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Unknown drawings by Da Vinci discovered in Paris
Updated: December 19 2008, 16:53 CET
PARIS: Maybe Leonardo da Vinci will soon again be responsible for a record number of visitors. Yesterday the museum told the press in an e-mailed press release that a curator had found some unknown drawings on the back of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci that look like they might be by the Italian master himself. Working on a broad programme of study and restoration of the paintings by Leonardo da Vinci at the museum staff unhooked his ‘The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne’ and found the drawings on the back.
‘The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne’ was painted in the early 1500s and no one had previously noticed the drawings -- at least not to the knowledge of the Louvre. The museum says the sketches feature a horse head, part of a skull and baby Jesus with a lamb. The sketches are barely visible to the eye. They were discovered during an in-depth examination using an infrared camera that picks up traces of carbon-based pigments often used for sketches. According to the Louvre "This is an exceptional discovery because drawings on the back of paintings are very rare and no example by Leonardo was previously known. The style of the drawings recalls the style of Leonardo, but research is ongoing to clarify their authorship."
Most tourists who visit the Louvre will come and watch one of her major highlights: Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ (la Gioconda). But the Louvre is home to other master works by Leonardo: ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’, ‘Saint John the Baptist’ and the ‘Virgin and Child with Saint Anne’, which the kings of France - from the time of Louis XII - took pleasure in collecting. The Louvre and both the Mona Lisa and The Virgin on the Rocks feature in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Thanks to this book (and film) the Louvre had a record number of visitors in 2005. About 7.3 million people visited the art museum in 2005, up from its previous record of 6.7 million in 2004.
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Vienna says farewell to Alfred Brendel
Updated: December 18 2008, 13:03 CET
VIENNA: Today one of the world's greatest pianists, Alfred Brendel (78), gives his last-ever public performance, this time in the famous Golden Hall of Vienna's Musikverein. On December 6, Brendel received the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize for his life-long achievements. He has performed a series of concerts in Germany and throughout Europe in December. His final concert, marking the end of a 60-year career, is today with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. The programme includes Mozart’s Piano Concerto 9 in E-Flat.
2008 has been a year of farewells in Vienna, Europe's classical music capital. In the summer, the legendary string quartet, the Alban Berg Quartet, gave its final concert in the city's Konzerthaus concert hall after 37 years on the podium.
Brendel was born in 1931 in Wiesenberg in what is now the Czech Republic. Unlike other top musicians, he had little formal musical training. Apart from piano lessons on an off between the ages of six and 16, Brendel received little formal training and describes himself as largely self-taught. He gave his first public recital at the age of 17 in Graz, southern Austria, with works by Bach, Brahms and Liszt, as well as a piece of his own composition. In 1949, he won the Busoni Competition in Bolzano. Soon after, he began touring internationally and won so many awards that they seem countless—awards ranging from the Grand Prix of the Liszt Foundation to the Japanese Record Academy Award.
The Musikverein in Vienna, was opened on January 6, 1870, and is famous for its acoustics. It is considered to be one of the three finest concert halls in the world, along with Boston's Symphony Hall and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. The Musikverein is home to the Vienna Philharmonic. The Großer Musikvereinsaal, or Goldener Saal (Golden Hall), is forty-eight metres long, nineteen metres wide, and eighteen metres high. It has 1,744 seats and standing room for 300. Every year on January 1 the Vienna New Year's Concert is held here
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Campaign to save Titian for the public almost ended
Updated: December 16 2008, 18:35 CET
LONDON/EDINGBURGH: This weekend was the last opportunity for visitors of the National Gallery in London to see Titian’s painting ‘Diana and Actaeon’. The painting of the Italian Renaissance master has been on public display at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh and the National Gallery in London since 1945 but it is now being sold by its private owner, the Duke of Sutherland. To save the painting for the general public the institutions have to raise £50 million before 31 December 2008.
But a spokeswoman for the National Gallery told the BBC an announcement would "ideally" be made this week. The campaign, launched in August, was recently boosted by a £10m pledge from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. As part of the campaign the public was asked to support the so-called ‘Titian-Fund’. The two Titians were created as part of a cycle of works for King Philip II of Spain from 1556 to 1559 and form part of the Bridgewater collection, which has been on loan to the National Galleries of Scotland since 1945. If funds can be raised, the two galleries will then have the chance to purchase the second picture, ‘Diana and Callisto’ for a similar amount. If they are successful, the two Titian paintings will be displayed in London and Edinburgh, alternating between the galleries every five years. If they fail to raise the required £50m then Diana and Actaeon could be sold to a private buyer.
The Bridgewater Collection, owned by the Duke of Sutherland, was originally formed by Francis Egerton, the 3rd and last Duke of Bridgewater, known famously as “the Canal Duke”. It is the most important private collection of Old Master paintings on loan to an institution in the UK, and counts among the most important art collections anywhere in the world. The Duke has decided to offer a small number of selected pictures for sale to the nation, reflecting his strong preference that the entire collection should remain on public view in the UK. A spokesman said: "We are determined to do everything we can to ensure that this world-class collection remains on view for visitors and for the enjoyment of the people of Scotland."
Should the two galleries manage to raise the necessary funds, the entire Bridgewater collection will remain on long-term loan to the Scottish gallery.
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Holy Inspiration for Christmas holiday in Amsterdam
Updated: December 15 2008, 13:19 CET
AMSTERDAM: December is a month for shopping but also for contemplation. Cities organize special Christmas fairs, family entertainment, concerts and exhibitions to attract visitors during this holiday season. The Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam opened her doors this weekend to a special exhibition called Holy Inspiration, religion and spirituality in modern art.
The exhibition presents about 100 highlights from the collection of the Stedelijk Museum, reflecting world religion as focus of the public debate at all levels of the global community. Works by amongst others Mondrian, Malevich, Chagall, Schnabel, Barnett Newman, Rothko, Bacon, Gilbert & George, Mike Kelley and Marlene Dumas show how diverse religious experience among modern artists has been and still is. At 1st October 2008 the Stedelijk Museum left its present location in the Post CS building in Amsterdam. It is scheduled to open its new premises on the Amsterdam Museumplein at the end of 2009. In the run-up to the reopening of the Stedelijk Museum, De Nieuwe Kerk has invited the museum to enable the public to continue to see its collection by means of this exhibition.
De Nieuwe Kerk is famous for its large scale blockbuster exhibitions. With hundred thousands of visitors every year, the church is one of the most attended exhibition locations in the Netherlands. De Nieuwe Kerk is located in the middle of the city centre at Dam Square next to the Royal Palace. The church is also known as the place where the coronation of the Head of State as well of the national Remembrance Day service on 4 May takes place. In 1980, Queen Beatrix was officially inaugurated in De Nieuwe Kerk. On 2 February 2002 the wedding between the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima took place.
In the Christmas period, Amsterdam offers several special exhibitions and events. The Christmas spirit can be found in for instance Museum Amstelkring, better known as ‘Our lord in the Attic’. This unique 17th century hidden church is holding a Christmas exposition with a life size neo-gothic Christmas crib from the 19th century and more. The rooms and church are traditionally decorated excessively with pine green and holly. The completely renovated Royal Theatre Carré is hosting the World Christmas Circus, with great acts from the international circus world.
The exhibition runs until 19 April 2009
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Sunset Boulevard returns to West End
Updated: December 11 2008, 10:37 CET
LONDON: Musicals have always been one of London’s main tourist attractions. Next week a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's highly acclaimed musical ‘Sunset Boulevard’will open at the Comedy Theatre at West End. This new production, which played a sell-out season at The Watermill Theatre, Newbury earlier this year is directed by Craig Revel Horwood and Kathryn Evans is starring as Norma Desmond, Dave Willetts as Max Von Meyerling and Ben Goddard as Joe Gillis.
Sunset Boulevard originally premiered in London at the Adelphi Theatre in 1993, where it ran for almost four years and played to nearly two million people. The musical has had several long runs internationally and also enjoyed extensive tours, although it lost money because of its extraordinary running costs. A star vehicle, many well-known actresses have played the leading character, Norma Desmond, and the show has seen its share of legal battles.
Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Total attendances first surpassed 12 million in 2002, and in June 2005 The Times reported that this record might be beaten in 2005. Total attendance numbers surpassed 13 million in 2007, setting a new record for the West End. Factors behind high ticket sales in the first half of 2005 included new hit musicals such as Billy Elliot, The Producers and Mary Poppins and the high number of film stars appearing. Since the late 1990s there has been an increase in the number of American actors on the London stage, and in 2005 these included Brooke Shields, Val Kilmer, Rob Lowe and David Schwimmer. Also in 2005, Ewan McGregor made his first appearance in a stage musical in Guys and Dolls. Kevin Spacey has been artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre since 2004 and appears in some of his own productions.
The longest running musical in West End history is Les Misérables. It overtook Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which closed in 2002 after running for 8,949 performances and 21 years, as the longest running West End musical of all time on 8 October 2006. Other long-runners include Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, still running after 21 years, and Willy Russell's Blood Brothers, currently in its 20th year. However the non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap is the longest running show in the world, and has been showing since 1952.
www.sunsetlondon.com
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