Commentary

Book Review and Commentary: Albert Murray’s Non-fiction – A Balm in Columbia

February 21, 2017
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At his best, Albert Murray is a thinker passionately in love with thinking, a virtuoso of verbal music, an American to his core.

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A Compendium of Consolations: The Words of Albert Murray

February 21, 2017
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“Art . . . is . . . fundamental equipment for existence on human terms.” — Albert Murray

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Literary Homage: John Berger’s Masterpiece, “A Painter of Our Time”

February 11, 2017
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A Painter of Our Time is a gorgeous rumination on art, love, sexuality, revolution, capitalism, exile, propaganda, politics, human nature, and society.

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Book Review: “Hope in the Dark” — An Homage to Community

February 2, 2017
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Now, more than ever, It’s worth being reminded of our natural potential for good.

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Commentary: Donald Trump and the New Culture War

January 17, 2017
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Who might be chosen to receive a Kennedy Center Honor from President Trump who wouldn’t refuse it?

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Arts Review/Commentary: Climate Change and Artistic Derangement

January 3, 2017
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Why haven’t American theater companies dealt seriously with climate change?

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Feature: Best Live Music Shows of 2016 — As Well as Some Disappointments

December 31, 2016
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Our Roots and World Music critic looks back at a year of live performances.

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Commentary: Top Classical Recordings of 2016

December 17, 2016
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I make no claims to have listened to everything released in 2016; here are my picks for the top classical recordings of the year.

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Commentary: Best Classical Performances of 2016

December 16, 2016
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Picks for the top live classical performances of 2016. Feel free to agree, disagree, add to them, come up with your own list, etc.

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Cultural Commentary: Things Get Worse at the Boston Globe and Elsewhere — More Arts Criticism Bites the Dust

November 15, 2016
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Many of today’s arts editors and reviewers embrace a lilliputian vision of arts criticism; they accept a crabbed sense of its possibilities.

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