VIENNA: Indian maestro Zubin Mehta will seek to inject what he says is some much-needed harmony into the world when he conducts the illustrious Vienna New Year’s Concert on Jan. 1.
“All over the world there are people who hate each other,” Mehta, 78, who is holding the baton for a fifth time at the annual waltz fest beamed live to 50 million people worldwide, told Austrian daily Die Presse.
“This music can at least bring people together for two and a half hours,” he said.
Indeed, the 90 or so countries able to watch Thursday’s concert live include for the first time conflict-riven Ukraine, as well as other newcomers as far afield as the Bahamas, Armenia and Mehta’s native India, organizers said.
The Vienna Philharmonic’s annual “Neujahrskonzert” ringing in the new year from Golden Hall of the exalted Musikverein is devoted largely to the kings of 19th century waltz, the Strauss family.
Each year has some variety, however. Last year, alongside favorites like “The Blue Danube” and “The Radetzky March,” with Daniel Barenboim conducting, the program included works commemorating the centenary of the start of World War I.
This time the occasion is a happier one, with music marking the 650th birthday of Vienna University as well as the 200th of the Austrian capital’s Technical University and the 150th of Vienna’s grand Ringstrasse boulevard.
The Mumbai-born conductor, who first came to Vienna to study in 1954 and whose posts have included music director of the New York Philharmonic, said though that he was “just as excited” as before his debut 24 years ago.
“I can think of no greater (honor),” he said. “When I walk from the Imperial (hotel) toward the Konzerthaus of the Musikverein, it’s like I was in my living room. I feel so at home here.”
Mehta seeks harmony with Vienna concert
Mehta seeks harmony with Vienna concert
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
