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Baritone Peter McGillivray in rehearsal for Dark Star Requiem . Photo by Brian Mosoff. Dark Star Requiem premiered at Luminato Friday night to an audience among whom you could hear a pin drop. This oratorio cum opera cum requiem was definitely dramatic, and most of that was accomplished through the libretto by Jill Battson and by the visual text projections. I disagree with the Star 's John Terauds who wrote Saturday that it 'lacks visceral punch': I think this is where the connection lay. While the choice of words projected was very effective--such as long lists of HIV-related drugs and a real-time measurement of AIDS-related deaths every 14 seconds--some of the images were a bit long in presentation or short on the quick changes we are accustomed to in present media. The movements themselves were all that were needed to hold our thoughtful reflections. While Koerner Hall is undoubtedly gorgeous--subdued, organic--I felt this important piece deserved a more appropriate v...
