Welcome to the most improbable video game ever: Frédéric Chopin comes back from the dead to engage in nine duels with popular musical styles, using weird pop arrangements of nine of his best-loved pieces.
Yes, you read right. Available for a mazurka-like $1.99 from the iTunes store (optimized for the iPhone 4S, we are told) until Jan. 28 is the app, Frederic — The Resurrection of Music.
Julian Kuerti at Boston's Symphony Hall in 2008
A lot happens in a decade, especially if you’re a talented young conductor like Toronto native Julian Kuerti, who is back in town to conduct the Royal Conservatory Orchestra at Koerner Hall on Friday night. Continue reading
Keith Warner and Jakub Hrusa, artistic director and music director-designate of Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, have resigned their posts, ostensibly because of government budget slashing.
But, in reading through Warner’s public resignation speech, it’s clear that budget cuts are only part of the story. It’s hard to believe that the English theatre director had only been in the job for six months.
In announcing Warner’s appointment in 2010, the opera company’s general director, Erik Jacobsen, described the director as, “a deeply engaged person, a fantastic motivator and a great artist. His experience in both the artistic and leadership areas of the opera world is very exciting.”
The excitement didn’t last long. Warner’s speech reveals the dark side of an institution made too comfortable by long-term government financial backing.
