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Urban Shocker's Neighbourhood Watch

Eh! Tony!

D'ya think our respective Earth Hour concerts will both be plunged into darkness?

Maybe see you on May 29th?
 
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( sparkly, sequinned curtain rises dramatically, the band strikes up Nessun dorma, and the elaborately bewigged and bespectacled and fabulously gowned hostess with the mostess descends the grand staircase centrestage, waving at the studio audience with a huge bunch of golden gladioli )

Hello possums everywhere ... good evening ... and welcome ...

( cue wild applause )

Now, now, before you all rush the stage ... let me just tell you a little secret. There's more to come. Yes. Waiting in the green room tonight ... which has been painted shocking pink for the occasion ... we have three very special guests:

( applause )

We've got fiendishlibrarian - and he'll entertain us with lurid tales of what ... and maybe who ... he picked up on his garbage-picking route last year.

( applause and squeals of delight from females in the audience )

And we've got someone who is a personal favourite of mine ... and I know you love him too ... the ever-popular adma - who will sing nonsense songs in a language he invented all himself ... but which he no longer uses on the forum.

( cheers )

... and he'll take bites out of Hitler-shaped chocolate bars!

( audience cheers wildly )

And we've got Darkstar - who will tell us about his latest fabulous movie ... and dish the dirt on the forum's moderators ....

( hoots of joy and gasps of surprise )

... especially that Sean, known as Mr.Excitement to his friends ...

( loud whoops of delight )

And now, possums ... on with the show!
 
How's Kenny doing?

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Off tonight to TSO to hear Benjamin Zander conduct Mahler 5. Can't wait. :)

Last week's TSO effort was excellent; Evgeny Kissin playing Brahms' 1st piano concerto, the mighty one, with Andrew Davis and TSO backing. Concert included a very imaginative and inspiring piece written by the TSO's own Raymond Leudeke - Tales of the Netsilik. Band was wonderful in it.

Trendy for critics around world to take issue with Kissin's Brahms, and Toronto's critics were no exception; this listener loved the work except that Kissin didn't totally capitalize on the emotional peak in the second movement. Audience went totally nuts after the Brahms concerto and were treated to two Chopin encores by Kissin at the end. Full hall.
 
I saw the COC's Eugene Onegin on Tuesday night.

7/10

In short, the tenor who played Lensky wasn't very good. He was constantly treading water and unsuccessfully attempting not to be drowned out by the orchestra. The role was way too important for a substandard performance not to have an effect on the whole staging.

The production itself was run-of-the-mill. Nothing really stood out, but nothing was overtly bad. A few random plot-changes made no sense. My guess is that they were supposed to be superficial, yet they definitely had a profound effect on the narrative: They had Onegin shoot Lensky by accident, and then try to kill himself afterwards... Both changes greatly affect the character of Onegin.

It would have been nice to see a set-change at some point. The set encompassed inside, outside, rural country-side, and city; A little too ambitious if you ask me.

This was definitely not a highlight of the season, which was a shame because I like this Opera. Maybe that's why I was so hard on the production...
 
My first experience of Onegin was last year's simulcast of The Met's production, and that left a strong (positive) impression on me. I have been looking forward to this production since then, but am now dialing down my expectations in preparation for seeing it on Sunday.

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interchange42 said:
My first experience of Onegin was last year's simulcast of The Met's production, and that left a strong (positive) impression on me. I have been looking forward to this production since then, but am now dialing down my expectations in preparation for seeing it on Sunday.

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Click to expand...

It got some good reviews, so it's possible it simply didn't strike a chord with me.
 
Anyone going to tonight's Mahler 5th (TSO, Benjamin Zander) is in for a total treat. Zander is not only a Mahler scholar, he's a Mahler evangelist, and that showed in Thursday's performance.

Zander took the time to expound on the Mahler before the concert in a profound and meaningful way. He is an elegant man to listen to, and an inspiring man, a wonderful human being, I would say. He also told the packed Toronto audience in no uncertain terms that we have a "fabulous" orchestra here.

The Mozart in the program I could have done totally without; what can I say, I am fed up to the teeth with Mozart, period.

Critic lite, Jon Terauds, was absolutely dismissive of this concert. He's out of his league anyway -- consistently. Ken Winters was kinder, at least having the courtesy to recognize that Zander is an international Mahler expert, but Winters didn't get the interpretation; he has previously confessed that he has not yet had his "Mahler epiphany". Disregard the critics. If you love Mahler, try to be there tonight.
 
Mahler epiphany??

This is the "5th" for godsake. You don't have to love Mahler to appreciate it.
 
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