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Toronto's stages and screens reviewedarrow icon

Posted May 12th, 2009 by webmaster

The New Classical 96.3 FM is your source for expert tips on shows, concerts and films playing across Toronto.

Check out our online archive of Paula Citron's arts reviews and Marc Glassman's film reviews for exclusive, insider examinations of what's hot (and what's not) in our city.

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A federal judge in New York has indefinitely banned publication in the U.S. of a novel based on J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye because of its substantial similarities to the 1951 classic. Judge Deborah Batts issued her ruling yesterday, after hearing arguments by the reclusive 90-year-old American novelist against the author of "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye." The judge concluded the book infringed on Salinger's copyright, and she banned its publication, advertisement and distribution in the U.S. The unauthorized sequel by 33-year-old Swedish author Fredrik Colting, writing under the pseudonym John David California, continues the story of Salinger's beloved hero, Holden Caulfield. The book has been published in Britain and was scheduled to come out in the U.S. this summer.
- CBC

If you're going to be in the big apple in September, you'll be able to see actor Jude Law on Broadway when his U.K. production of Hamlet comes to New York. The production, which has been well-received in London, will have a 12-week run at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York. The last time Jude Law acted on Broadway, in the 1995 play Indiscretions, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his work. Law's star power has sold out the West End run of the play, attracting many younger viewers to the theatre. Hamlet begins previews in New York Sept. 12, with an Oct. 6 opening.
- CBC

Saying Canada's cultural sector needs "stability," Heritage Minister James Moore announced a five-year funding package for the arts today. Moore announced an extension of funding for arts training programs and the Cultural Spaces program put in place to restore museums and historic sites. Among the new measures, the Canada Council for the Arts, the granting agency that runs many of Canada's most prestigious arts prizes and stimulates creative development with grants to artists, has been guaranteed an annual budget of $181 million for the next five years. The Canada Council has had its annual budget boosted under the Conservatives, but $25 million in funding had been scheduled to vanish at the end of the current fiscal year. As heritage minister, Moore has begun an effort to make peace with the arts sector, which campaigned heavily against the Conservatives in the last election after cuts to arts programs last year.
- CBC

Canadian literary icon Alice Munro has been celebrated in Dublin where the award-winning short story author has received the Man Booker International Prize. It's worth about $103,000 CDN and Munro is the third winner, following Chinua Achebe, and Ismail Kadare. 77 years of age, she traveled to Ireland from her home in Clinton, Ontario, to accept the biennial honour. She was thrilled to receive the prize, which recognizes a living fiction author writing in English or widely translated into English for his or her entire body of work. The Booker International Prize was introduced in 2004 as an off-shoot to the main Man Booker Prize which honours the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland.
- CBC

Join Alexa Petrenko on June 25th with her guest, John Szabo - Canada's only Master Sommelier. John will discuss Single White and Red Variety, White Blends and Cabernet Sauvignon. Tune in for more information on these delicious wines at 5:30pm or on his website, http://www.johnszabo.com.
- Alexa Petrenko/Classical 96.3FM

He won the Governor General's Award for Visual Arts in 2004 and now conceptual artist, Ian Wallace - whose experimental photography helped set the tone in the Vancouver art scene of the 1970s - has won the Molson Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. Two Molson Prizes, worth $50,000 each, are awarded annually for ongoing contributions to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada. The other prize, for humanities and social sciences went to Wayne Sumner. He is a professor emeritus in philosophy at University of Toronto, active in bioethics, ethical theory and political philosophy.
- CBC

The Toronto International Film Festival is putting the spotlight on Tel Aviv this year with a new program that will present the best movies from, and about a selected city. Tel Aviv celebrates it's 100th birthday this year. Organizers say the `City to City' program will also include a public forum featuring filmmakers from Tel Aviv and Toronto. TIFF has also announced its first selections for the annual movie marathon which will include 26 works from around the world.
- TIFF

The last week of June is Pride Week at the Art gallery of Ontario Toronto celebrates art in the gay and lesbian communities. The celebration starts a week from today, Wednesday, June 24 from 5 to 8 p.m. with Artwherk! Show for PRIDE on the walkway around Walker Court and the installation remains on view until Sunday, June 28. Pride tours at the AGO are scheduled throughout the weekend of June 27 and free with admission, the tours by AGO Gallery Guides celebrate the history and culture of the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities. Artists include Kent Monkman, General Idea, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Michelangelo. For details on this event and many others happening at the AGO, please visit http://www.ago.net/
- AGO

Comedian Howie Mandel, kids author Robert Munsch and the late `Perry Mason' actor Raymond Burr are among the latest inductees to Canada's Walk of Fame. To qualify, candidates must have been born in Canada or spent their formative or creative years here and must have a body of work recognized for its impact on Canada's cultural heritage. Previous inductees include Paul Anka, Jim Carrey, Shania Twain, William Hutt and Wayne Gretzky. The latest Walk of Fame inductees will be honoured at a gala event in Toronto on Sept. 12.
- The Star

One of the classical music world's biggest competitions, has been won by a pianist who can't see the conductor's baton and listens to the maestro's breathing for cues. 20-year-old Japanese musician, Nobu/yuki Tsujii has become the first blind pianist to win the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Tsujii has been blind since birth and learns new pieces through listening and memorization, rather than reading the notes. Mr. Tsujii tied for first with Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang and in addition to a cash award of $20,000; he won three years of international concert tours and a CD recording session. When asked what he would do if he could see for a day, Nonu/yuki Tsujii replied “I’d love to see my parents, and then my friends, stars, ocean, fireworks, etc., but it’s okay, because I’m satisfied that I can see those with the eyes of my heart.”
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One of the great ones is bowing farewell. Spanish tenor, José Carreras, announced today that he is retiring from the opera stage. The 62-year-old star says he can no longer withstand the demands of performing major roles, unamplified in large opera houses. His career nearly ended in 1987 when he was told he had leukemia and was given a 10 per cent chance of surviving. He returned to the stage in triumph to give 50 performances a year. The departure of Carreras will leave only Placido Domingo as the sole performing member of The Three Tenors, the most famous trio in opera history who gained worldwide popularity at a benefit concert on the eve of the World Cup in Italy, 1990. The third member, Luciano Pavarotti, died in 2007 at the age of 71. Carreras is also known for his humanitarian work and is the president of his own international Leukemia foundation.
- CBC

A notebook full of Pablo Picasso's sketches has been stolen from his namesake museum in Paris. Police say the theft of the sketchbook, valued at between $10.4 million to $15 million CDN, was apparently discovered this morning, prompting The Picasso Museum to close it’s doors for the day. According to the French Culture Ministry, no alarms were triggered and there were no obvious signs of a break-in at the museum which is in a former mansion in the city's Marais district. The shiny, red, 16-by-24 centimetre book which bears the word "album" in gold on the cover, contains 33 original Picasso drawings and dates from 1917 to 1924. The prolific, Spanish-born painter, sculptor and illustrator's creations are among the world's most coveted artworks and a frequent target of thieves. According to the London-based "Art Loss Register database" there are currently more than 400 Picasso works missing worldwide.
- CBC

The show must go on..and it did at a recent performance starring one of the Three Tenors. Superstar Plácido Domingo had to withdraw mid-performance at the Metropolitan Opera’s production of "Die Walküre" and was replaced by Gary Lehman in the role of Siegmund. The Met said Mr. Domingo advised the staff before the performance that he was not feeling well though the audience was told that he would perform, Mr. Lehman was put into costume and makeup as a backup. He stepped in right away when Mr. Domingo withdrew, about 40 minutes into the performance. New York's Metropolitain opera now says Placido Domingo has recovered and is traveling to Paris to prepare for "Cyrano de Bergerac".
- New York Times

It didn’t take long, but the art world has already celebrated the historic American election and the new residents-to-be of the White House. A painting of Michelle Obama and her daughter Sasha was unveiled this week at a New York exhibition of contemporary artist Elizabeth Peyton. Peyton first became widely known in the 1990s as a portrait artist of historical figures such as the Kennedy family and Napoleon, as well as contemporary celebrities. Her exhibition will travel next to galleries in the U.S. and Europe. The latest oil painting depicts Mrs. Obama in the audience at her husband’s convention speech as the couple’s daughter rests her head in her mother’s lap. It has already been sold and also will appear in W magazine in November.
- The New Classical 96.3 FM News Team

Woodstock has more than “peace, love, and rock and roll” to its musical credit. The small New York town was also home to the Creative Music Studio, a makeshift school that gave birth to great names in jazz and contemporary music in the 70s and 80s. Informal recordings of Lee Konitz, Anthony Braxton, and Roscoe Mitchell -- among other contemporary jazz greats -- are being restored by the husband and wife who founded the school. Karl Berger and Ingrid Sertso are digitally remastering 400 hours of tape to the tune of about $120,000. An upcoming benefit concert — not to mention sales of sampler CDs -- will raise money toward that end. The couple plan to donate the entire collection to the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University. The original tapes will go back to their individual artists.
- The New Classical 96.3 FM News Team

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