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Arts Commentary |
January 2008 |
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Why why should I the World be minding, 2007, notable for many unhappy events on the international scene, seems also to have been particularly cruel on the art world. It is with sadness that we look back on 2007 as a year that seems to have had more than its usual share of loss of arts personalities. Some of these national and international personalities were known to us here personally, hence we are more than usually affected be the demise of these individuals. Here in Canada we mourned the loss of the country's most distinguished Shakespearean actor, William Hutt, at age 87. He had been slated to perform once again at the Stratford Festival, but illness and his subsequent death on June 28 deprived his fans of this final performance. Perhaps most sad and most unexpected was the death of Richard Bradshaw. It is doubtful that without this 63-year-old general director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) that it would be celebrating its second season in its new opera house in Toronto. Although Bradshaw made his original music career in Britain, where he was born, he embraced Toronto and Canada with great fervor, making it his personal mission to bring about the building of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. It is now the home not only of the COC, but also of the National Ballet of Canada. The founder of this, Canada's premier ballet company, was Celia Franca. Also the company's long-time artistic director, she died in February at age 85. The great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson left us on Dec. 23. His legacy in the jazz world is huge. The winner of seven Grammy Awards, his artistry on the keys made him world famous, as well as the trio he led for many years. Coincidentally, in 2005, he became the first living person other than a reigning monarch to be commemorated on a Canadian postage stamp. Other notables in the arts who have left us are Norval Morriseau, the first Canadian First Nations artists to receive international acclaim. He was in his 70s; Ken Danby, just 67, was especially known for his hockey art; novelist Jane Rule, aged 76; poet Margaret Avison at age 89; Doug Riley, often called Mr. Music, an indefatigable promoter of jazz on radio and in clubs, at age 62; actress Lois Maxwell, 70, mostly known as Miss Moneypenny in 14 James Bond films; journalist, author and activist June Callwood, 82; artist E.H. Hughes, 93; editor, author, and activist Doris Anderson at 82. Singer/actor and multiple Emmy Award winner Robert Goulet died in October. Although born in the USA, he was of French Canadian origins and spent his most formative years in Canada. It is also there that he started his career, before finding success in the land of his birth. His big break came in Camelot as Sir Lancelot. The show opened in Toronto in 1960 and from there, after a run in Boston, opened to acclaim on Broadway. It also starred Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. Toronto businessman and impresario, Ed Mirvish, died in July at age 92. In many ways he is responsible for ensuring that Toronto now ranks high in the English-speaking world of theater, ranking only behind New York and London. For a time, Mirvish owned London's Old Vic, which he rescued from total decay. In Toronto he rescued the Royal Alexandra Theatre, built the Princess of Wales Theatre, and his company, now run by his son, manages several other theaters in the city. Lastly, we mention Vancouver-born Yvonne De Carlo, most famous for her role as Lily Munster in the long-running TV series. She died at age 84 in January of 2007. Although an American citizen, she is mentioned here because she happens to be an alumna of the same high school in Vancouver as one of our team here at Lancette. In no particular order or rank we also recall the passing of some of the notables from outside Canada. These include most author and teacher Kurt Vonnegut Jr., best known for the book Slaughterhouse Five at the age of 84; soprano Beverly Sills at age 78; Swedish film director Ingmar Bergmann at age 89; the 82-year-old TV talk show host and game show creator Merv Griffin; tenor Luciano Pavarotti died in his native Italy of pancreatic cancer. He was 71; on November 10, we mourned the death of Norman Mailer, author and essayist, whose strident views dominated the American literary scene for decades. He died of kidney failure at 84; Denny Doherty, a founding member of the folk-pop band the Mamas and the Papas, died at his suburban Toronto home at age 66. The 1960s band rose to prominence with such songs as California Dreamin' and Monday Monday; lastly, we mention singer Dan Fogelberg, who is credited with creating the genre of music known as soft rock. He died of prostate cancer at age 56 at his home in Maine. May they all rest in peace. Culture & Politics . . . . Not a good mixture has been moved to Archives |
