Asecond artifact on the Hermitage Museum’s list of missing art has turned up. “A 19th-century chalice was turned in by a Moscow dealer, who said he had discovered it among his collection after the venerable museum went public Monday about the theft of its artifacts.”
Tag: 08.04.06
Aspen Festival Asserts Itself
The Aspen Music Festival is billing itself as “America’s Premiere Music Festival” since new CEO Alan Fletcher arrived this spring. Premiere? “Why do we segregate ourselves as classical? Newport Jazz is fantastic, but they’re sort of intermittent. Monterey? Burning Man? Lollapalooza? Who would be the premier music festival if we are not that? So, as a marketing principle, I just thought, let’s just go for it and see what people say.”
Chihuly Settles Lawsuit Over Copyright
Glass artist Dale Chihuly has settled his lawsuit with a former employee whom Chihuly claimed was infringing on the artist’s copyright. “If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn’t. I’m not the kind of person who wants to sue somebody, and yet I did. I got kind of fed up. For some reason, some people don’t think it’s illegal to copy someone else’s work. Maybe this suit clarified the point.”
Taking The Measure Of Schwarzkopf
Soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was a complicated artist, writes Tim Page. “Within the past two years, the music world has lost Renata Tebaldi, Victoria de los Angeles, Birgit Nilsson and Anna Moffo, all sopranos who blazed brightly in the 1950s and 1960s on early LP and stereo recordings; now, with Schwarzkopf’s death, an era seems well and truly at an end.”
America’s Orchestras Have A New Recording Deal
“The deal, to be announced Friday, drastically reduces upfront payments to musicians but gives them a share of future revenue, making it more cost-effective to produce recordings. It also gives the orchestras ownership of the recordings, which they can license to distributors for limited periods. In addition, the agreement strengthens the musicians’ role by giving them veto power over recording projects.”
Boston ICA Has To Delay Opening Of New Home
Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art says it has to delay next month’s opening of its new $51 million home on the Boston waterfront. “The decision has the ICA scrambling to reschedule programs, exhibitions, and parties once set to kick off Sept. 10. ICA officials would not give a new date for the opening, but said the delay would last weeks, not months.”
Just Testing
Before a movie or TV show gets to paying customers, it is extensively tested with audiences. “The graph tells the story the clients want to know – who likes what (actors, relationships, dialogue, setting, etc). Within two minutes, more than two-thirds of the women in the group had changed the channel. Most of the men, however, hung in to the bitter end. Not surprisingly, women in bathing suits score higher with men. Women’s scores, by contrast, tend to rise when characters develop relationships (because women like to watch that sort of interaction).”
Meet The World’s Biggest Movie Star
“Shah Rukh Khan (also known as “King Khan”) has been in more than 50 Hindi films and has won 13 Filmfare awards, regarded as the “Bollywood Oscars”. He is the biggest star in Hindi cinema and this means billions of fans (Bollywood has a global audience of 3.6 billion; Hollywood has 2.5 billion).”
That Paris Thing
Why are so many books set in Paris? “People who read these books aren’t interested in what really happens at different levels of society. They’re into the fantasy Paris, the Paris of sophistication and magic and Champagne drinking.”