In today’s Wall Street Journal, I review a revival of Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique. Here’s an excerpt.
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“Symphonie Fantastique,” Basil Twist’s abstract, wordless 1998 underwater puppet show set to the music of Hector Berlioz, is being revived downtown. Here’s part of what I wrote about it in 2004: “What you see…is one wall of a shallow glass tank into which five wet-suited puppeteers dip and slosh 180 peculiar-looking objects, none of which even remotely resembles Charlie McCarthy. Inspired by the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky and Berlioz’s own program for the ‘Fantastic Symphony,’ Mr. Twist uses this equipment to conjure up a bewitching string of complex scenes that unfold with the nagging compulsion of a love story (which is what Berlioz’s symphony is, more or less)….”
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To read my review of Symphonie Fantastique, go here
The trailer for Symphonie Fantastique: