Village Squire, 1981-04, Page 19UPDATE
Music, music, music
Music lovers beware! This year the
Guelph Spring Festival is offering six
premieres of new works, several concerts
by internationally -known musicians and a
rare Canadian appearance by opera
singer Teresa Stratas.
The festival, which opens in Guelph,
April 30. offers not only music. but also
art and films in a variety of locations
around the city. as well as concerts by the
Canadian Brass, the Toronto Symphony
Youth Orchestra and Woody Herman,
with his "big band" sound.
One of the more interesting premieres
at the festival is the opera Postcard from
Morocco, which will be sung by seven
quelph SprbigFestzva/
outstanding Canadian singers including
mezzo-soprano Janet Stubbs, soprano
Roxolana Roslak and baritone Mark
Pedrotti. The opera opens somewhat like
an Agatha Christie mystery, with seven
characters, all strangers, in the waiting
room of a North African railway station.
This is the first time the opera has ever
been performed in Canada.
Another highlight of the festival will be
a visit by Teresa Stratas, the Canadian
opera singer who is known around the
world for her performances of Salome and
Lulu•
• Another Canadian first will be a
performance by the Scottish Baroque
Ensemble, a string orchestra of 13 superb
PG. 18 VILLAGE SQUIRE/APRIL 1981
musicians who will perform Malcolm
Williamson's Ode For Queen Elizabeth,
which was dedicated to the Queen
Mother on her 80th birthday.
On May 5 and 6, children will have
their turn as the festival presents two
award-winning children's films.
Other presentations during the festival
include an exhibition of work by 20
Canadian artists titled "Realism: Struct-
ure and Illusion", three performances by
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and the
North American premiere of Nuova
Cojpagnia di Canto Popolare di Napoli,
six musicians performing some of the
traditional music from Southern Italy.
Heritage agreement
Perth County now has its second
historical easement agreement, aimed at
preserving the Arthur Meighen birth-
place, north of the small community of
Anderson. Mr. Meighen was prime
minister of Canada in 1920, the nation's
youngest prime minister at 46 years of
age, until Joe Clark held the office
recently.
A heritage easement agreement be-
tween the Ontario Heritage Foundation
and the property's owner, Brian
Williams, means both current and future
owners of the property must obtain
approval from the foundation before
making any changes to the home's
exterior. The only other building with a
similar heritage easement in the county is
Stratford's Festival Square, the former
Gordon block.
Architectural conservation officer Dan
Schneider also noted the owner of
property for which an easement has been
granted is entitled to the advice and
expertise of the foundation should he
wish to carry out repair or restoration
work.
Michael Meighen, the prime minister's
grandson, said the family is "extremely
pleased" with the heritage agreement.
The Harbour Park Inn
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB)
has given approval for the expansion of
Goderich's oldest building, the historic
Harbour Park Inn on West Street.
The inn has been a non -conforming use
as a tavern -hotel since 1879. The building
once known as Park House, was the home
of Thomas Mercer Jones, the notorious
Canada Company land agent and one of
the company officials whose unfair
practices led many local pioneers to
support McKenzie in the 1837 Rebellion.
Owner Mike Mallough applied for
permission to build an addition to expand
the kitchen and washrooms, create a
partially -enclosed outdoor patio and
restore the 19th century building to its
original appearance. Until a 1945 fire, the
house had a distinctive French -style roof
which was replaced with a third storey.
Mallough also plans to expand parking
behind the inn from 13 to 32 parking
spaces.
The town approved a restricted area
bylaw to permit the expansion, but after
five residents objected, an OMB hearing
had to be held. The neighbouring
residents argued expansion of the inn
would increase noise, rowdiness and
traffic problems in the area. The inn, in a
mainly residential area, also fronts on the
arterial road which leads to the Goderich
harbour's commercial area.
OMB chairman W.E. Eyer ruled the
town could control noise in the area by
zoning and the development agreement.
He added, "This inn is surely an integral
part of this harbour area and no one
disputes it s historical value."
Captures nature's fury
While the Group of Seven artists were
intent on capturing Canada's north on
canvas, Hanover artist Carl Schaefer was
painting the rural landscapes of the
farming community where he v‘ as raised.
Recently the Art Gallery of Ontario in
Toronto recognized the special contribu-
tion of the Bruce County artist. whose
watercolour landscapes from 1934 to 1942
captured Ontario farmhouses, weather-
ing the real and symbolic storms of the
Depression, to the fields of corn battered
by the elements and man's drive towards
destruction.
It's fitting Carl Schaefer and the
painting of Dutch artist Vincent Van
Gogh should be on exhibit at the AGO at
the same time. since although their
mediums are different, both use broad.
flowing brushstrokes and brilliant colours
to capture nature's fury.
Schaefer, who taught art for several
years, often told his students, "If you've
got a subject, make sure it's a good one.
And if it's a good one, it'll last you all