MOSTLY MOZART LINEUP UNVEILED

At this summer’s Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Mozart will share the spotlight with other old masters and living artists from Finland to the South Pacific.

The festival’s 42nd season, running from July 29 to August 23, will focus on the themes of loss and transformation. But much of the festival’s music and dance also exudes rebirth — or at least some kind of earthly salvation.

The July 29 opening concert is to be conducted by the festival’s French music director, Louis Langree, featuring Mostly Mozart’s first Mahler, “Das Lied von der Erde,” whose English title is “The Song of the Earth,” and Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor. Langree also will lead the August 23 performance of Richard Strauss’s “Metamorphosen” and Mozart’s Mass in C minor.

Peter Sellars is to direct a new work by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, her “Passion de Simone,” about the life and work of the late French philosopher Simone Weil.

The 60 events include orchestral and chamber concerts, recitals, dance, film, lectures, and video art installations.

Associated Press

ABT INITIATIVE TARGETS FEMALE CHOREOGRAPHERS

Choreographer Aszure Barton is the winner of the first American Ballet Theatre commission awarded under its new “Voices and Visions” initiative to identify and nurture female choreographers, it was announced yesterday.

Funded by Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris, the program will include training and mentoring workshops for female members of the ABT and ABT II, as well as an annual commission to an emerging choreographer.

The first work produced for the project will be Ms. Barton’s “Barbara,” which will have its world premiere at the American Dance Institute in Rockville, Md., and its New York premiere at the Joyce Theater May 9.

Staff Reporter of the Sun

SONNABEND COLLECTION TO GO UP FOR SALE

Ileana Sonnabend’s 20th-century art collection, one of the world’s best-known, may be sold to pay taxes on her $400 million estate. Sotheby’s and Christie’s International are competing for the consignment, executives at the two largest auction houses, who declined to be named, said.

The New York art dealer, who died in October at the age of 92, spent a lifetime buying postwar and contemporary works, including Andy Warhol’s portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Jasper Johns’s American flag painting, and Robert Rauschenberg’s “Canyon.” The collection is worth between $300 million and $400 million.

Bloomberg News

NOGUCHI MUSEUM TO GET SECOND FACE-LIFT

A Queens museum dedicated to the works of designer, sculptor, and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi has embarked on the second phase of a multistage renovation of the building.

The museum was founded by the artist in 1985, and is housed in a former factory in Long Island City. Its 13 galleries hold a comprehensive selection of Noguchi’s works in stone, metal, wood, and clay, as well as models for public projects, gardens, and dance sets created for Martha Graham.

The museum will remain open during the renovation, which will include garden and climate control updates. Previous work added both an education center and a gallery devoted to Noguchi’s work in interior design.

Associated Press

PUMPKINS SUE VIRGIN

The Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records, saying the record label has illegally used their name and music in promotional deals that hurt the band’s credibility, the Associated Press reported. According to a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the band says it has “worked hard for over two decades to accumulate a considerable amount of goodwill in the eyes of the public,” and that Virgin’s use of the band in a “Pepsi Stuff” promotion with Amazon.com and PepsiCo threatens its reputation for “artistic integrity.”

According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit demands that Virgin pay with the profits earned in the promotion and asks for an injunction against using the Pumpkins’ name or music in the future. The Smashing Pumpkins angered fans late last year when they released four slightly different versions of their new album, “Zeitgeist,” their first collection of new material in seven years. Three of the versions came with a different “bonus track.” Best Buy, Target, and iTunes each offered one of the versions exclusively, forcing fans to buy an album at Best Buy, an album at Target, and an album at iTunes just to get all the music.

Staff Reporter of the Sun