MUSICLeaving Leipzig: Kurt Masur plans to bid...

MUSIC

Leaving Leipzig: Kurt Masur plans to bid auf Wiedersehen to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra he’s led for more than two decades. Masur said Friday he would leave his post as director of the German orchestra after the 1998 season. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra conductor has been in conflict with members of the 250-year-old-plus Leipzig group, which some critics have charged is artistically stagnating. Georg Girardet, Leipzig’s cultural affairs officer, said Masur felt that he no longer had the energy to fill two jobs. Masur has been chief conductor in New York since 1991.

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The Show Must Go On: Strikes are commonplace in Italy, but Italian conductor Riccardo Muti did not let the orchestra’s strike at Milan’s La Scala opera house Friday night ruin the evening. The boos of the sell-out audience there to see Verdi’s “La Traviata” turned to rousing cheers after the maestro announced he would fill in to ensure the show went on. Muti improvised a piano accompaniment to “La Traviata,” which Italian newspapers hailed as a triumph.

PEOPLE WATCH

Reeve Update: Surgery for Christopher Reeve should go ahead as planned today because the paralyzed actor appears to be recovering from pneumonia, a hospital spokeswoman in Charlottesville, Va., said. Reeve, 42, is scheduled to undergo a spinal fusion on two upper vertebrae fractured when he was thrown from a horse Memorial Day weekend.

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A Royal Deal: The Duchess of York may be going Hollywood. Sarah Ferguson reportedly talked to studio chiefs in Los Angeles last week about co-producing a film on the early life of Queen Victoria. Michael Hirst, the film’s scriptwriter, said Fergie had “agreed in principle” to the project.

STAGE

Big Bucks for Broadway: Although the number of new productions in the 1994-95 Broadway season--28--matched the record low set in 1990-91, ticket sales reached a record high of $406 million, a 14% increase over last season. Broadway shows on tour took in another $695 million, according to the League of American Theatres and Producers. The average ticket price on Broadway during the season was $44.93. Broadway attendance was up 12% to 9 million, but touring show attendance was down 5% to 16.8 million.

TELEVISION

Debating TV Violence: A group of television executives will join in the hot debate over Hollywood violence at a symposium hosted by cable operator Century Communications on Tuesday at UCLA’s Griffin Commons. Winston H. (Tony) Cox, a vice president at Viacom; Larry Mollin, a co-executive producer for the series “Beverly Hills, 90210”; Mark Sonnenberg, a vice president at fX, and Elizabeth Thoman, executive director of the Center for Media Literacy will be among the executives who will discuss violence in television and try to answer the question: “Does TV kill?” Van Gordon Sauter, president of KVIE (Sacramento’s public television station), will moderate. The forum, which is open to the public, will be taped for future broadcast.

POP/ROCK

Live at the Greek: Live has added an Aug. 10 show at the Greek Theatre. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster and the Greek box office. Tickets to the group’sAug. 9 Universal Amphitheatre and Aug. 12 Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre shows were still available as of Sunday. P.J. Harvey and Veruca Salt will open all three shows.

QUICK TAKE

Kate Capshaw will host Women in Film’s 19th annual Crystal Awards luncheon on Friday at the Century Plaza Hotel. This year’s honorees include Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan, Alfre Woodard, producer Kathleen Kennedy, director Gillian Armstrong and a posthumous award for AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser.