Month: February 2011

Theater Review: Hotel Nepenthe — Rooms with a Comically Existential View

February 28, 2011
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Hard luck stories and ghostly characters flit in and out of the creepy yet elegant Hotel Nepenthe, an antique nest where guests are given leopard skin coats while they await their existential fates, sometimes lying in the bathtub. “For its own interests, humor should take its outings in grave company; its cheerful dress gets heightened…

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Coming Attractions in Underground Music: March 2011

February 28, 2011
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Things are heating up in Boston this month with some more indie pop, psychedelic rock, and electronic shows. Also, we’re starting to get some legitimate dance music from across the pond, a trend that will most likely continue. Get out and have some fun. Just remember, it’s always about the music. By David Cooper. Dum…

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Classical Music Sampler: March 2011

February 28, 2011
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March highlights include the American premiere of Boston Camerata’s homage to mystics of the Middle ages, innovative programming from the Chameleon Arts Ensemble, and appearances by heavyweights pianist Evgeny Kissin, paying homage to birthday boy Franz Liszt, and guitarist John Williams. By Susan Miron Wednesday Concert Series, held each Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. —  6:30 p.m.…

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Coming Attractions in Film: March 2011

February 27, 2011
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March is shaping up to be the month for strong, female leads. Hollywood has its eye turned toward the classics, with Jane Eyre, Red Riding Hood, and a modern, stylized take on Alice in Wonderland in Sucker Punch. In addition, Boston hosts several film festivals including Jewishfilm.2011, the Irish Film Festival, and Wild & Scenic…

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Coming Attractions in Theater: March 2011

February 26, 2011
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An exciting month, and that isn’t hyperbole. A couple of North American premieres: a futuristic opera from MIT’s Tod Machover and poet Robert Pinsky and a drama tweaking The New Testament from Howard Brenton. Toss in iconic director Peter Brook staging Beckett, F. Murray Abraham as Shylock, and Car Talk:The Musical and you are talking about taking out the smelling salts

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Music Commentary: What Are the BSO Trustees Thinking?

February 24, 2011
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I’ve been going to BSO Open Rehearsal for some 50 years at Tanglewood and can’t remember ever having as alienating an experience as I and over one thousand other attendees had Wednesday night at Symphony Hall.

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Classical Music Review: Masterworks Chorale Offers a Contemplative Tchaikovsky

February 24, 2011
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The Masterworks Chorale doesn’t get the critical attention or large audiences it rightly deserves. Friday’s concert may not have been as well-attended as it should have been, but those in the audience realized they were having a rare and extraordinary listening experience.

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Theater Review: A Painfully Good “Europeans”

February 24, 2011
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Director Meg Taintor’s fine staging of Howard Barker’s play focuses on the complex script’s affecting personal through line: the growing love between reluctant war hero and disgraced victim, and their struggle to fashion something real amid the growing artificiality around them. The Europeans by Howard Barker. Directed by Meg Taintor. Staged by Whistler in the…

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Classical Music Interview: Cantata Singers’ David Hoose On J. S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor

February 24, 2011
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The venerable Cantata Singers and Ensemble obviously knows how to throw an epic party. The group is limbering up for its 50th anniversary celebration by taking on J. S. Bach’s monumental Mass in B Mass in B Minor, BWV 232.

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Fuse News: March Preview Newsletter, Hot Off the Presses

February 22, 2011
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The March Arts Fuse Preview Newsletter is out, bursting with news of the magazine’s impressive growth, future plans, and, of course, invitations to support (via tax deductible donations) this vital cultural enterprise by becoming a member.

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