Volume 25 Issue 7 - April 2020
After some doubt that we would be allowed to go to press, in respect to wide-ranging Ontario business closures relating to COVID-19, The WholeNote magazine for April 2020 is now on press, and print distribution – modified to respect community-wide closures and the need for appropriate distancing – starts Monday March 30. Meanwhile the full magazine is right here, digitally, so if you value us PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK AS WIDELY AS YOU CAN. It's the safest way for us to reach the widest possible audience at this time!
After some doubt that we would be allowed to go to press, in respect to wide-ranging Ontario business closures relating to COVID-19, The WholeNote magazine for April 2020 is now on press, and print distribution – modified to respect community-wide closures and the need for appropriate distancing – starts Monday March 30. Meanwhile the full magazine is right here, digitally, so if you value us PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK AS WIDELY AS YOU CAN. It's the safest way for us to reach the widest possible audience at this time!
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some day when I’m retired and have a big library, I could just walk up<br />
to the shelves and say, ‘Hmm what do I want to read today?’ And have<br />
practically everything, Paradise Lost, or Wings of the Dove, or Roald<br />
Dahl complete tales.”<br />
And when a global pandemic strikes and puts a pause on everything,<br />
what better refuge than a library so well stocked?<br />
How does he decide what to buy? “One of the writers that I love,<br />
the Australian Steve Toltz, has a character in A Fraction of the Whole<br />
say: ‘All great books are about other books.’ I think that’s true. Often<br />
when you read, somebody will mention a book in conversation, or the<br />
dust jacket will say this is like X, Y or Z. For example, when I read The<br />
Beach by Alex Garland, which was made into a movie with Leonardo<br />
Di Caprio, the blurb described it as a combination of Lord of the<br />
Flies and The Magus by John Fowles. So after that I read The Magus;<br />
and while that was happening, somebody said to me OMG you have<br />
to read Fowles’ The Collector, so I read that. I think the same thing<br />
happens with movies.”<br />
“My goal was that some day when<br />
I’m retired and have a big library,<br />
I could just walk up to the shelves<br />
and say, ‘Hmm what do I want to<br />
read today?”<br />
By now we’ve crossed to the large video collection on the other side<br />
of the room –another two standalone cases. Many TV series on BluRay,<br />
and a place of prominence for Dr Who, and Martin McDonough’s<br />
film In Bruges. And also … The Seven Year Itch with Marilyn Monroe?<br />
“There was a deal on Amazon for nine Marilyn Monroe films and I got<br />
all of them, … Niagara, Some Like it Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.<br />
One of the films had Montgomery Clift, and so I started buying<br />
Montgomery Clift films. I was re-watching Sunset Boulevard and that<br />
same year that Gloria Swanson was nominated for an Oscar, Judy<br />
Holiday won it for Born Yesterday. So I looked for it and it’s now one<br />
of my favourites. Then I started buying Judy Holiday films.”<br />
Are there actors, directors whose aesthetic he prefers or is influenced<br />
by? “I’m into… economical actors. I wouldn’t say Bette Davis is<br />
subtle but she’s economical in the way she uses gestures and looks.<br />
I don’t find her hysterical … even when she’s over the top, she’s efficient.”<br />
The stars of old Hollywood had greater presence, and were<br />
certainly not chameleonic, the way some of the method actors of<br />
today are. Is the old school closer to his tastes? “Hmm… This is what I<br />
liked when working with Yannick Nézet-Séguin – and the first thing I<br />
did with him was here in Toronto, a Faust production when the Four<br />
Seasons Centre opened as the new home for the COC. Yannick really<br />
allows the artist to inhabit things in their own style. He provides a<br />
comfortable environment for you to shine. I think that’s true for a lot<br />
of old directors and conductors, people like James Levine … you could<br />
see that they helped singers. It feels that in contemporary art-making<br />
there’s much more control asserted by the director, more direction<br />
placed on the artist.”<br />
But should we be nostalgic for an era of megastars who, while they<br />
sold a lot of tickets, never particularly bothered to act? Is it bad that<br />
we now expect even divos and divas to act – and for opera to be a<br />
full theatrical experience? “No, I agree. As an actor I’ve worked with<br />
Pierre Audi, with Robert Wilson, James Robinson, Kelly Robinson …<br />
Some have a more realistic approach, some are funnier, some are more<br />
surreal. I’m used to all of those styles; it gives me a greater adaptability<br />
when it comes to working with a new director.”<br />
Other actors he appreciates are Daniel Day-Lewis (speak of<br />
“chameleonic!”), Colin Firth, Julianne Moore (“she’s incredible”). “I<br />
love Gene Kelly and admire his ability to be so elegant and masculine<br />
From a combination of<br />
COVID-19, travel restrictions,<br />
and precautions,<br />
we regret that our final<br />
concert of this season on<br />
Thursday, <strong>April</strong> 16th with<br />
QUATUOR ÉBÈNE<br />
must be cancelled.<br />
thanks patrons for their patience<br />
and goodwill, and wishes<br />
all music lovers well<br />
Check out our<br />
<strong>2020</strong> – 2021 season!<br />
See page 2 for the full season details<br />
For full details, see<br />
www.music-toronto.com<br />
Tickets: 416-366-7723<br />
option 2<br />
27 Front Street East, Toronto<br />
| music-toronto.com<br />
thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> <strong>2020</strong> | 11