ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

MUSIC

Stradivarius Lands in Hands of a Master

Superstar violinist Joshua Bell has paid nearly $4 million for a Stradivarius violin with a very checkered past.

“I instantaneously fell in love with the instrument like I never have before with a violin,” the 33-year-old musician told the Dallas Morning News.

The 1713 violin was one of the more than 1,110 violins made by Stradivarius, half of which still exist. It was first stolen in 1919 and then in 1936 it disappeared from Manhattan’s Carnegie Hall.

Twenty-nine years later, a cafe musician made a deathbed confession that he was the one who made off with it.

The instrument was returned to the insurer, Lloyds of London, which sold it to British violinist Norbert Brainin.

In August, Bell learned that Brainin was going to sell the violin to a German industrialist and made a bid.

TELEVISION

Security, Solidarity to Mark Sunday’s Emmys

Security will be on high alert and the tone of the show will be one of “solidarity,” producers of the 53rd annual nighttime Emmy Awards said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.

The awards show, to be broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. Sunday, will be held at the Shubert Theatre in Century City. It has been rescheduled twice after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Now the show will be held in the wake of Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft’s warning Monday of another potential attack on the United States sometime in the next week.

“There will be no more moving of the dates,” said Bryce Zabel, chairman-elect of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He said that cars will be searched and attendees will have to pass through metal detectors.

“Just about everybody” who was to attend the Emmys on Oct. 7, as originally scheduled, will be on hand, said Gary Smith, the telecast’s producer.

‘America ‘01’ Emerges From Attacks’ Rubble

Just as the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis begat ABC’s “Nightline,” the Sept. 11 attacks are the focus of ABC News’ new newsmagazine, launching Friday at 8 p.m. in place of “The Mole II.”

The program, dubbed “America ‘01,” will look at the changes in the country--official and unofficial--since that day. Anchored on a rotating basis by Charlie Gibson, Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, the show will look at the war against Afghanistan, the investigation into the attacks and, particularly, personal inspirational stories.

Meanwhile, CNN says its new hourlong weeknight newscast, “NewsNight with Aaron Brown,” will officially launch on Monday at 7 p.m.

CNN Leads Cable News Pack in Ratings

CNN continued to lead the cable news networks in audience viewership in October, according to Nielsen Media Research figures. The network had an average audience of 1.27 million viewers a day, compared with Fox News Channel’s 911,000 and MSNBC’s 710,000.

Still, both MSNBC and Fox grew--12% and 11%, respectively--since September, while CNN dropped 2% off its huge surge following the attacks.

In relation to a year ago, MSNBC’s numbers are up 259%, Fox has jumped 272% and CNN is up 228%.

During that period, CNN Headline News grew a much more modest 130% to an average 388,000 viewers. Financial news network CNBC benefited the least, up just 18% to an average of 327,000 viewers.

MOVIES

More Is Better, ‘Harry Potter’ Director Says

At 143 minutes, the much-anticipated “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is nearly twice as long as most kids’ movies. Still, fans of the J.K. Rowling book, from which the film is adapted, would have been crushed if the filmmakers had left too much out, director Chris Columbus says.

“My mantra has been: Kids are reading a 700-page book,” Columbus told Time magazine for this week’s issue. “They can sit through a two-hour movie.”

Last year’s 734-page “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” the fourth book in the series, holds the record as the fastest-selling book in history.

“Instead of trying to overtake the readers’ imagination, we’ve just given them the best possible version of the book, which means steeping it in reality,” the director said. “I wanted kids to feel that if they actually took that train, Hogwarts would be waiting for them.”

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” starring Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and 12-year-old Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard, opens Nov. 16.

QUICK TAKES

CBS, which has already canceled its sitcom “Danny,” has temporarily shelved “Wolf Lake” too. The show, already preempted tonight, will be off the air at least through the November sweeps, one of the periods crucial to determining advertising rates.... Jeffrey Kahane, music director of the L.A. Chamber Orchestra, is conducting the Houston Symphony in Houston on Thursday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.... Jules Asner, co-anchor of “E! News Daily,” has signed a new three-year deal with E! Entertainment Television that includes her own weekly series, “Revealed with Jules Asner,” beginning Dec. 5.