Big Daddy
Senior Member
In its own way, Toronto's new opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts sums up this city.
Despite having been designed for opera, it isn't operatic; it's more recitative than aria, competent rather than exciting.
...the hall itself, an exercise in beige blandness.
For the most part, however, the design of the Four Seasons seems to have been largely a question of how cheaply can you build an opera house?
You get what you pay for, of course, and as is so often the case in this city, we decided we were too poor to build something spectacular.
AoD
Christopher Hume has it so right on - Toronto will settle for anything, just to keep it cheap!! The opera house is a prime disappointment / example of this as is the ridiculous ROM renovation – (Get a great architect to design something stunning, then change his design by covering the "crystal†with aluminum siding instead of glass.) Unbelievable! It could only happen in Toronto. I can't even take out of town guests near the ROM – it’s just too embarrassing.
As for the Four Seasons Centre, I guess Torontonians can now say “Oh yeah?, well we have an “opera house†too you know.â€