Midgette, who has been in the job on an interim basis since January, when Page took a leave of absence, has been hired officially as The Post’s classical music critic.
Why Celebrity Museum Shows Are A Bad Idea
“The negatives so far outweigh the positives that such shows hurt, rather than help, a museum’s mission. The latest example is “Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.: Selections From the Cheech Marin Collection,” which opened recently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The clumsy title is the least of its problems.”
More Enthusiasm For The Art Market
Monday’s contemporary sales netted $171.87 million. “These enormous figures do not do full justice to the astonishing zest with which bidders jumped into the fray right from the beginning.”
Renaissance Sculpture Damaged In Fall At Met Museum
A glazed terra-cotta relief by the Renaissance sculptor Andrea della Robbia came loose overnight from its perch above a doorway at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and crashed to the stone floor below, suffering serious damage, museum officials said on Tuesday.
First In 50 Years – No Menotti At Spoleto
Francis Menotti, facing persistent criticism as ruler of Spoleto’s Festival of Two Worlds, has been sent packing after being placed in charge a dozen years ago by his adoptive father, Gian Carlo Menotti, the festival’s founder.