Music News - 2008-03-15

Barack Obama in Rolling Stone

2008-03-15 15:00:15.490112
href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/19106326">Barack Obama's Machinery of Hope by Tim Dickinson [From RS1048 — March 20, 2007]

href="http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/19066990/barack_obama_a_photo_historyn" tar="tar" get="blank">Photo Gallery: Barack Obama, a History in Pictures [From RS1048 — March 20, 2007]

href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/19106551/a_new_hope"> An Endorsement: Barack Obama for President by Jann S. Wenner [From RS1048 — March 20, 2007]

href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17652931/obamas_moment"> Obama's Moment by Matt Taibbi [From Issue 1042/1043 — December 27, 2007-January 10, 2008]

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Cover Story: Jack Johnson - The Dude Abides

2008-03-15 09:00:14.840724
Click href="http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/18653440/jack_johnson_rocks_mellowest_sup" target="blank">here for a photo gallery of rock's mellow superstar onstage and off, style="text-decoration:none; color:#bb1111" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/02/21/eddie-vedder-on-jack-johnson-what-hes-doing-is-real/" target="blank">here on why Eddie Vedder loves Jack Johnson, and href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18726707/jack_johnson_filmmaker" target="blank">here to hear Johnson discuss filming surf scenes, complete with footage from his film "Thicker Than Water"

When he's away from home during a long tour, Jack Johnson has anxiety dreams that wake him up in the middle of the night.

"I get completely haunted," he says. In his most vivid dream, Johnson is standing on the beach with a guitar, gazing into the...

The Machinery of Hope

2008-03-15 18:00:20.527564
href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/19106551/a_new_hope"> Click here for Rolling Stone's endorsement of Barack Obama and href="http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/19066990/barack_obama_a_photo_history" target="blank">here for a photo timeline of Obama's life.

It's Presidents day, two weeks before the Texas primary, and Adam Ukman has come to the small city of San Marcos to train precinct captains for Barack Obama. A soft-spoken native of Houston, Ukman has served on the campaign's front lines in Iowa and Utah, organizing grass-roots supporters to secure decisive victories in both states. This evening, more than eighty residents of San Marcos have crammed into a yellow clapboard recreation center on a street dotted with shacks that date from the Jim Crow era. "Our job is not to run in here to tell you how it's going to be," Ukman tells them. "This is your campaign. Not our campaign."

Anyone who has spent time around Democratic politics has heard this kind of rhetoric before. Most often, it's pure horseshit. But...

"Hallelujah" for Idol

2008-03-15 01:00:23.913143
Who's American Idol's biggest winner so far? The answer might surprise you. David Archuleta has the buzz. Chikezie just might have had the performance of the week. But it's Jeff Buckley who scored the No. 1 hit. 'Hallelujah,' a Leonard Cohen song

2 understudies take over the Met stage (AP)

2008-03-15 14:00:12.353706

By MIKE SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Call it "Tristan und Isolde — und Isolde."

On a night full of surprises and considerable musical rewards, the Metropolitan Opera's revival of Wagner's epic drama about doomed lovers with a serious death wish came perilously close to being doomed itself.

The original cast looked, on paper, like a dream — heldentenor Ben Heppner repeating his acclaimed interpretation of Tristan and soprano Deborah Voigt singing Isolde for the first time at the Met.

Then Heppner came down with a virus and canceled the first four of six performances. At Monday's opening, his "cover," or understudy, John Mac Master, struggled to make it through the five-hour-long performance. So for Friday night's second outing, the Met turned to the second cover, Gary Lehman, a former baritone who had never sung the role onstage before.

But Lehman came with some good advance buzz — he had drawn favorable attention in 2005 when he stepped in at a moment's notice for Placido Domingo in the title role of Wagner's "Parsifal" at the Los Angeles Opera.

And from the moment he appeared on the Met stage, he took control of the role, with a strong presence — enhanced by his tall, relatively trim figure — and a sturdy tenor that projected well into the vast auditorium.

Still, Act 1 is not a true test for Tristan, since he has relatively little to sing. So the audience was waiting eagerly to see how he would fare in the 40-minute love duet that comprises the core of Act 2 and has brought many a tenor to grief.

And that's when the night's biggest shock arrived.

Voigt, who had struggled with both pitch and breath support during Act 1, suddenly rushed offstage just as the lovers were supposed to be settling in for a night of rapture.

James Levine kept conducting the orchestra for a minute or so even after the curtain slowly came down, and Lehman could be heard faintly singing his next lines. Then the music stopped, and a Met official came out to announce that Voigt had been taken ill but that her cover, Janice Baird, was literally waiting in the wings and would be out shortly.

Sure enough, after about 15 minutes the curtain rose again, and the audience warmly applauded the two lovers onstage together.

For opera fans with a sense of history, it was an amazing sight — two singers making unplanned Met debuts together in the lead roles of one of the most daunting operas in the repertory.

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Afghan woman who sang her way to top 3 of Afghanistan's version of 'American Idol' voted out (AP)

2008-03-15 15:00:15.280566

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 15, 7:10 AM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan woman who sang her way to the top three of Afghanistan's version of "American Idol" has been voted out.

Lima Sahar was the first Afghan woman to make it to the top three of the country's popular "Afghan Star" television show, which is now in its third year. Conservative critics had taken aim at the 20-year-old woman for singing in public in the conservative Muslim country.

Sahar, who comes from Afghanistan's most conservative tribe — the Pashtuns, thanked everyone who had voted for her. She also reminded the audience that there had been very little music in Afghanistan in the last two decades, which have been mostly consumed with war.

Under the Taliban regime that was overthrown in 2001, women were not even allowed out of their homes unaccompanied, while music and television were banned.

"I am very happy to have come in third place," Sahar said on the show broadcast Friday night. "This is an honor for me that the people voted for me. I really thank them and I also congratulate them."

The country's conservative cleric's council has protested to President Hamid Karzai over "Afghan Star" and Indian dramas shown on Tolo TV, the country's most popular station. But younger Afghans say the show is helping women progress.

"Afghan Star" will pick its winner between the two remaining contestants next Friday.

The top three finishers this season each represented one of Afghanistan's major ethnic groups. The two finalists are Hameed Sakhizada, a 21-year-old Hazara with a mop of black hair, and Rafi Naabzada, a 19-year-old ethnic Tajik who often wears a white leather jacket.

The show follows the same format as "American Idol," although the two are not connected. it has become one of Afghanistan's most popular TV shows, gathering large crowds around TVs in restaurants and homes. About 2,000 hopefuls auditioned for the third season of the show.

The singers perform in front of a studio audience and three judges, and past winners have been given recording deals. A woman finished fifth in the show's first season, but no female has risen as high as Sahar.

The winner this year will take home around $5,000 — a king's ransom in Afghanistan.

Daud Sadiqi, the show's host, said "Afghan Star" has been a runaway hit that shows the world the "peaceful face of Afghanistan."

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Be Kind Rewind: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Review

2008-03-15 07:00:13.027721
My Story Be Kind Rewind is one of those movies I was THIS close to seeing in the theaters. The premise of two guys trying to reshoot all of the big movies in a video store sounded very funny, but the trailers turned me off, as it went from hilarious to

Beatle Paul 'must pay Heather 25 million' in divorce settlement

2008-03-15 20:00:15.943728
Heather Millsis to receive 25 million in her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney, it was reported this weekend. (Advertisement) It is not known whether the payment includes provision for the couple's four-year-old daughter, Beatrice. If it doesn't, the final

Cash Money Superstar Lil Wayne Serving up Something New for the Taste Buds: The First Single "Lollipop" from his new album set to impact at Crossover and Urban Radio on March 25th THA CARTER III In-Stores May 13th

2008-03-15 00:00:14.36905
Money Superstar Lil Wayne Serving up Something New for the Taste Buds: The First Single from his new album set to impact at Crossover and Urban Radio on March 25th THA CARTER III In-Stores May 13th March 14, 2008 ENTERTAINMENT AND

Dapp Theory blends funk, groove, hip-hop, jazz at Moody's

2008-03-15 04:00:23.051764
Bistro's most anticipated show April 11&12 Moody's Bistro&Lounge hosts Dapp Theory - compared to the likes of Herbie Hancock - Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12. Take advantage of this free show in an intimate atmosphere. Canadian-born

French video site stakes claim to indie cool (Reuters)

2008-03-15 00:00:13.917281

By Cristina Black 2 hours, 20 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Billboard) - With its popular Take-Away Shows -- on-the-spot live music videos -- French music Web site La Blogotheque is becoming an important point of exposure for emerging North American indie bands.

Each shot in one take in an offbeat location, the videos have drawn more than 6 million views on blogotheque.net, YouTube and band Web sites.

The brand has recently expanded to include sites dedicated to local scenes in specific markets, such as One Take New York and One Shot Seattle, giving regional bands exposure on the international indie market. La Blogotheque's English and French...

Gnarls Barkley balances weighty themes, spirited pop (Reuters)

2008-03-15 21:00:15.330701

By Jeff Vrabel 1 hour, 25 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The title of Gnarls Barkley's sophomore record is the first, and probably last, funny thing about it.

If the band's 2006 debut, "St. Elsewhere," seemed to sail in from some neighboring planet -- a pop disc that smeared itself with psychedelic weirdness, a vague sense of the creepy and a knockout Violent Femmes cover -- the follow-up is a much trickier trip to the dark side. ("I'm not doing so good," a serious-sounding Cee-Lo Green intones on the otherwise effervescent opening track, "Charity Case.")

But where there's darkness there's light, Green says. And...

Guitarist charts success at SXSW (AP)

2008-03-15 00:00:14.364222

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer 2 hours, 55 minutes ago

AUSTIN, Texas - Kaki King, the acclaimed guitarist nominated for a Golden Globe for her work on the "Into the Wild" score, is marking her fourth year at the South by Southwest music festival — and she can chart her growth in success by the number of shows she's performing over the five-day festival.

"The first time I played once or twice, I hung around for the week," she told The Associated Press after performing at the BMI & Billboard showcase Friday afternoon. "This time it's been a full week — been doing two to three shows a day, loads of interviews ... I'm definitely doing things and am in situations that I certainly didn't do the first time around."

The 26-year-old, who just released her latest album "Dreaming of Revenge," was nominated for best original score at the Golden Globes for collaborating with Eddie Vedder and Michael Brook on the music for the Sean Penn-directed film "Into the Wild."

King — who also wrote music for the film "August Rush" — said the nomination definitely raised her profile.

"Everyone knows who Eddie Vedder is, but for myself and Michael, (people might say), 'Oh wow, who are these young artists' and probably went and checked us out," she said. "It's really just kind of a nice feather in my cap."

King, who also collaborated with the Foo Fighters on their Grammy-winning album "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace," said her new album helped challenge her as a musician.

"I've had to learn new techniques," she said. "The thing about guitar is that you're always learning no matter what, and you never stop learning. No one has ever mastered the guitar, because you change one little thing ... there's always something totally new to learn.

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On the Net:

http://www.kakiking.com

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Hip hop

2008-03-15 02:00:12.927083
Board_threads: * I must know: Who thinks Hip-Hop is total S**TE and can't wait for it to DIE! Board_threads: * Calvin Harris = Legend Board_threads: * Dilettantes - Joel Gion Board_threads: * Calvin Harris = Legend Board_threads: * JezCCin way too

Hip-Hop Grows at South by Southwest

2008-03-15 21:00:15.828657
AUSTIN, Texas -- South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players, metal acts and even some country artists. But hip-hop? Not so much. That's been changing

Hip-Hop grows at South by Southwest

2008-03-15 23:00:14.998035
AUSTIN, Texas - South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players That's been changing thanks to SXSW music programmer Matt Sonzala, who has worked steadily

Hip-Hop grows at South by Southwest (AP)

2008-03-15 23:00:14.507021

Sat Mar 15, 8:12 PM ET

AUSTIN, Texas - South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players, metal acts and even some country artists. But hip-hop? Not so much.

That's been changing thanks to SXSW music programmer Matt Sonzala, who has worked steadily to increase the profile of rap at the festival, which hosts hundreds and hundreds of acts each year. Among the 150 hip-hop performers at this year's event include Ice Cube, Bun B, The Clipse, Dizzee Rascal, 2 Live Crew, Talib Kweli, and the Cool Kids.

"Honestly I didn't know too much about this, and people would say, 'What — you don't know what that is? ... If you don't go, you trippin'!'" said Del the Funky Homosapien, playing SXSW for the first time this year. "That's when I started realizing."

While the genres at SXSW have always been varied, it is more known for its rock. But with the growth of Southern rap, especially nearby Houston's burgeoning rap scene, Sonzala felt something needed to be done about the dearth of hip-hop at the festival.

"Early on, I was trying to get artists to come down," Sonzala, who has been working for SXSW for five years, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Most of the people I brought were from Houston."

Getting more mainstream artists and those from other regions proved to be more challenging.

"When I would talk to the labels," he said, "people would tell me things like, 'Why would I send my artists to that hippie festival? Why would I send them to this rock festival?"

But once labels started seeing the benefit of playing the SXSW — including garnering key publicity and making key industry contacts — Sonzala doesn't have that much of a problem anymore.

"I guess word of mouth, they see what it is, it's really the world's biggest music festival," he said. "Word has just spread."

Groundbreaking Houston rapper Bun B, who along with the late Pimp C was part of the group U.G.K., said he reached out to acts like Kweli and Banner to appear this year. He said for many rappers, SXSW wasn't on their radar: "(But) I think it absolutely should be."

Besides increasing rap's profile on the key music festival circuit, Bun B said SXSW has helped him understand how broad his fan base is.

"You don't even know where you register on that scale sometimes," he said.

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Hospital to fire workers in Spears case (AP)

2008-03-15 15:00:14.783175

Sat Mar 15, 7:21 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - UCLA Medical Center will fire some employees and discipline others for snooping at the confidential medical records of Britney Spears, who was hospitalized in its psychiatric ward, a hospital official told The Associated Press.

Jeri Simpson, the hospital's director of human resources who was involved in the investigations of the confidentiality breach, confirmed the action but could not say how many employees were affected. The hospital did not say when the snooping took place or which of Spears records were looked at.

The Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Friday that the breaches occurred during Spears most recent hospital stay. While the disciplined employees were unable to access her psychiatric records, they did look at non-psychiatric records from her previous visits to the medical center, the Times reported.

The newspaper said more than 13 employees, none of whom are doctors, would be fired. Twelve others, including several doctors, will be disciplined otherwise for looking at her computerized records, it reported.

There is no evidence that any employee leaked or sold the information about Spears, who is a tabloid favorite, according to the Times. Still, such snooping is a violation of state and federal medical privacy laws and the state Department of Public Health had opened an investigation of the hospital, the newspaper reported.

This is not the first time the hospital has had to reprimand employees for looking at Spears' records. Several workers were fired after they were caught snooping after Spears gave birth to her first son, Sean Preston, in September 2005.

"It's not only surprising, it's very frustrating and it's very disappointing," Simpson told the newspaper, adding that she felt "horrible" that it happened again.

Spears was admitted to the hospital twice in January under a state law allowing patients to be held against their will for up to 72 hours for evaluation if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others. On her second trip to the medical center, Spears stayed for nearly a week.

Leading up to the hospitalizations, Spears had been behaving bizarrely. She shaved her head, was seen in public without underwear, ran over a celebrity photographer's foot and attacked a vehicle with an umbrella.

After her Feb. 6 release, a judge placed Spears and her estate under a temporary conservatorship. Conservatorships are granted for people deemed unable to take care of themselves or their affairs.

Spears has since had very limited contact with her toddler sons who are under the sole physical and legal custody of her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

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Ice Cube Gets 'Raw,' Tech Savvy

2008-03-15 11:00:11.540053
With a musical career that is now dawning a ninth solo release and an acting resume that will pass 25 films this year, it's no surprise that Ice Cube will be further converging his music and theatrics during an upcoming performance. Tomorrow night at

Indie labels take e-commerce into their own hands (Reuters)

2008-03-15 18:00:19.139793

By Cortney Harding 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Billboard) - With their digital download sites, a growing number of indie rock labels have begun to answer the prayers of fans who would love to hear long-out-of-print singles on their iPods or other mobile devices.

Merge Records became the latest to join the field with the recent launch of its online emporium, which, according to label president Mac McCaughan, features "high-quality MP3s and full FLAC (free lossless audio codec) files of recent, older and out-of-print titles, including all the early Merge singles, as well as the Superchunk 'Clambakes' series." The store will also eventually host exclusive tracks, remixes and video content, in...

Justice Want To "Feed Off The Rock Energy"

2008-03-15 09:00:13.470883
During last year's tour in support of their debut album , French electronic duo Justice noticed that North American crowds, not unlike those on their native side of the pond, were surprisingly diverse in their make-up and unanimous in their desire to

Kelly, cancels Apollo show

2008-03-15 19:00:13.884064
AMERICAN Idol favourite, Kelly Clarkson, has cancelled Saturday night's show at the Apollo due to laryngitis. SITTING in the miserable Manchester drizzle, it's hard to empathise with the enthusiastic Kelly Clarkson as she proclaims a love for the city

Man claims The Game assaulted him (AP)

2008-03-15 05:00:45.653071

Sat Mar 15, 2:14 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - This game may prove costly for The Game.

A man filed a civil suit against the rapper, claiming he assaulted him during a pickup basketball game last year, celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported Friday.

In court documents posted on TMZ, Shannon Rodrick said The Game, whose real name is Jayceon Taylor, told him his "team is garbage" and "sucker-punched" him, causing him to fall backward.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Superior Court alleges that Taylor went to his vehicle to get a gun and approached Rodrick saying, "I'm going to blast this fool."

Taylor served eight days in jail this month after pleading no contest to felony possession of a firearm in a school zone.

Rodrick's suit, which alleges assault, battery, a civil rights violation and negligence, seeks unspecified damages.

A phone message left Friday with Taylor's agent was not immediately returned.

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On the Net:

TMZ: http://www.tmz.com

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More bands embrace the option of giving away music (Reuters)

2008-03-15 18:00:18.699674

By Jennifer Netherby 48 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The two latest bands to offer their new albums online for free are advancing divergent versions of the business model Radiohead introduced in fall 2007.

Where Nine Inch Nails' approach, like Radiohead's before it, draws fans in with free music and then offers additional music for purchase in more extravagant configurations, the Charlatans UK release doesn't seem connected to any such game plan.

From the start, Nine Inch Nails planned to put out some tracks for free and charge for others from its instrumental album "Ghosts I-IV." NIN began giving away nine tracks on its...

N.E.R.D debut new music in Austin, Texas (AP)

2008-03-15 17:00:14.210364

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer 13 minutes ago

AUSTIN, Texas - N.E.R.D.'s new single "Everybody Nose," which depicts a club-hopper's drug use, could be the theme song for out-of-control party girls on the celebrity circuit. But frontman Pharrell Williams says the song is not chastising people for their questionable habits.

"The message is just making an observation. It's not us condoning or glorifying it or talking about people who do it," the superproducer told The Associated Press on Friday. "We're just saying America, look at what's going on ... this is what it's like this is what this girl does."

"Everybody Nose" is the first new music from the eclectic trio in years. The group — which includes Williams' Neptunes production partner Chad Hugo and friend Shay Hayley — haven't released an album since 2004, and were debuting some of their new music at performances at the South by Southwest music festival. Williams said the group took so long because they were "waiting for the right moment."

"There's a lack thereof of energy, so we just wanted to be one of the bands that would re-install that energetic feeling," said Williams, who along with Hugo has produced for acts ranging from Beyonce to Jay-Z to Justin Timberlake.

"I think it sounds more aggressive, more focused on emotional buildup and just way hotter, it's way better — its louder, and it's more texturized," said Hugo of their sound, which ranges from hip-hop to punk sounds.

N.E.R.D. — which stands for "No One Ever Really Dies" is due to go out on the road with Kanye West, Rihanna and Lupe Fiasco in April. The group's album is due in June.

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Q&A-After bottoming out, Michael English "Comes Home" (Reuters)

2008-03-15 22:00:12.499896

By Deborah Evans Price 2 hours, 24 minutes ago

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Few artists in Christian music have had a more checkered career than Michael English.

After early stints with Southern gospel groups and Bill Gaither's famed Gaither Vocal Band, he embarked on a successful solo career in the 1990s. But after winning five Dove Awards in 1994, it became public knowledge that English, who was married, had had an affair with another married Christian artist. His label dropped him, and Christian radio and retail banned him.

His career screeched to a halt, and his personal life spiraled out of control. In the decade that followed, English battled substance abuse and was arrested on drug-related...

Q&A: Swift makes quick ascent as country star (Reuters)

2008-03-15 19:00:13.405337

By Ken Tucker 1 hour, 33 minutes ago

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Country singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has accomplished a lot for someone who turned 18 in December.

At 11 she was dropping off CDs of her singing to karaoke tracks at Nashville labels; at 14 she signed with Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; and at 16 she released her self-titled debut on Nashville independent Big Machine Records.

That album, which has sold 2.5 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, has spawned three top 10 singles, including the six-week No. 1 "Our Song." A fourth single, "Picture to Burn," is No. 12 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

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Ricky Skaggs getting honorary doctorate (AP)

2008-03-15 08:00:19.100623

2 hours, 25 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Bluegrass star Ricky Skaggs is getting an honorary doctorate from Boston's Berklee College of Music.

Skaggs is slated to receive the honor Tuesday during a performance at the Grand Ole Opry, putting the 53-year-old singer in the company of luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Sting, B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Loretta Lynn and Paul Simon.

"I was elated," Skaggs told The Associated Press on Thursday. "It's a really, really amazing honor because many great musicians have come out of Berklee."

Berklee President Roger Brown said that by saluting Skaggs, "we shine a light on the present and future of bluegrass; its heritage and its infinite potential. And besides that, the man can pick."

A child prodigy, Skaggs began performing with his family and by 17 was playing with Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys. After stints in J.D. Crowe's New South and Emmylou Harris' Hot Band, he was regarded as one of the genre's finest young talents.

He switched to mainstream country in 1980 and scored 10 No. 1 hits between 1982 and '86, including "Highway 40 Blues," "Don't Cheat in Our Hometown" and "Country Boy."

In 1997, he returned to bluegrass, releasing "Bluegrass Rules!" on his newly formed record label, Skaggs Family Records. Since then, he's won a string of awards for his bluegrass recordings.

The latest for him and group Kentucky Thunder, "Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947," a selection of songs by Bill Monroe and his band, is due out March 25.

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Rilo Kiley Heads Back Into The 'Light'

2008-03-15 13:00:11.074238
Rilo Kiley has announced tour plans for April, its second swing in support of Under The Blacklight, which was released on Warner Bros. last August. The L.A.-based foursome will be on the road from April 16 through mid-June, with stops on both coasts and

Scholar: New Mozart portrait identified (AP)

2008-03-15 22:00:13.351005

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 15, 6:50 PM ET

LONDON - A British music scholar says he has identified a previously unknown portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that could be worth millions.

The 19-by-14-inch oil painting shows the profile of a man in a bright red jacket. Cliff Eisen said Friday that it is only the fourth known authentic portrait of Mozart from his time when the composer was at his professional height in Vienna, Austria.

"This is arguably the most important Mozart portrait to be discovered since the composer's death in 1791," Eisen said in a statement that appeared on the Web site of King's College London, where he teaches music.

King's College said the portrait was probably painted by Joseph Hickel, who was a painter at Austria's imperial court. Hickel gave the portrait to Mozart in return for the composition of a serenade for a member of Hickel's family, the college said.

Eisen said he was able to authenticate the portrait by comparing it against auction records, archival documents and a letter written by composer to his father in 1782.

The description in Mozart's letter matched the portrait down to the buttons, Eisen said.

The portrait could be worth several million dollars, the university said.

The painting passed to the family of Johann Lorenz Hagenauer, a close friend of the Mozarts. It was purchased by an American collector in 2005.

King's College said the collector was unaware of the painting's significance until its connection to the Hagenauer family was established by Daniel Leeson of Los Altos, Calif.

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http://www.kcl.ac.uk/

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Shawty Lo Releases Statement Denying He Has AIDS

2008-03-15 00:00:14.367618
Rapper rumored to have been hospitalized for two weeks The publicist for Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo has come forward and released a statement on the rappers behalf to clear recent rumors that the rapper has AIDS. Shawty Lo, real name Carlos Walker, was

Soprano Voigt leaves 'Tristan' mid-opera (AP)

2008-03-15 05:00:46.103349

By MIKE SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 15, 1:59 AM ET

NEW YORK - First Tristan, now Isolde. Already missing tenor Ben Heppner because of a virus, the Metropolitan Opera's revival of Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" lost Deborah Voigt in the middle of the second act Friday night because of a stomach ailment.

That left the Met in the highly unusual situation of having both singers in the lead roles making their Met debuts, Gary Lehman and Janice Baird.

Heppner withdrew from the first four performances of the highly anticipated six-performance run and was replaced by John Mac Master in Monday's opener and by Lehman on Friday.

Voigt sang the opener but didn't sound at her best Friday and had particular trouble with the high notes during the first act and the 20 minutes of Act 2 she performed.

"She was very heroic," Met general manager Peter Gelb said. "She told me before the second act began that she was feeling sick this morning but she didn't tell us because she didn't want to disturb us. She wanted to be very supportive of Mr. Lehman."

After the first act, Voigt spoke with Gelb and said she was ill.

"We agreed she would start the second act and see how it went," Gelb said.

Baird, Voigt's cover singer, was put on alert during the first intermission, which lasted about 10 minutes longer than usual, and by the start of the second act was standing by.

Voigt signaled near the beginning of the love duet that she couldn't continue and hurried offstage. Music director James Levine kept conducting. Then the curtain came down, but Lehman kept singing until the orchestra stopped.

An announcement was made that Voigt suddenly had taken ill. Baird got into the costume that Voigt had been wearing and replaced her about 15 minutes later.

When the curtain went up again in the middle of Act 2, Baird and Lehman received enthusiastic applause. And when the final curtain came down a half-hour late at 12:30 a.m., they got more than that — a standing ovation.

Gelb had appeared before the performance started to urge the audience's support for Lehman, who not only was making his Met debut but also was singing the role of Tristan, one of the most difficult parts for tenors in all of opera, for the first time anywhere. Gelb said how much Heppner regretted missing the performance and — ironically in light of what was to come — assured the audience that everyone else in the cast was in good health.

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Voigt leaves `Tristan' in mid-opera (AP)

2008-03-15 00:00:13.429942

By MIKE SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago

NEW YORK - Now the soprano at "Tristan und Isolde" is sick, too.

Already missing tenor Ben Heppner because of a virus, the Metropolitan Opera lost Deborah Voigt in the middle of the second act Friday night because of a stomach ailment. That left with Met with both singers in the lead roles making their Met debuts, Gary Lehman and Janice Baird.

Heppner withdrew from the first four performances of the highly anticipated six-performance run and was replaced by John Mac Master in Monday's opener and by Lehman on Friday.

Voigt sang the opener but didn't sound at her best Friday and had trouble with the high notes during the first act.

"She was very heroic," Met general manager Peter Gelb said. "She told me before the second act began that she was feeling sick this morning but she didn't tell us because she didn't want to disturb us. She wanted to be very supportive of Mr. Lehman."

After the first act, Voigt spoke with Gelb and said she was ill.

"We agreed she would start the second act and see how it went," Gelb said.

Baird, Voigt's cover singer, was put on alert during the first intermission, which lasted about 10 minutes longer than usual, and by the start of the second act was standing by.

Voigt signaled near the beginning of the second-act love duet that she couldn't continue and hurried offstage. Music director James Levine kept conducting. Then the curtain came down, Lehman started singing and the orchestra stopped.

An announcement was made that Voigt suddenly had taken ill. Baird got into the costume that Voigt had been wearing and replaced her about 10-15 minutes later. Baird and Lehman received enthusiastic applause at the end of the act.

Mac Master received mostly negative reviews following Monday's opener of the revival. The Tristan for the next two performances is listed as TBA, including the March 22 matinee that is to be telecast to theaters worldwide.

Heppner and Voigt, two of the world's most acclaimed Wagnerian singers, were to be performing "Tristan" together for the first time.

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