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Monthly Archives: February 2024
John Holland’s unexpected polemic in The Lost Tradition of Dvořák’s Operas
When I started reading John Holland’s new book, I didn’t expect it to be more than a study of a composer and his operas. That modest goal would already be significant, considering the cognitive dissonance I feel whenever the plural … Continue reading
Robbie Robertson’s Killers of the Flower Moon
I watched the last hour of Killers of the Flower Moon today. I had heard terrible things about the violence in this film, although the same was true of Taxi Driver, another Martin Scorsese film with a brilliant orchestral score … Continue reading
Toronto Symphony explores nuances of newness in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella
Tonight Gustavo Gimeno and his Toronto Symphony presented their latest TSO live concert at Roy Thomson Hall, recorded for future release by Harmonia Mundi recording label. We were a well-behaved audience, not making any disruptive noises, like polite voyeurs watching … Continue reading
Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Reviews
Tagged Ballets Russes, commedia dell'arte, Glenn Gould, Gustavo Gimeno, Harmonia Mundi, Igor Stravinsky, Isabel Leonard, Kelly-Marie Murphy, Le Baiser de le fée, Linda Hutcheon, palimpsest, Petula Clark, Pulcinella, Sergei Diaghilev, Tchaikovsky, The Fairy's Kiss, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
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Questions for Tammy Wilson
Tamara Wilson is one of the best singers in the world. Yes we import Europeans to sing opera but some Americans have no equal. We’re lucky to have heard that voice in Toronto, usually the most impressive sound in that … Continue reading
Posted in Interviews, Opera
Tagged Aida, COVID, Die Fledermaus, Giuseppe Verdi, Isolde, Kenan Thompson, Richard Wagner, saturday night live, Savannah Bananas, Tamara Wilson, Turandot
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30 years since Derek Jarman died.
It’s the anniversary of Derek Jarman’s passing, February 19th 1994. He was 52 years old when he passed. I was looking at Jarman’s IMDB entry, where there are a pair of pictures with him with Amy Johnson, listed on IMDB … Continue reading
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X from the Metropolitan Opera for February and Lent
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2023 production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, the 1985 opera with libretto by Thulani Davis and music be her cousin Anthony Davis, was shown on PBS over the past week, likely as a … Continue reading
Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Spirituality & Religion
Tagged Anthony Davis, Elijah Mohammed, hajj, John Elford, Malcolm X, Mecca, Metropolitan Opera Company, Nation of Islam, Our Hearts Were Strangely Lukewarm, PBS, Porgy and Bess, Sporting Life, Thulani Davis, White Supremacy, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
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Questions for Jack Hui Litster in anticipation of his Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace
Jack Hui Litster has recently had two original operas produced by OperOttawa. Jack is a multi-instrumentalist and composer of concert music and film and TV score based in Ottawa, blending his classical and popular music training. As Composer-in-Residence for OperOttawa, Jack … Continue reading
Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera, Popular music & culture
Tagged Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace, Inter Pares, Jack Hui Litster, Kahlil Gibran, King Arthur, Norman E Brown, OperOttawa, Requiem, Tan Dun, The Day You Were Born, The First Emperor, The Prophet, What Is Love?
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Scary Don Giovanni at the COC
Well it’s about time! I’ve been watching productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni all my life that end with some sort of ludicrous & unbelievable encounter between the anti-hero and his fake stone guest, who comes to drag him to hell. … Continue reading
Posted in Opera, Reviews
Tagged Ben Bliss, Canadian Opera Company, Don Giovanni, English National Opera, Es Devlin, Four Seasons Centre, Gordon Bintner, Joel Allison, Johannes Debus, Kasper Holten, Lorenzo Da Ponte, Luke Halls, Mane Galovan, Paolo Bordogna, Perryn Leech, Simone McIntosh, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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