Toronto Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts | ?m | 5s | COC | Diamond Schmitt

Yes, and I'd never in a million years have imagined 'Fantasia' being complemented with such movements.

It is good to get jolts like that. Last week at the TSO young Simon Trpceski tore into the First Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto and made it his own, and made me think about it quite differently. Sometimes you hear something so often you don't really notice it any more. Hope he comes back.
 
I know this question will lead to a lot of silliness but will there be a royal box in the FS? I have heard rumours that Prince Charles is attending the opening...
 
and probably the most important addition to the Toronto arts scene since the O'Keefe Centre.
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What about Roy Thomson Hall? And maybe a few others out there...
 
Just passed by the building... the City Room is quite impressive at night.
 
Last night at seven o'clock the blinds were down on the outside of all of the City Room windows save one. At eleven, when we passed by again, they were all up.

I spoke to one of the workmen yesterday. He said that on Monday they will be testing the floors of the glass staircase. This involves suspending some sort of basket with weights from it. He talked of hydraulics, and weights, and stuff that totally confused me. Also, he said that the original plan was to bolt the stairs but they have used epoxy glue instead. No idea what he meant.
 
babel:

Also, he said that the original plan was to bolt the stairs but they have used epoxy glue instead.
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That could mean that the stair proper could be entirely glass, without any metallic intrusions. A pretty stunning achievement.

AoD
 
I have heard rumours that Prince Charles is attending the opening...
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Alas, TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales will likely not be there, as they will be at the Thanksgiving Service for HM's 80th birthday at St. Paul's Cathedral in London the next morning.

We'll all just have to gawk at the GG instead, I guess.
 
The wife of the Prince of Wales is automatically the Princess of Wales. The current Princess of Wales has chosen not to use that title.
 
To pick up on adma's observation:

While the construction of Roy Thomson Hall provided the TSO with a spanking new home in the early '80's, they already had a home in Massey Hall with better acoustics. Even after the recent successful renovations to Roy Thomson, more than a few people still prefer the sound in Massey. However glittery the exterior of a building may be, it is the sound quality and performance space that ultimately makes or breaks the reputation of a hall where people go to hear music.

In contrast, the COC is moving out of a hall - the Hummingbird - that never suited them. The National Ballet had a happier time there, but both are moving to a custom designed home.

Maybe, when the TSO got Roy Thomson Hall, it set the ball rolling for the other two companies to get a new home, in which case adma is right to point out RTH's significance to the arts scene. I have no idea if there was a connection. I have a feeling, though, that the Four Seasons Centre will prove to be the jewel in the crown of our performing arts spaces.

I suppose the next shoe to drop will be over operating budgets funding.
 
I noticed today that the light coming through the skylight and washing over the wooden screen in the City Room is quite beautiful.
 
I love high, narrow skylights like that. They cast wonderful light at certain times of day.

If you visit the ROM late in the afternoon, for instance, the carvings on the various elements in the Ming tomb complex - the arch, the two large figures, etc. - display very clearly in the raking light. In the evenings, when artificial light it the sole source, the effects are considerably less effective.
 
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