Latest news with #LibraryofCongress
Mint
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
The most expensive musical instrument in the world: This rare viola is now valued at $30 million
In May, Roberto Díaz performed at the US Library of Congress using a rare viola made by Antonio Stradivari in 1690. Called the Tuscan-Medici viola, it is now valued at $30 million, possibly the world's most expensive instrument. Díaz, who leads the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, has played the viola for nearly 15 years. He even recorded a Grammy-winning album with it. Many admire its fine grain and craftsmanship, calling it both simple and deeply beautiful. According to Diaz, the instrument produces an 'incredibly resonant but kind of compact sound'. 'It has a tremendous brilliance to it, and you can hear this. People call it the 'Cremonese spin' inside the sound, which is what makes the sound just kind of travel out into the hall,' the South China Morning Post quoted him as saying. Though he doesn't often think of its price, Diaz calls it 'surreal'. The instrument was recently gifted to the Library of Congress, making its stay permanent after being on loan for years. Díaz showed Curtis board members two violas without telling them which was which. When they heard both, they were surprised. Even without knowing much about music, they could tell the difference in sound. They didn't expect violas to differ so much. Violas are less popular than violins, with fewer concertos and a softer sound. The Tuscan-Medici was made for Grand Prince Ferdinando I de' Medici. It later belonged to Macy's heir Herbert Straus. Later, it was loaned to the Library of Congress by his widow in 1977. Collectors David and Amy Fulton made the gift of the Tuscan-Medici viola possible through a $20 million donation. The previous owners, the Baird family, sold it for less than its market value, giving up $10 million as an in-kind donation. Together, their contributions will help preserve the viola and allow it to be played publicly forever. Only around 10 of Stradivari's violas are known to exist. It makes them rarer and more valuable than his violins. Experts say the Tuscan-Medici is especially prized because it has been actively played and maintained. It will remain at the library, available for top musicians to perform with or take on tour. The most expensive string instrument ever sold at auction is the 'Lady Blunt' Stradivarius violin, bought for $15.9 million in 2011. Though a Stradivarius viola called the 'Macdonald' was offered for $45 million in 2014, no buyer came forward.
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Gay California Lawmaker Blasts 'Inflammatory' Pride resolution
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Carl DeMaio, an openly gay Republican assemblymember representing San Diego, accused his Democratic colleagues of advancing what he called an "inflammatory" Pride Month resolution meant to "divide us," the lawmaker told Newsweek. Newsweek has reached out to Democratic leaders, including the bill's sponsor, Assemblymember Chris Ward, for comment via email on Wednesday. Why It Matters Pride Month is celebrated every June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York City, according to the Library of Congress. Celebrations take place across the country and world, with large parades in major U.S. cities. This June marks the 10th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. California has been at odds with the Trump administration over transgender rights, particularly regarding transgender athletes in girls' sports. What To Know On Monday, Democrats presented the resolution, put forward by Ward. The resolution emphasizes respect and the advancement of "equality for all people," highlighting California's history of supporting LGBTQ+ community members, while also recognizing the challenges faced by this community. DeMaio says he approached Ward earlier with amendments to the resolution, particularly striking out parts that relate to policy, including transgender inclusion in girls' sports. He told Newsweek the resolution is filled with inflammatory, erroneous rhetoric," adding that "more importantly, it takes policy positions." DeMaio's problem with the resolution is in part related to the section calling out various anti-LBGTQ+ bills, which reads: "The aforementioned anti-LGBTQ+ bills disproportionately target TGI people and include efforts to prohibit access to lifesaving gender-affirming health care, prevent TGI youth from playing school sports alongside their friends, erase TGI identities from vital records and state driver's licenses, ban books that include TGI people and history, prohibit TGI people from using restrooms and facilities in accordance with their gender identity, and criminalize TGI people who bravely embrace their authentic selves amid rising hostility." "TGI" stands for "transgender, gender diverse, and intersex." The Republican lawmaker, who rarely collaborates across the aisle, says his frustration lies in the potential of the resolution, stating that he believes he could have gotten his Republican colleagues to unanimously vote for his edited version of the resolution, which he said would be "historical." California Republican Carl DeMaio poses for a picture at the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2014. California Republican Carl DeMaio poses for a picture at the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2014. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta On Monday, he spoke against the matter on the floor. During his speech, he was interrupted several times by Democratic Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Josh Lowenthal. The interruptions were for various members' birthday announcements. The Democrats hold a majority in the California State Assembly, with 60 seats to Republicans' 19. DeMaio voted against the matter, and the resolution passed. What People Are Saying Lindsey Stetson, chair of Log Cabin Republicans of California, told Newsweek: "Partisan Democrats are only for diversity when it conforms to their political ideology. They can't handle any kind of divergence from their radical orthodoxy. Carl DeMaio has been a practical, pragmatic conservative while living openly and honorably as a gay man, consistently smeared by the gay left. It's no surprise his leadership in Sacramento presents an existential challenge they desperately try to silence while he exposes their morally -and fiscally- bankrupt policies not only for LGBT individuals, but all Californians." The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus said in a June 18 statement: "The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus released the following statement condemning U.S. v. Skrmetti Supreme Court ruling, and reaffirms support for transgender youth and their families." What Happens Next As Pride Month comes to a close, numerous large parades and celebrations will take place this weekend, including in San Francisco and New York City.
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Library of Congress acquires Stephen Sondheim's papers and manuscripts
When Stephen Sondheim visited the Library of Congress in 1993, he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. Mark Horowitz, a senior music specialist at the library, had prepared a selection of historical scores from its collection – including works by Brahms and Rachmaninoff – to show the acclaimed composer and lyricist. 'The last thing I showed him was Gershwin's manuscript for 'Porgy and Bess,'' Horowitz said. 'That's when he started to cry.' The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that it has acquired the papers of the late composer, who died in 2021. Manuscripts and documents charting the creation of some of the most iconic and beloved musicals of the past 50-plus years – including 'Company,' 'Into the Woods' and 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' – will now sit alongside 'Porgy and Bess' in the library's permanent collection. Plan your next getaway with Travel Time, featuring travel deals, destinations and gear. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Travel Time will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Sondheim's music and lyrics will be available for public viewing July 1, while the remaining letters, notes and more will be accessible later this summer. The treasure trove of notebooks, sheet music and letters illuminates the craft behind the eight-time Tony winner's relentless reinvention of the musical. 'When it comes to theater makers in America in the last century, he's the Shakespeare,' said Matthew Gardiner, the artistic director of Arlington's Signature Theatre, which is known for its productions of Sondheim's musicals. 'It's so special to have these documents and lyrics and poems to see his process. [It's] a celebration of a life's work that changed an art form.' The library's acquisition of Sondheim's materials was decades in the making. Shortly after joining its music department, Horowitz arranged the show-and-tell with Sondheim, partially to persuade the composer to donate his manuscripts and letters to the institution. 'After that meeting, he said he was going to change his will,' Horowitz said. 'He sent me a letter with a blowup of the language he put in his will about his papers coming to the library. I felt like, yes, I could breathe a sigh of relief now that [was] done.' Three months ago, boxes containing nearly 5,000 items began arriving at the library's Madison Building. The treasures included the program for 'By George,' a musical Sondheim wrote in high school, and documents from the creation of more celebrated musicals, such as 40 pages of potential rhymes for the song 'A Little Priest' from 'Sweeney Todd.' Even for a Sondheim fan like Horowitz, sorting through these notes and pages of sheet music was overwhelming. The papers, he said, illustrate the painstaking energy that went into a Sondheim composition. 'I'm staggered and stunned by how bloody much effort he put into everything – the craft behind it,' Horowitz said. 'He'll have a finished song, he'll have a complete piano vocal score for the song in his hand, and then there'll be 20 pages of typescripts of the lyrics. He's still refining it and still changing it every day. It's like he's never happy or satisfied. It's always, 'What can I do to make this better?' And it's impossible to make that better!' Many of Sondheim's collaborators and inspirations in the Broadway world have left their papers and manuscripts to the Library of Congress. The New York City native follows his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II, whose family bequeathed sheet music and other papers related to 'Oklahoma!' and 'The Sound of Music' to the library. Leonard Bernstein, who collaborated with Sondheim on 'West Side Story,' began donating manuscripts while he was still alive. 'There's sort of this fantasy that [when] we leave at night and lock the doors behind us, we think: Are these collections murmuring to each other? Are they saying 'Hey, Steve! How are you doing?'' Horowitz said. 'The most gratifying thing is for the researchers, because we know it makes their research richer, because they can come here and look at Sondheim but then see the relationships between the other people.' Despite his ubiquity as a composer for the stage, Sondheim was a cultural omnivore, as evidenced by some of the recently acquired papers. Notes for 'Sooner or Later,' an Oscar-winning number that Sondheim wrote for Warren Beatty's 'Dick Tracy,' sit in the library's collection next to sheet music for a jingle he wrote for 'The Simpsons.' For aficionados like Gardiner, the richness of the acquisition lies in the drafts of Sondheim's musicals. The composer's process is fully on display, whether it be in the various versions of 'I'm Still Here' from 'Follies' or a reprise that was cut from 'Company.' Gardiner, who has directed or choreographed productions of beloved works such as 'Passion' and Sondheim's only Pulitzer Prize winner, 'Sunday in the Park With George,' plans to visit the library straight away. 'They've already promised to let me come take a look,' he said. 'We're very lucky to have the resource so close. I'm sure we will use it many, many times to inspire new interpretations, deepen our dramaturgical insight and to honor Sondheim as best we possibly can. I know there will be a meaningful relationship with that collection.' There's a reason revivals and revues have kept Sondheim's work on stages across the country. 'He's changed the audience members' lives because he's done what all great artists do, which is capture the way we think and feel about things,' Horowitz said. 'He's able to put words and musical emotions behind these things [that] makes them universal in a way that they hadn't been before.'
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Library of Congress acquires Stephen Sondheim's papers and manuscripts
The music and lyrics will be available for public viewing July 1, while the remaining letters and more will be accessible later this summer Published Jun 26, 2025 • 4 minute read Three months ago, boxes containing nearly 5,000 items began arriving at the library's Madison Building. Photo by Eric Lee / FTWP Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. When Stephen Sondheim visited the Library of Congress in 1993, he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. Mark Horowitz, a senior music specialist at the library, had prepared a selection of historical scores from its collection – including works by Brahms and Rachmaninoff – to show the acclaimed composer and lyricist. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 'The last thing I showed him was Gershwin's manuscript for 'Porgy and Bess,'' Horowitz said. 'That's when he started to cry.' The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that it has acquired the papers of the late composer, who died in 2021. Manuscripts and documents charting the creation of some of the most iconic and beloved musicals of the past 50-plus years – including 'Company,' 'Into the Woods' and 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' – will now sit alongside 'Porgy and Bess' in the library's permanent collection. Sondheim's music and lyrics will be available for public viewing July 1, while the remaining letters, notes and more will be accessible later this summer. The treasure trove of notebooks, sheet music and letters illuminates the craft behind the eight-time Tony winner's relentless reinvention of the musical. Plan your next getaway with Travel Time, featuring travel deals, destinations and gear. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'When it comes to theater makers in America in the last century, he's the Shakespeare,' said Matthew Gardiner, the artistic director of Arlington's Signature Theatre, which is known for its productions of Sondheim's musicals. 'It's so special to have these documents and lyrics and poems to see his process. [It's] a celebration of a life's work that changed an art form.' Mark Horowitz, a senior music specialist at the library, was instrumental in persuading Sondheim to donate his papers to the institution. Photo by Eric Lee / FTWP The library's acquisition of Sondheim's materials was decades in the making. Shortly after joining its music department, Horowitz arranged the show-and-tell with Sondheim, partially to persuade the composer to donate his manuscripts and letters to the institution. 'After that meeting, he said he was going to change his will,' Horowitz said. 'He sent me a letter with a blowup of the language he put in his will about his papers coming to the library. I felt like, yes, I could breathe a sigh of relief now that [was] done.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Three months ago, boxes containing nearly 5,000 items began arriving at the library's Madison Building. The treasures included the program for 'By George,' a musical Sondheim wrote in high school, and documents from the creation of more celebrated musicals, such as 40 pages of potential rhymes for the song 'A Little Priest' from 'Sweeney Todd.' Even for a Sondheim fan like Horowitz, sorting through these notes and pages of sheet music was overwhelming. The papers, he said, illustrate the painstaking energy that went into a Sondheim composition. 'I'm staggered and stunned by how bloody much effort he put into everything – the craft behind it,' Horowitz said. 'He'll have a finished song, he'll have a complete piano vocal score for the song in his hand, and then there'll be 20 pages of typescripts of the lyrics. He's still refining it and still changing it every day. It's like he's never happy or satisfied. It's always, 'What can I do to make this better?' And it's impossible to make that better!' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Many of Sondheim's collaborators and inspirations in the Broadway world have left their papers and manuscripts to the Library of Congress. The New York City native follows his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II, whose family bequeathed sheet music and other papers related to 'Oklahoma!' and 'The Sound of Music' to the library. Leonard Bernstein, who collaborated with Sondheim on 'West Side Story,' began donating manuscripts while he was still alive. 'There's sort of this fantasy that [when] we leave at night and lock the doors behind us, we think: Are these collections murmuring to each other? Are they saying 'Hey, Steve! How are you doing?'' Horowitz said. 'The most gratifying thing is for the researchers, because we know it makes their research richer, because they can come here and look at Sondheim but then see the relationships between the other people.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Horowitz with the sheet music of one of his favourite songs, 'A Little Priest.' Photo by Eric Lee / FTWP Despite his ubiquity as a composer for the stage, Sondheim was a cultural omnivore, as evidenced by some of the recently acquired papers. Notes for 'Sooner or Later,' an Oscar-winning number that Sondheim wrote for Warren Beatty's 'Dick Tracy,' sit in the library's collection next to sheet music for a jingle he wrote for 'The Simpsons.' For aficionados like Gardiner, the richness of the acquisition lies in the drafts of Sondheim's musicals. The composer's process is fully on display, whether it be in the various versions of 'I'm Still Here' from 'Follies' or a reprise that was cut from 'Company.' Gardiner, who has directed or choreographed productions of beloved works such as 'Passion' and Sondheim's only Pulitzer Prize winner, 'Sunday in the Park With George,' plans to visit the library straight away. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'They've already promised to let me come take a look,' he said. 'We're very lucky to have the resource so close. I'm sure we will use it many, many times to inspire new interpretations, deepen our dramaturgical insight and to honor Sondheim as best we possibly can. I know there will be a meaningful relationship with that collection.' There's a reason revivals and revues have kept Sondheim's work on stages across the country. 'He's changed the audience members' lives because he's done what all great artists do, which is capture the way we think and feel about things,' Horowitz said. 'He's able to put words and musical emotions behind these things [that] makes them universal in a way that they hadn't been before.' Canada CFL Sunshine Girls Celebrity Music
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Stradivarius viola valued at US$30 million could be the world's most expensive instrument
At the US Library of Congress in Washington in May, Roberto Díaz was playing on an exceedingly rare viola. What did not cross his mind, he says, is just how much the maple and spruce instrument clutched beneath his chin was worth. Advertisement Which is perhaps a good thing. The Tuscan-Medici viola from the workshop of Antonio Stradivari was recently valued at US$30 million, likely making it the most expensive musical instrument in the world. 'You know, it's funny, I never really thought about it that way,' Díaz says a couple of days after the concert. 'The price tag is so surreal in the sense that it almost doesn't really register.' Díaz is president and chief executive of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, in the US state of Pennsylvania, and through Curtis he has developed a relationship with the viola, performing on it from time to time beginning nearly 15 years ago. It was on this instrument, made in 1690, that Díaz recorded Jennifer Higdon's Viola Concerto, an album that won two Grammy Awards in 2018. Advertisement So it was natural that Díaz, along with a handful of Curtis students, was onstage for the Library of Congress concert, organised to celebrate a new milestone in the instrument's 335-year journey: its donation to the Library of Congress as a gift to the nation.
