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The composer turns 250 this year and everyone is trying to cash in on the worldwide party. By Mark Kroll You might not know if 2006 is the year of the dog or the dragon in the Chinese calendar, but you couldn’t have possibly missed the news that this year marks the 250th anniversary of…
The subjects of David Hockney’s portraits have been totally absorbed into his art and autobiography. “David Hockney Portraits” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA By Peter Walsh BOSTON, Mass.— The biggest crowds at the MFA’s “David Hockney Portraits” hover near a wall of large-format etchings titled “A Rake’s Progress” (1961-63). Based on a…
A Mark Morris world premiere is turning the attention of the national press to the state of the Boston Ballet Company under new director Mikko Nissinen. By Debra Cash Choreographer Mark Morris once said something to the effect that after George Balanchine died, people started to believe that every work Balanchine had ever choreographed was…
Old timers Ray Davies, an ex-Kink, and Donald Fagen, ex-Steely Dan, have released surprisingly youthful solo albums. “Morph the Cat” (Reprise); “Other People’s Lives” (V2) By James Marcus “Hope I die before I get old,” declared The Who’s Pete Townshend in 1965, and certainly there have been times, during his drink-and-drug-addled middle decades, when he…
The indispensable octogenarian, Doris Lessing, continues to astonish with her latest books. “Time Bites: Views and Reviews” (HarperCollins) and “The Story of General Dann and Mara’s Daughter, and Griot and the Snow Dog” (HarperCollins) by Doris Lessing. By Harvey Blume When I interviewed Doris Lessing several years ago apropos “Walking in the Shade: 1949-1962,” the…
Two new films explore the provocative premise that slavery in America didn’t end after the Civil War.
By Liza Weisstuch An illuminating new book suggests that, post-Holocaust, the question is no longer whether Jews should live in Germany but how they should live there. Being Jewish in the New Germany by Jeffrey Peck. (Rutgers University Press) Read an excerpt from “Being Jewish in the New Germany.” Last year marked the 60-year anniversary…
Mary Gaitskill’s fine novel “Veronica” explores the links between beauty and ugliness.
By Debra Cash Only medical skill, the support of friends and family and perhaps the prayers of his fans can help Fayard Nicholas recover from the stroke the gentlemanly 91-year old African-American dancer suffered on November 22, 2005. But those of us who thrilled to the virtuoso tap dancing of the Nicholas Brothers in the…
The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters