Ever since Toronto’s new opera house was completed earlier this summer, critic William Littler has been scanning the globe for cities that make the best use of their performing arts facilities, and could serve as a model for Toronto. In Munich, he may have found the ideal comparative. “Munich itself is considerably smaller than Toronto, and yet its principal opera house (there are three others) routinely maintains an average attendance of upwards of 90 per cent… Will the Four Seasons Centre have as powerful a catalytic effect in Toronto? If it does, there is room to hope that the Canadian Opera Company can expand beyond its usual seven productions.”
Tag: 07.29.06
Bargain Pricing In The Berkshires
Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony’s summer home in the Berkshires, is jumping on the trend of lowering ticket prices to generate better sales. For twelve days in August, concertgoers will get into the famed Koussevitsky Music Shed for as little as $20. And if that doesn’t seem like all that impressive a bargain, keep in mind that Tanglewood tickets ordinarily go for as much as $83.
The Acting Does Tend To Be A Bit Wooden, Though
Sure, Mozart opera is fine, but you know what would really improve it? Puppets. Seriously. “Most opera singers pick up their skills in physical acting on the fly, but a marionette in the hands of a skilled puppeteer is a dramatic creature par excellence. They have nothing to do but move, and… puppets move with a sense of character and drama that you would be hard pressed to find among any human cast.”