Commentary

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: Trump’s War on the Kennedy Center Is a War on Culture Itself

September 18, 2026
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His threatened destruction of the nation’s living memorial to John F. Kennedy exposes not merely an assault on a building, but the petty authoritarianism, civic vandalism, and cultural contempt driving his presidency.

Performing Arts Feature: Huzzah! Renaissance Faires as Immersive Theater

September 10, 2026
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King Richard’s Faire, which is New England’s largest and oldest medieval-themed entertainment venue, serves as an intriguing case study of countercultural expression and commercialized theatrical spectacle.

Arts Remembrance: The Musical Mission of Joel Cohen

August 4, 2026
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His galvanizing presence left an enduring mark on Boston’s musical culture.

Arts Remembrance: Jeff “Monoman” Conolly — He Knew All the Secrets

August 3, 2026
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The Lyres frontman was obsessive, exacting, and unforgettable.

Visual Arts Commentary: The Great Spirit Gets Company

August 1, 2026
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In Boston and Hanover, new works by Alan Michelson and Kent Monkman challenge the myth of the vanishing Native—and the Cyrus Dallin bronze that enshrined it.

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.

The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Midyear: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters

July 23, 2026
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Few things more clearly attest to the endurance of the human spirit and the drive for creativity than the uninterrupted and unstoppable torrent of brilliant new jazz albums we’ve already seen this year.

The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year: Consensus in Retreat

July 23, 2026
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Tyshawn Sorey tops the Frances Davis Jazz Poll at mid-year, spurring a reflection on signal vs. noise in a crowded jazz landscape.

The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year — The Old World Gets Weirder

July 23, 2026
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Fitting the past into the present: the year (so far) in rara avis (reissues/archival)

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