Arts Fuse Editor

Of Madness and Murder

January 10, 2006
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A brilliant new novel explores how the search for his family’s fate during the Holocaust nearly costs a man his sanity. “Götz and Meyer” by David Albahari. Translated from the Serbian by Ellan Elias-Bursac. (Harcourt, 176 pp., $23) By Tess Lewis “We need so little to imagine another world, don’t we?” asks the narrator of…

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Art in Palestine

December 19, 2005
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By Ken George December 19th, 2005 Given that many American museums fear controversy and distain art that lacks any commercial sex-appeal, it should come as no surprise that contemporary Palestinian art is hard to find. Thankfully, a smattering of shoe-string galleries across the country are accepting the challenge.

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Classical CDs Review: New Tricks for Old Ponies

December 19, 2005
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Recent stand-out classical recordings boast fresh interpretations of familiar works, recordings of little-known repertoire, and some legendary performances by Pablo Casals. By Mark Kroll Harmonia Mundi has an excellent new recording of Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” with Rene Jacobs and his Concerto Koln taking just the right approach to Mozart’s great comic opera. The packaging…

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Book Review: What’s Opera, Doc?

December 5, 2005
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A groundbreaking book explores the music written for Hollywood’s animated cartoons and how the tunes shaped the characters and stories that are now a vital part of American culture. Read More

Combat Classic

November 25, 2005
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First published fifty years ago, this novel offers a more devastating picture of the physical and psychological toll of ground warfare as any an embedded journalist could offer.

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Folk Album Review: Rebel Folk

November 22, 2005
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Though the last presidential race has faded into a memory, two recent albums from singer-songwriters bring subtle artistry to simmering political anger and alienation. Pierce Woodward, “Blow Them Away” (Long Run Music); James McMurtry, “Childish Things” (Compadre Records) By Danielle Dreilinger A year ago, folk stages were filled with artists like Steve Earle urging people…

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Coltrane Redux

November 7, 2005
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It is remarkable that two prime discoveries in John Coltrane’s recording history should appear in the same year; one of them an improved elevation from the world of underground tapes, the other a total surprise.

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Photograph to Book Cover

October 25, 2005
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By Karl Baden View Gallery I’ve been spending far too much time in secondhand bookstores. I’ll waste hours in the shelves, looking, mostly without success, for those iconic photo books that I couldn’t afford when I was younger, and now are as rare as hen’s teeth. While prowling the stacks, I began to notice that…

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The Tile Project, Destination: The World

October 20, 2005
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By Mary Sherman View Gallery As the cultural historian Mira Bartok notes, “The great modern architect Stanley Tigerman once said that to him, tiles are both democratic and accessible. The are the essence of what public art has the potential to be – an art form that can be found anywhere in the world by…

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Fuse Concert Review: An Opera Lost in Space

October 17, 2005
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Handel and Haydn Society’s irreverent take on “Dido and Aeneas” is another example of an operatic trend in which production values push musical values to the sidelines

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