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Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Much attention has rightly been paid to Stephen Sondheim, who has reached the age of 80 and is the greatest composer/lyricist our country has produced. Boston University got into the act by mounting a production of Merrily We Roll Along in the large B.U. Theatre for a five-day run (April 28–May…
Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Opera Boston is winding up its season with a delightful production of Jacques Offenbach’s La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867). This operetta, one of more than 100 of Offenbach’s works for the music stage, followed closely after three of his most accomplished contributions: La Belle Hélène (1864), Barbe-Bleue (1866), and La Vie…
Readers should not be put off by the title, for this is a splendid novel, interesting in the risks it takes, in its ambition and scope—a book that deserves to be savored and discussed. Rat by Fernanda Eberstadt, Knopf, 304 pages, $25.95 Reviewed by Roberta Silman They have always been with us, those “casual offspring,”…
Mozart wrote some wonderful music in Idomeneo for his wind players, who were up to the task under the capable baton of David Angus. Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Turning out an enormous amount of music in a host of genres during his short life (1756–91), Mozart felt that opera was his most important task. It…
The Chamber Orchestra of Boston’s final concert of the season reaffirmed the city’s high level of musicianship. Reviewed By Helen Epstein Although it is a popular and engaging staple of the concert hall, the fully staged version of Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat or The Soldier’s Tale is one of the least performed in the…
But in my arms until the break of day/ Let the living creature lie,/ Mortal, guilty, but to me/ The entirely beautiful. – W. H. Auden, Lullaby The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett. Directed by Nicholas Hytner. The National Theatre production presented by NTLive at the Coolidge Corner Cinema, Boston, MA, on April 22…
Leonard Bernstein was the most charismatic conductor of the last century, and Gustavo Dudamel is the most charismatic one of this century. By Caldwell Titcomb I provided a lengthy update on the phenomenal conductor Gustavo Dudamel here in December. But now there is important fresh news about him. He actually came to town this weekend…
The issues might seem highly technical and of interest only to specialists, but I think they do matter. In the first place they matter as a corrective to our understanding of Rembrandt, but they also matter for the critical insights they offer into the techniques and practices of scholarship. By Gary Schwartz Earlier columns were…
By Bill Marx I have neglected to point out the recent postings at my other gig, the online feature World Books at BBC/PRI’s The World. I just completed my April podcast, a departure for the series because I focus on a classic American author rather than a writer in translation. But this April 21st marks…
Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ) came to town for an April 9 Jordan Hall concert under the sponsorship of the Celebrity Series. Geoff Nuttall (violin) and Lesley Robertson (viola) are founding members, while Christopher Constanza (cello) joined in 2004 and Scott St. John (violin) in…
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