In Sunday’s (9/5) Knoxville News Sentinel (Tennessee), Amy McRary writes, “The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 75th anniversary and the University of Tennessee’s Clarence Brown Theatre begins its 2010-11 season with the collaborative presentation of Amadeus. … Written by Peter Shaffer in 1979, Amadeus mixes fact and fiction. The play tells the story of 18th-century musicians Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri … Thirty-five Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra musicians sit in the middle and to one side of the stage; actors perform and singers sing around, beside and above them. Conducted by KSO Music Director Lucas Richman, the orchestra performs almost 40 pieces of music. … Richman and [stage director Calvin] MacLean say Amadeus is more than a performance. MacLean describes it as “a cultural event that stretches the boundaries of both organizations, stretches the artistic ambitions of both organizations.” … “It creates a wonderful juxtaposition of history and modern times,” Richman says. … “My hope is that when people sit down and all of a sudden an orchestra plays the ‘Jupiter Symphony’ or the ‘Paris Symphony’ there will be an electric charge that goes through the audience,” says MacLean.
Posted September 8, 2010