Last year’s amalgamation of the National Opera, based in Wellington, and Auckland’s Opera New Zealand was only the latest attempt to create a sustainable opera company in New Zealand. Costs and staff were cut, and now a production of “Aida” is the first big test. – New Zealand Herald
Tag: 07.03.00
TANGO TROUBLE
Composer Astor Piazzolla’s distinctive tango music has become a world-wide phenomenon. But “while his music won an enthusiastic following in Europe, the United States, Brazil, and Mexico, Piazzolla was not widely appreciated in his native Argentina until a decade before he died in 1992. Instead, his tampering with a native form as sacrosanct as the tango earned an intensity of contempt from the music’s old guard that may be difficult to fathom in this country, where disagreements over style and genre exercise only a handful of artists and critics.” – The New Republic
FLEEING NORTH
“This is a record-breaking year for Hollywood films shot in Canada, entertainment-industry figures on both sides of the border agree. In past years, U.S. producers have taken advantage of the weak dollar to shoot low-budget feature films and made-for-TV movies in Canadian cities. This year, though, the studios have brought their big projects north and a long list of marquee-topping stars such as Sean Connery, Christina Ricci and Robert de Niro.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada) 07/03/00