Commentary

Fuse Remembrance: Kurt Masur (1927-2015)

January 3, 2016
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Kurt Masur leaves behind a complex legacy, one that’s not neatly (or easily) summed up by the caricature of a stern, conservative, Old World German maestro.

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Fuse Feature: Quotes for the New Year

December 31, 2015
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Some pithy quotes to keep in mind for the New Year.

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Film Commentary: Blink a Bright Red and Green — “Carol’’’s Holiday Charm

December 21, 2015
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A guide to the symbolic color odyssey that will keep you on your toes if you choose to see Carol more than once (and I’m thinking you will).

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Music Feature: Best Classical Performances of 2015

December 17, 2015
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Of course, it’s a tricky business to summarize a classical music scene as busy and wide as Boston’s.

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Cultural Commentary: After Three Decades, The End of Live Jazz at Boston’s Top of the Hub

December 4, 2015
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Top of the Hub was one of the very rare places in the country where ordinary folks would bump into jazz every night.

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Book Review: Michel Houellebecq and the Wages of “Submission”

November 30, 2015
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If you’ve recently been mourning the end of the Novel of Ideas—take heart. And dig in, for Submission offers a smorgasbord.

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Film Review/Commentary: “Goodnight Mommy”—We Have Met the Enemy and He is Ours

November 1, 2015
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Two recent horror films know what they are doing: they are intelligent, clever, original, and genuinely disturbing.

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Rethinking the Repertoire #5: Leonard Bernstein’s “Songfest”

October 19, 2015
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Bernstein’s Songfest is Exhibit A in the argument that American orchestras and conductors need to champion the music of these shores.

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Rethinking the Repertoire #4: James MacMillan’s “Tryst”

October 16, 2015
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James MacMillan is one of the few contemporary composers who has embraced elements of the avant-garde and still found a wide audience.

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Rethinking the Repertoire #3: Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Symphony no. 6

October 7, 2015
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The truth is that the music of this most politically aware and morally astute of composers needs – and deserves – much wider currency.

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