Morning Report - News from Sept. 4, 2002

THE ARTS

Vilar: No Respect From British Beneficiaries?

Alberto Vilar’s recent refusal to shell out additional funding for the Los Angeles Opera production of “War and Peace” resulted in the cancellation of the engagement and made headlines nationwide. Now the arts benefactor is making waves again with a tirade against the British government, the BBC reports.

Though he’s given the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden about $39.1 million in support and pledges in recent years, he’s getting no respect, Vilar maintains.

“In Germany and Austria, the chancellor and the president invite me to dinner and have given me honors--but here in Britain, nobody in government has called me up,” he was reported as saying in London’s Sunday Times. “Nobody has talked to me. The pendulum is swinging against public funding and, once there are cutbacks, they will really need people like me. Rich people need to be persuaded or even shamed into giving. But governments and recipients also need to remember the two most important words--thank you.”

Though he’ll continue to support the Royal Opera, Vilar added, he won’t forget what he considers the shoddy treatment. The government would come to regret its “short-sightedness,” the Cuban American philanthropist maintained.

New Art Exhibitions

on Display in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, home of Wayne Newton and scantily clad showgirls, is fast becoming a magnet for art.

Paintings by Titian and Tintoretto, re-created on the ceilings of the Venetian hotel-casino, are now on display at the venue’s Guggenheim Hermitage Museum through March 2. And an exhibit featuring Faberge imperial eggs opened over the weekend at the Bellagio hotel.

Spanning more than 500 years, the year-old Venetian’s second exhibit provides a historical glimpse into paintings from 1436 to 1965. The value of the works on display ranges from $5 million to $100 million, said Sheldon Adelson, chairman of the hotel’s parent company, Las Vegas Sands Inc.

Thirteen of the works came from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and were chosen in part for their portrayal of Russia’s history. Willem de Kooning’s 1955 “Composition” and Roy Lichtenstein’s “Grrrrrrrrrrr!!” are also included.

“This is an experiment for all of us,” museum director Thomas Krens said. “It’s an unusual concept to condense six centuries into 39 works, but it’s an exciting ride.”

Massachusetts Reeling in Wake of Arts Cuts

The Massachusetts arts community is attempting to regroup after last week’s announcement that a fiscal crunch necessitated a 65% drop in arts funding by the state. Grants were reduced from $15.6 million in 2001 to $5.9 million this year.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council cuts touched nearly every part of the state, from small neighborhood theaters and music groups to major cultural institutions such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New England Aquarium, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Ballet. Arts advocates blamed the reductions on acting Gov. Jane Swift. But her spokesman, James Borghesani, said that a dramatic drop in state revenue forced tough cuts in all areas, including the arts.

POP/ROCK

Nirvana’s Greatest Hits Edging Toward Release

There’s an apparent breakthrough in the two-year legal battle between Nirvana band members Kurt Novoselic and Dave Grohl and Courtney Love, widow of lead singer Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994.

Sources close to the group say that the three are working toward an amicable agreement that would permit Universal Music Group to put out a one-disc greatest hits album before the end of the year.

According to Rolling Stone, the CD would include “You Know You’re Right,” the song Nirvana recorded less than three months before Cobain’s death.

Love claimed that Cobain’s heirs should have control over the band’s legacy, since he was the band’s principal songwriter. Novoselic and Grohl argued that the band had functioned as a partnership and should continue to do so. The conflict had precluded the release of a Nirvana box set last fall.

Meanwhile, the second volume of U2’s “Best of “ collection, covering the years 1990-2000, will be released Nov. 5 by Interscope Records. It will include two new tracks recorded for this set: “The Electrical Storm” and “The Hands That Built America.”

QUICK TAKES

Renowned choreographer William Forsythe, artistic director of the prestigious Frankfurt Ballet, has announced that he will not renew his contract when it expires in 2004. The move follows years of dissatisfaction with what he perceives as the city’s arts-averse cultural policy and cuts in subsidies to his company....Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar were married in a private ceremony in Jalisco, Mexico, on Sunday....Mariah Carey and a team of songwriters did not steal the work of two other composers when she recorded “Thank God I Found You,” U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder ruled in Los Angeles on Tuesday.... Todd Leavitt, a former NBC executive who runs his own media consulting firm, has been named president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the nonprofit group that presents the nighttime Emmy Awards. He’ll assume the post in mid-October.