San Francisco Museums’ Controversial Board Chair Keeps Position, Gives Up President’s Title

“Embattled philanthropist Dede Wilsey, who waged an all-out campaign to stay on as head of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco amid probes into whether she improperly spent the institutions’ money, won approval Tuesday to extend her reign as the city’s queen of culture – although with a new title and possibly less power.”

‘You Could Souse Herrings In Chords Like These’: London Critic Smacks Gergiev And The Mariinsky – Hard – For Underrehearsal

Anna Picard: “Precision has never been part of the Gergiev-Mariinsky rough magic package. While not exactly sight-reading, the orchestra played as though rehearsing for the first time, without stopping to correct infelicities of articulation, intonation, blend, balance and ensemble. If authenticity is sounding like a mutinous scratch band in Cherepovets, this performance had plenty of it. You could argue that Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony benefits from a casual approach. But oh, the vinegar! You could souse herrings in chords like these.”

He Left The Directorship Of The Rijksmuseum To Open This New Institution – And Two Months Later, He’s Quitting

“[Wim] Pijbes left the position of general director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam over the summer to lead the Voorlinden, a private contemporary art museum in Wassenaar that was founded by the Dutch art collector and businessman Joop van Caldenborgh. ‘We both had the feeling that it was better for both of us and for the museum to stop and to quit,’ Mr. Pijbes said in a telephone interview.”

The Culture Wars Buffet France, And The Schools Are The Battleground

“Changes to how Joan of Arc and other touchstone historical figures are taught in elementary school, as well as changes to how French, Latin and Greek are introduced, have sparked fierce arguments between right-leaning politicians and intellectuals, who believe schools should foster national pride, and the Socialist education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and her defenders, who argue that the curriculum should reflect changes in society.”