Morris and Company Show Tough Skin

Mark Morris expected to receive a few negative reviews after he shocked a Brussels audience last month by stripping naked with his Monnaie Dance Group, but the bitterness of the criticism in the press still surprised the company’s management.

General manager Barry Alterman, referring to the deluge of scathing articles that appeared after the April 23 closing performance of “Mythologies,” said: “I was expecting bad reviews on this show because it’s a challenging show for many people. What I didn’t expect was this xenophobia. We didn’t expect that, with newspaper headlines saying, “Go Home!”

Morris, the American choreographer who concluded his first season as director of the Brussels-based ballet company, told Belgian reporters he also thought their reaction was “slightly xenophobic,” especially since “Mythologies,” which had its premiere in Boston in 1986, recently got rave reviews in London.

But several critics were not so taken with Morris’ latest work, which had as its finale a striptease, with the entire cast standing naked. The French newspapers Le Figaro and Le Soir both attacked the performance--one labeling “Mythologies” “American Burlesque,” while the other, with a headline that read “Mark Morris, Go Home!,” speculated whether Morris had staged a “suicidal counter-performance or a provocation.”

“The press just took exception to one of the shows we presented. Real vehement exception,” said Alterman. “But we’re still here. They didn’t run us out on a rail.”

Morris, who has a three-year contract with the Monnaie, said in a recent published interview that he thought his publicly admitted homosexuality might also have had something to do with the poor reviews he received.

Alterman said the flurry of bad press won’t keep the dance group from fulfilling its upcoming tour schedule, which begins with benefit performances at the Dance Theater Workshop in New York this month.

“It wasn’t a life-threatening situation,” Alterman said.

ARMENIAN OPERAS: The Alexander Spendarian State Opera and Ballet Theatre of Armenia will present two Armenian operas, “Anoush” and “Arshak II,” at the Wiltern Theatre May 24-28.

“Anoush” will be performed May 24 and May 26-27. “Arshak II” will be on May 25 and May 28. All performances are at 8 p.m.

The company singers will also offer a recital program June 2.

Tigran Levonian will direct the company of 155 singers, dancers and musicians in the U.S. premiere of the two operas. This tour is cited as the first time a state opera theater company from a Soviet republic has been allowed to travel outside the U.S.S.R.

“Arshak II,” translated into Armenian from Italian by Thomas Terzian in 1868 but called the first truly Armenian opera, is based on the life of a 4th-Century king who fought to unify Armenia. Bass Barsegh Toumanian will sing the lead role, with soprano Hasmik Papian singing the role of Olympia, the queen.

“For these performers, coming to America is a dream come true,” said producer Varter Karagoz. “They are very satisfied they’re coming, because there were more who wanted to come than we could invite.”

According to Karagoz, close to 300 members of the company vied for a place on this tour. Of the 100 soloists in the company, only 26 were chosen.

On June 2, the company’s orchestra and soloists will present a concert at the Wiltern featuring tenor Gegham Grigorian singing Armenian folk songs and works by Rossini, Verdi and others.

The elaborate sets for “Arshak II” are designed by Yevgeni Safranov. Yuri Davtian will conduct the orchestra with Ashot Asatrian as ballet master.

After Los Angeles, the company will perform in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Boston and San Francisco.

Information: (213) 480-3232.

WATTS CANCELS: Pianist Andre Watts, who postponed his April 26 recital at Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium because of illness, will not reschedule his performance. Ticket refunds will be available at points of purchase on or before June 16. Information: (818) 304-6161.

ANOTHER INSTITUTE: For a second summer, cellist Lynn Harrell will again serve as artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, one of the more visible educational arms of the orchestra. On the faculty for 1989 will be conductors Yuri Temirkanov, David Zinman, the Swiss musician Mario Venzago, Neeme Jarvi, Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski (who will conduct a program of his own music at UCLA) and the Emerson Quartet.

Ernest Fleischmann, managing director of the Philharmonic and founder of the Institute, told The Times that chamber ensembles made up of Institute orchestra players will again give public concerts at a number of venues around the city. And, besides its three scheduled Hollywood Bowl appearances (July 16 and 30, and Aug. 13), the 100-member LAPO Institute Orchestra will perform four concerts in Royce Hall at UCLA.