Commentary

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Arts Commentary: Music for Times of Trouble

November 14, 2016
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I’ve been most impressed by the manner in which these composers, in these works, took strong moral and/or political stands.

Cultural Commentary: Wells Fargo — Let Them Eat Art

October 3, 2016
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Is truth and beauty served when the arts just take the money from the big banks and run?

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