ArtsWatch

Studs Terkel has died, reports the Chicago Tribune. He was 96.

Pennsylvania Ballet gets compared rather favorably to another troupe - can't remember the name - in the New York Times today. Pictured is Zachary Hench in Twyla Tharp’s “Push Comes to Shove."

Cultural groups are biting their nails over the economy - specifically, worrying about whether recession-battered donors will tighten their purses; and whether foundations, with shrinking portfolios, will reduce their payouts.
But the Chronicle of Philanthropy offers a bright spot with the idea that Obama's proposed changes in the tax structure could encourage beefed-up donations.
Sounds like it wouldn't happen for a while, but we'll take our economic optimism where we can get it.

We want to know who owns the car parked at the Kimmel Center last night with the Pennsylvania licence plate: MAHLER 5.
Was the plate ordered especially for Michael Tilson Thomas' Mahler 5 with the Philadelphia Orchestra?
And does the owner have cars for the rest of the symphonies?
Thomas' Mahler, BTW, is repeated Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Information here.
(Thanks to the housewife from Wilmington for the tip.)

They're not laughing anymore: Muti and the Queen in happier times.

Riccardo, Riccardo, Riccardo. Couldn't you humor the royals just a little? Was no compromise possible? Was it really necessary to walk away from Prince Charles' 60th birthday party just because things weren't going your way?
Well, now Philadelphia has something in common with the Queen: they've both been treated to the back side of Riccardo Muti.
And just in case his fans in Chicago thought the conductor didn't do this sort of thing anymore...

Judith Schaechter is one of 50 USA Fellows for 2008. The Philadelphia artist, known for taking stained glass where you might not expect it to go, receives $50,000 along with the award.
I particularly like this thought from Schaechter's website:
I have a crisis about every three years or so when I not only feel I am in a rut with glass but actually tell everyone I am quitting. Like anyone who’s ever truly loved something, I regularly DESPISE IT WITH ALL MY HEART. But I always go back to it. The fact is I feel my medium is a separate and living entity with which I have a relationship not unlike a marriage. Glass seems to love me back unlike anything else I’ve ever worked with and therefore, no matter how bad things get, there’s always incentive to “try to work it out”.
Her Constellation is pictured here.

It must that time of year - the list time of year.
Gramophone magazine has proclaimed the world's top orchestras, claiming to have polled critics. A few American orchestras made the list; Philadelphia was not among them. I can't claim to have heard every orchestra on the list (I wonder which one of the critics polled can), but the idea that the New York Philharmonic is one of the top 20 and Philadelphia isn't is pretty hilarious.
Here are the list's top ten.
1 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
2 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
3 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
4 London Symphony Orchestra
5 Chicago Symphony Orchestra
6 Bavarian Radio Symphony
7 Cleveland Orchestra
8 Los Angeles Philharmonic
9 Budapest Festival Orchestra
10 Dresden Staatskapelle

On the subject of lists, US News and World Report has shined its light on Michael Tilson Thomas, proclaming him one of "America's Best Leaders."
The piece says he's winning new fans for classical music. Not to take anything away from MTT, but the honor would have packed more of a punch if the magazine had actually shown how that is true. Their only evidence is this: "Ticket sales have climbed steadily since he arrived [in San Francisco], while the average age of concert-goers, bucking a national trend, has dropped from 57 in 1992 to 55 today.
Wow.
One more thought on lists. Isn't it interesting how credible we find them we they serve our agenda, and how dismissive we are of them when they don't? Forget I even brought it up.