September 28, 2004

Arts Briefing

IGHLIGHTS

VENUS REBORN A Roman-era statue of Venus has been discovered by construction workers excavating a canal shaft in Cologne, Germany, and will go on view there on Nov. 6, the director of the city's Roman-Germanic museum said yesterday. The director, Prof. Hansgerd Hellenkemper, said the Carrara marble nude torso, unearthed at a depth of 16 feet, was "extremely rare for the entire Roman period in Germany,'' Agence France-Presse reported. "Because there were neither thermal baths nor temples in this region, we assume that the Venus belonged to a wealthy estate,'' he said. He added that the statue, now missing its head and legs, was probably produced in what is now Italy, packed in straw and shipped to Cologne, then part of the Roman empire, in the first century. "The delicate breasts indicate this period,'' Professor Hellenkemper said. "Later they tended to have a more robust form.'' He said the statue probably had remained in the home of a wealthy landowner till the Franks devastated the city in 355, and when the Romans retook it a year later, Venus was probably used to construct the foundation of a road.

CONLON TO LOS ANGELES James Conlon, left, has been appointed by Plácido Domingo to succeed Kent Nagano as the music director of the Los Angeles Opera under a three-year contract beginning July 1, 2006, Mr. Domingo announced yesterday. Mr. Nagano said recently that he would step down as music director when his contract expires, on June 30, 2006. Mr. Conlon, a New York native, has spent most of the last 20 years in Europe, where he was principal conductor of the Paris National Opera from 1995 until July; general music director of the City of Cologne from 1989 to 2002 and music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 1983 to 1991. Next year he will become music director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

DYLAN TELLS OF FEARS Fearful of an attack by a crazed fan after achieving fame, Bob Dylan, right, sought solitude in the late 1960's in rural New York State, where he kept several guns in his house and felt that his creativity was being stifled. Beset by fans, he was close to a nervous breakdown, he told the British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph. "It all turned into a nightmare,'' he said in the interview, The Associated Press reported. "In the early years everything had been like a magic carpet ride for me, and then all at once it was over. Here was this thing I'd wanted to do all my life, but suddenly I didn't feel I could do it anymore.'' The first volume of Mr. Dylan's personal history, "Chronicles,'' is to be published on Oct. 5.

BOWING OUT Marta Istomin, 67, plans to retire as president of the Manhattan School of Music at the end of the school year. Mrs. Istomin, the widow of the cellist Pablo Casals and the pianist Eugene Istomin, became president in 1992. She will remain with the school as a member of its board of trustees, which will seek a successor.

FOOTNOTES

Citing the illness of its conductor, Richard Kapp, Philharmonia Virtuosi has canceled its 2004-05 season, including concerts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Oct. 23 and Feb. 12. Ticket holders for those performances may call (212) 570-3949. Rafael Bonachela, perhaps best known as Kylie Minogue's choreographer, has won the inaugural $45,000 Place Prize for new choreography. To be held every two years, the competition, sponsored by Bloomberg, financed new work by 20 choreographers in contemporary style, including full production, technical and rehearsal facilities, and distributed $180,000 in cash awards to winners. Sir Kenneth Branagh, the actor and director whose films include "Henry V'' and "Much Ado About Nothing,'' plans to direct and perhaps star in a film version of Mozart's "Magic Flute,'' The Independent of London reported. Rehearsals and casting are scheduled for early next year. Some arias will be sung in German, but the dialogue will be in English.