Arts and Culture

Helsinki's $208 Million New Music Center Upstages Architect Aalto's Hall Osmo Vaenskae, the Finnish music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis, is looking forward to the opening of a new music center in Helsinki. He doesn’t have anything nice to say about the acoustics in Finlandia Hall, the city’s current main concert venue.

King Kong, James Bond's Sunglasses, Hepburn's Dress Go on Sale: Art Buzz The skeleton of Hollywood’s original King Kong, the giant ape that terrorized New York City in David O. Selznick’s 1933 movie, is expected to fetch as much as 150,000 pounds ($249,000) at an auction in London tomorrow.

Death Rites, Rain God Add Mystery to Paris Show on Mexican Culture: Review It’s one of the most mysterious places on earth.

Bare-Bosomed Women Brewed Beer for Soused Pyramid Builders: Lewis Lapham “The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer,” according to the ancient Egyptians, and on that basis it was a happy society.

Sarah Ruhl's Flighty `Vibrator Play' Lives Up to Good Buzz: John Simon Wonders will never cease. Sarah Ruhl, whose previous work I execrated, has written a smart, charming, iridescently funny-serious jewel, “In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play.”

Vampire `Twilight' Sequel Has 3rd Best-Opening Ever With $140.7 Million “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” the vampire love story based on best-selling novels, recorded the third-biggest opening weekend in box-office history with $140.7 million in ticket sales for Summit Entertainment LLC.

Robbie Williams May Choose City Finance Over Record Labels, Times Says U.K. pop singer Robbie Williams may sell a 50 percent stake in future earnings to financial institutions for 50 million pounds ($82.4 million), according to the London-based Times.

Christie's Saint Laurent Sale Makes Double-Estimate $13.4 Million in Paris Christie’s International’s four-day sale of the remaining collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge ended today in Paris, having raised double its estimate.

Jeanne-Claude -- Christo's Dynamic, Red-Haired Muse: Manuela Hoelterhoff Like the projects she created over the decades with her husband, Christo, Jeanne-Claude is no longer here, but the memory of her will linger.

Top Five Nonfiction Books, Marc Rich to Ayn Rand: The Bloomberg Muse List With so many books in the stores, we’re often asked for recommendations. Here’s a list of recent nonfiction books.