Commentary

Arts Commentary: All Is Not Copacetic for the Fine Arts in the Berkshires

January 30, 2020
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Despite the growing number of artists in the Berkshires, there seems to be an effort, among large cultural institutions and the major media, to pretend that they are not around.

Arts Remembrance: A Tribute to Poet and Writer John Ash

January 21, 2020
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We were both English-speaking ex-patriots living in Istanbul, and John Ash’s poetry spoke eloquently to that shared experience.

Music Commentary: New Media, Jazz, and Camille Bertault

January 20, 2020
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Camille Bertault is an uncommon talent. She has a crystalline voice, good intonation, understands the rhythmic and harmonic underpinnings of jazz and has a prodigious memory.

Music Commentary: Grumbling About The Grammy Awards

January 15, 2020
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After 61 years – and a slew of rule changes and category alterations – the Grammys remain the most philistine of our major shiny statue ceremonies.

Book Commentary: “La patria y la muerte” — Exposing Mexican “Greatness”

January 10, 2020
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José Luis Trueba Lara’s anti-popularist history is the truest kind of people’s history.

Arts Commentary: WBUR’s Clogged “ARTery”

December 30, 2019
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Every organization in the Barr Foundation’s charmed circle — large arts groups and The ARTery — have a financial stake in reinforcing the belief that the Barr’s money is being put to supremely successful use.

Book Review: A Biography of John Berger — A Seminal Artist and Thinker

December 26, 2019
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If you have not read John Berger, by the end of this biography you’re likely to feel an urgent need to pick up one of his books.

Top Classical Concerts and Recordings of 2019

December 25, 2019
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Classical music continued to thrive, locally and globally, in 2019.

Film Feature: Best Movies (With Some Disappointments) of 2019

December 23, 2019
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Our demanding critics choose the best (and the most disappointing) films of the year.

Music and Concert Favorites 2019

December 22, 2019
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Our expert music critics serve up their usual highly eclectic round-up of the year’s most memorable.

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