After ten years, “Phantom” closes in Toronto. Lavish musical signaled the boom in Toronto theater – now the waning interest in mega-musicals and in Toronto’s theater scene. Toronto Globe and Mail
Month: October 1999
NOT JUST ANOTHER MURDER
An artist lies face down in a pool of blood in a store window in downtown San Antonio. Passers by on the street can talk to the attending detective, reporter, prosecutor or defense attorney – all part of this sordid theater performance. San Antonio Express News
OPERA AS TALK SHOW
Michael Rouse’s new opera “Dennis Cleveland” is an opera “because you can’t call it anything else.” This musical piece of “anti-media” is a techno-wonder. – LA Weekly
PAGANINI’S FAVORITE VIOLIN –
– a Guarneri called “the Cannon” – is brought out only for special occasions. This week it got only its second-ever concert in America. – San Francisco Examiner
OPERA IN THE AUTO CITY
Detroit’s Michigan Opera Theatre has a new home, a reinforced budget, and some big names for its roster. Times are good in the auto industry and Ford, Daimler Chrysler and GM are sharing some of the wealth with the arts. – New York Times
INNOVATION AND DRAMA –
EIGHTY-ONE HOURS OF TUNES
A new portable Palm Pilot-sized MP3 player from Korea lets you take hours of music anywhere you go. – Wired
RECONSIDERING ORPHEUS
Acclaimed conductorless chamber orchestra undergoes a bloodless revolution and new directions. – New York Times
( AND: A peek inside the rehearsal process. – New York Times 10.27.99)
CURTIS AT 75
If America has a national music conservatory, it is Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute. As the conservatory orchestra begins a European tour, a critic reflects on its success. – Financial Times
BLOWING UP THE TRADITIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
If a madonna playing an accordion was too much for the last Adelaide Festival, wait till next year. Australia’s largest festival reinvents. Sydney Morning Herald