Joseph Horowitz

Film Music Commentary: Why “The Odyssey” Should Have Been a Silent Film

September 20, 2026
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Christopher Nolan’s high-tech Homer struggles to achieve epic grandeur; Fritz Lang’s “Die Nibelungen,” with its stylized images and Gottfried Huppertz’s symphonic score, shows what modern spectacle leaves behind.

Arts Commentary: The Orchestra Gap — Europe vs. the US

July 27, 2026
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The widening chasm between European and American orchestras is not just a matter of polish, but of style, inheritance, and musical conviction.

Arts Commentary: What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become?

June 14, 2026
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A reconsideration of the Kennedy Center’s unrealized national mission—and what its future could yet hold.

Arts Commentary: The Boston Symphony’s New Humanities Blueprint Makes Sense

May 4, 2026
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Why festival programming—and humanities partnerships—can help the BSO.

Book Review: Wilhelm Furtwängler in Wartime – Reflections on Ian Buruma’s “Stay Alive”

April 16, 2026
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If there is a through-line consolidating Ian Buruma’s account, it is the admonition: Do not rush to judgment.

Classical Music Commentary: What’s Next for the Boston Symphony? — Lessons from the Past

April 14, 2026
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With today’s Boston Symphony in an uproar, lacking direction, attention should be paid to Henry Higginson, who invented the Boston Symphony. He knew what he was doing. He knew how to scout and hire conductors. He knew what music he wanted played. He knew what the orchestra was for.

Classical Music Commentary: Boston’s Lost Opportunity — How the BSO Board Chose Charles Munch over Leonard Bernstein

April 6, 2026
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In Boston, Leonard Bernstein might have sustained Serge Koussevitzky’s bold adventure—and changed the course of American classical music. Today’s Boston Symphony is adrift

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