Commentary
A selection of my top newsletter columns for 2026.
Viewing John Singer Sargent and his art through the lens of identity studies and LGBTQ history supplies new insights into claims about his homosexuality.
“Unfinished” supplies a thoughtful analysis of the relationship between music, musicians, and AI.
Sometimes the stranger is someone who is very well known to us, like a father whose strange ways include a devotion to a certain story about a childhood in Wales.
What have Donald Trump and John F. Kennedy got in common? Besides the office they hold, not much. Certainly not an appreciation for the arts: Trump is to the field what McDonald’s is to fine dining.
Our demanding critics choose the best films (along with some disappointments) of the year. And there is plenty of disagreement.
First recordings of major works and splendid recordings of some others, from Handel to Raff and from Boston’s Musicians of the Old Post Road to the astonishing operatic soprano Aleksandra Kurzak.
Being a one-man or one-woman band while toiling in the shadows is not glamorous work. Over the last 13 years, producer Alex Lemski undertook this role and supplied a great deal of exciting, important music to the people of Boston.
Predictably, when you get to the discussion of money, honey, the rubber hits the road.
The 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll: Vocal Jazz Albums
In recent years, the category has been dominated by Cécile McLorin Salvant, who won handily again this year, her seventh time, one for each of her albums.
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