Month: October 2010

Classical Music: Organist Paul Jacobs Dazzles

October 24, 2010
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There is no doubt that Paul Jacobs, playing the whole recital from memory, is a phenomenal artist, as the advance word had indicated. By Caldwell Titcomb. For the last several years, there has been incredible buzz around the globe concerning a young organist named Paul Jacobs. As one who played a public pipe organ recital…

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Film Interview: Nick Prueher of the Found Footage Festival

October 23, 2010
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Nick Prueher, together with his co-host Joe Pickett, is the founder and curator of the Found Footage Festival, a traveling show that takes the very worst of random VHS tapes and puts them all together into one two hour show. With the festival now in its fifth incarnation, Prueher took some time out from preparing…

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Food Muse: Boston Cream Pie, The Pie That Takes The Cake

October 21, 2010
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As stated in the General Laws of Massachusetts, “Arms, Great Seal and Other Emblems of the Commonwealth – The Boston Cream Pie shall be the official dessert or dessert emblem of the commonwealth.” Winning against Indian Pudding, easy as pie, it became the Official Mass. Dessert in 1996. Boston Cream Pie day was October 23,…

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Theater Review: Antony and Cleopatra Pitch Woo in Hartford

October 20, 2010
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The Hartford Stage may be far from the shores of the Nile, but this lively production of Antony & Cleopatra and the company’s rejuvenated theater space are fit for the entertainment of a Pharaoh. Anthony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. Directed by Tina Landau. At the Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford, CT, through November…

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Theater Commentary: Complicite, HD, and Freedom

October 19, 2010
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Book lovers and filmgoers have long been able to sample art from anywhere they wish—to read a book in translation or to rent a DVD if they didn’t like the latest releases in the theaters. Now, because of HD,  devotees of the stage will be able to roam the world. By Bill Marx. A Disappearing…

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Culture Vulture in Manhattan II

October 17, 2010
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Ever since the Guggenheim got its face-lift a couple of years ago at age 50, Frank Lloyd Wright’s once-controversial museum has become one of my favorite visual arts venues in the city. I like strolling up the spiraling ramp, looking at one picture after another placed in the order that the curator thought the exhibition…

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Classical Music Review: Stile Antico’s Pillow of Heavenly Sound

October 17, 2010
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Music making of this caliber communicates—yet transcends—the tragic tone of these dramatic, religious texts. It brings both the words and the audience who hears them to life. By Susan Miron. Stile Antico, the youthful vocal superstars of Early Music, thrilled a packed St. Paul Church in Cambridge Friday evening. Having wowed audiences at Boston’s Early…

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Classical Music Feature: Listening to a Legend

October 16, 2010
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Alfred Brendel was the first pianist to record all of Beethoven’s piano music in the 1960s and made many world tours with the 32 sonatas, which seemed like old, close friends. At times he would simply play a snippet here and there to illustrate a point, yet never long enough to satisfy this listener. I…

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Culture Vulture: The Met in New York or The Met in HD?

October 16, 2010
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I’ve been ruined by the Met at the Mall. Despite the worn-out, industrial carpeting and the popcorn and the lack of glamor, there are great advantages in seeing opera at the movies these days with state-of-the-art technology, especially the sound. By Helen Epstein. After spending most of the last opera season at the Burlington Mall…

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Food Fuse: Culture Vulture Goes Manhattan

October 16, 2010
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By Helen Epstein. When I go back to New York (where I grew up as a city kid and worked as a cultural journalist many years ago), one of my first stops is a late breakfast at Cafe Sabarsky. Located in the Neue Galerie, the museum of Austrian and German art at 86th St and…

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