Commentary

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fuse Commentary: “Pawn Sacrifice” — Missing Bobby Fischer

October 6, 2015
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I wish I had more thumbs to turn down about Pawn Sacrifice.

Rethinking the Repertoire #2: Anna Clyne’s “Night Ferry”

October 5, 2015
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Night Ferry proves to be an ambitious, absorbing score, filled with music of great color, vitality, and expression.

Rethinking the Repertoire #1: Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony in E-flat, op. 2

September 30, 2015
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We begin our survey with one of my favorite musical discoveries of the last three years: Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony in E-flat, op. 2.

Classical Commentary: “Rethinking the Repertoire” — An Introduction

September 29, 2015
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It’s one of the enduring ironies of classical music that so much of today’s repertoire was written by such a small number of people..

Classical Music Commentary: 2015-16 Orchestral Fall Season Preview

September 24, 2015
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It looks to be as rich, intense, and, hopefully, rewarding a season as we’ve seen in recent memory.

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