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Book Interview: Edgar Allan Poe — America’s Maestro of Suffering

March 2, 2016
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The Annotated Poe invites readers to take a fresh look at Edgar Allan Poe and his far-ranging artistic legacy.

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Rethinking the Repertoire #6: Felix Mendelssohn’s “Die erste Walpurgisnacht”

March 1, 2016
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Felix Mendelssohn remains one of the West’s most underrated composers.

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Book Review: “What The Eye Hears” — Putting the Wrong Foot First

March 1, 2016
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Brian Seibert’s history of tap dancing has unleashed something I can only describe as a tap world pissing contest.

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Classical Music Review: Sir András Schiff — “The Last Sonatas,” Performed Divinely

February 29, 2016
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Those assembled at Boston’s Jordan Hall were thoroughly prepared to be enraptured.

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Dance Review: Revolution in Reverb – Bolshoi Postmodern in HD

February 29, 2016
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Introduced by gigantic moving set-pieces and robots with prison searchlights for eyes, Bolt often looks like poster art.

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Music Review: Jason Isbell, Laid-Back — More Country Than Country-Rock

February 29, 2016
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Jason Isbell has got sober, and his songs ring with the urgency of the newly recovered (and newly remarried, to his violinist Amanda Shires).

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Fuse Oscar Predictions 2016 — Who Should Win? Who Will Win?

February 28, 2016
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Eight nominees? WTF, Academy? If you’re going to change the structure to allow ten nominees, then have ten nominees!

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Stage Review: Sonic Life on the Office Floor — The Bitter Truth

February 28, 2016
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Okada’s play reflects how skepticism has become the default stance for young adults shellshocked by post-recession economic restructuring.

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Film Review: “A War” — Despair, Carefully Calibrated

February 27, 2016
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The movie plays all sides equally, providing no answers, no favorites, no villains, no heroes. Everybody’s motives and ethics are in question.

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Music Feature: At 76, Singer Mavis Staples Continues to be an Antidote to Despair

February 27, 2016
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Mavis Staples’ voice and stage presence still exude power, still plumb emotional and spiritual depths.

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