Chick Corea’s “The Continents: Concerto for Jazz Quintet and Chamber Orchestra” is filled with tuneful melody, shows off some superb playing by the soloists, breaks new ground in a number of ways, and achieves nearly all of its ambitions.
Five strong contenders: production values are high, the actors excellent, and four are beautifully grounded in their settings –- Norway, Calcutta, and two in Ireland.
In light of the many translations of Cyprian Norwid’s verse into English, Danuta Borchardt thought carefully about what she was going to focus on.
Feb 212012
The recording was made in December 2010 in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, and reveals an orchestra fully at home in John Adams’ distinctive idiom.
Perhaps most remarkably, BSO conductor Stéphane Denève managed to create an atmosphere in which the Symphony Hall audience, which at this time of year sometimes sounds like it’s made up of inpatients from a tuberculosis ward, was utterly captivated: even the quietest moments were accompanied by a welcomed, attentive silence.
“The Artist” works on two levels: the audience in the film and the audience watching the film are entertained by the same things. And it’s that simplicity – the era when silent movies were all they had and it was good enough – is the real protagonist.
Feb 182012
A staged reading of an illuminating play by Motti Lerner about the devastating impact of war on men and women in Israeli society.
Feb 152012
Some fiction can, literally, have the smell of too much research. And so, although I admire the ambition and scope of Audrey Schulman’s new novel, “Three Weeks in December,” I also feel that she made things harder for herself than she needed to.
From James P. Johnson to Thelonious Monk to Jason Moran, inspired mentors carry the past into the future.
Feb 152012
To judge from the all-around energetic playing of the BSO, it seems conductor Jaap van Zweden has struck a good rapport with the players and I, for one, look forward to hearing more from him in coming seasons.
All the works were done with balance, appropriate embellishments in the vocal solo and instrumental parts, and with the energy necessary to bring this music into the twenty-first century.
Art with a capital A has been put on such a pedestal that Craft with a capital C has been downgraded to a shabby or rustic sort of activity of which the practitioner should be a little ashamed. ’Tain’t so.
Although I was disappointed in this Manhattan Theatre Club production, I am, however, very glad to have seen “Wit” — it is a contemporary classic.
Dominique Eade’s two greatest gifts are her clarity of musical thought and her courage as an improviser. She does not try to be a cabaret-style interpreter or a ring-a-ding-ding swinger.
What more could you ask than that a musical comedy version of The Addams Family cast a kooky spell?
Elegantly written, cogently argued, and filled with trenchant artistic analyses, Alexander Marr’s book exemplifies interdisciplinary studies at their best.
“69°S” takes risks that never put actual life or limb in danger, but under the static of snow and history, we learn that venturing to the edge is always a kind of art.
Worth checking out in February: a few solid experimental shows.
Ms. Bolden’s goal of evoking wintry climes was achieved because of her choice of pieces and musicians, who performed these compositions so well.
Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey first performed, as the soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. in the Celebrity Series line-up back in 2007. He made his second appearance at NEC’s Jordan Hall two nights ago. It was a spectacular performance.
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