The front page of the score for Rimsky-Korsakov’sopera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, as published by V. Bessel & Co.
BOCA RATON – The Bessel publishing house, founded in St. Petersburg in 1869, grew from a music shop into a concern that was at the center of Russian musical life, printing works by the nation’s leading composers from Tchaikovsky to the members of the “mighty handful.”
Many of the first-edition scores published by Bessel can be seen in the Richard Beattie Davis Collection at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Davis knew the granddaughters of firm founders Vasily Bessel (1843-1907) and his brother Ivan. The Bessel Archives contain first editions of operas by Rimsky-Korsakov, Anton Rubinstein and Alexander Serov, among others, and the FAU Wimberley Library is hosting a special exhibit through March 25 featuring the collection.
This Sunday, the FAU Chamber Players will put the collection in the spotlight with a program of pieces from the collection, including works by Adolf Henselt, Hummel, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin. Pianist Leonid Treer will be joined by violinist Mei-Mei Luo, cellist Claudio Jaffe, pianists Judith Burganger and Heather Coltman, soprano Birgit Fioravante and bass Dean Peterson.
The concert begins at 3 p.m. Sunday in the University Theatre on the Boca Raton campus. Suggested donation is $10. For more information about the concert, call 297-3820. The Davis Collection is open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or by appointment. For more information, call the library’s Special Collections and Archives department at 297-3787 or e-mail lysca@fau.edu.
Bruce Helander, in his trademark orange bowler.(Photo by Katie Deits)
New art magazine debuts in Palm Beach
PALM BEACH – The Art Economist, a new arts publication and website based in Palm Beach, launched last month.
The publication celebrates and documents the major creative and financial achievements of the world’s leading artists and examines the economics of contemporary art as a commodity and investment opportunity. The top 300 earning living artists will be listed regularly, as well as new artists to watch for predicted success.
Editorial components in the first issue included an article by David W. Galenson, professor of economics at the University of Chicago, on the birth of the art market from Picasso to Damien Hirst. Beijing correspondent Drew Hammond wrote about how the Chinese artist Tang Son, went from rages to riches in less than a decade, and included analyses of young, promising Chinese artists. Elisabeth Sobiewski interviewed James Rosenquist on his life and autobiography, Painting for Zero, and Julie L. Belcove, who edits W’s annual art issue, explored the current financial state of the art world.
Each issue will feature 30 detailed profiles from the list of 300. The magazine accepts no paid advertising. A yearly subscription (10 issues) and access to the website is $400. The magazine is the brainchild of Fred Alger, art collector, investor and former board member of the Museum of Modern Art. Editor-in-chief is Palm Beach artist and critic Bruce Helander. Associate editor is Marisa J. Pascucci, former curator of modern art at Norton Museum of Art. Call 877-890-7618 or visit www.thearteconomist.com.
Seymour Hersh.
Reporter Hersh to be featured at Boca arts fest
BOCA RATON – The Festival of the Arts Boca has added leading American investigative reporter Seymour Hersh to its literary schedule.
Hersh will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, March 7 at the Schmidt Family Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park. The festival runs March 4-12 at Mizner Park.
Hersh has worked on some of the most important news stories of our time and has published eight books, most recently Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib. Hersh’s awards include the Pulitzer Prize, four George K. Polk Awards, and more than a dozen other prizes, including the 1983 National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times award for biography, and a Sidney Hillman Award for The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House.
Hersh has also won two Investigative Reporters & Editors Prizes, for the Kissinger book and his 1992 study of the Israeli nuclear bomb program, The Samson Option.
Hersh is scheduled to speak about current American foreign policy. Tickets are $35 and $55 and are available by calling 866-571-ARTS or by visiting www.centre4theartsboca.org.