Tag: 12.11.02

The Merger That Almost Was

Ten years ago, the musicians of the BBC Scottish Symphony and the Scottish Opera were ambushed by the announcement that the managements of the two organizations had agreed to merge, and to form a single orchestra to do the work of two. What followed was years of legal battles, terse negotiations, and – astonishingly – unprecedented success for each of the two distinct orchestras. These days, to eliminate either of the two would be unthinkable, and most observers agree that it should never have been considered in the first place.

The Hometown Boy Nobody Knows

The struggle of American conductors to be taken seriously in America is well-documented, but what about British-born maestros looking for work at home? Meet Donald Runnicles: orchestras and critics in Europe and North America rave about him, and yet few British orchestras have ever worked under him. A crash course may be in order, however, as Runnicles is widely rumored to be a finalist to succeed Leonard Slatkin at the head of the BBC Symphony.

The Hometown Boy Nobody Knows

The struggle of American conductors to be taken seriously in America is well-documented, but what about British-born maestros looking for work at home? Meet Donald Runnicles: orchestras and critics in Europe and North America rave about him, and yet few British orchestras have ever worked under him. A crash course may be in order, however, as Runnicles is widely rumored to be a finalist to succeed Leonard Slatkin at the head of the BBC Symphony.

Radiohead Fanatic

Pianist Christopher O’Riley has a passion for the guitar band Radiohead. He’s been arranging about a dozen of the band’s songs and performing them in his otherwise classical concerts and playing them during the intermission of “From the Top,” his public radio music show. “Both classical musicians and Radiohead enthusiasts have taken note of O’Riley’s obsession; his work is drawing notice from concert promoters and it’s won him a following via the Internet among rock fans who normally would never set foot in a recital hall.”

Free Museum Admission Costs Museums

Since London museums dropped their admission charges last year, attendance at museums is up 62 percent. This is a good thing, and something the government has pledged to continue. But the move has “cost the Government more than £70 million – the cash was given to the institutions over three years to make up for loss of revenue.” And the museums say it isn’t nearly enough – they need more compensation…

Burrowing Under Stonehenge

The British government proposes to bore a 1.3 tunnel for cars under Stonehenge. “The costly u-turn, with a bill shared for the first time between the highways agency and the Department for Culture, is intended to end the embarrassment over the world’s most famous prehistoric monument, still clenched in the fork of two roads 13 years after a parliamentary committee described Stonehenge as ‘a national disgrace’.

Policy Against Fire Fails In Norway

A devastating fire destroyed a block of historic buildings in Trondheim, Norway last week. Critics charge the government hasn’t done enough to protect the country’s historic structures. “Fires leading to the loss of irreplaceable national cultural treasures shall not occur,” reads a state declaration from last year. “The fire in Trondheim shows that this goal hasn’t been adequately followed up.”

Merger of collections and Money

On-again-off-again plans for a merger between the rich Autry Museum for Western Heritage and the impoverished Southwest Museum is on again. “The merger rescues Los Angeles’ oldest museum from a life-threatening financial crisis and brings the Southwest’s 350,000-item inventory, one of the world’s leading collections of Native American art and artifacts, under the same umbrella as the Autry’s $100-million endowment.”