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Arts Remembrance: Peter Matthiessen – The Last Frontiersman

April 19, 2014
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The late writer Peter Matthiessen was one of the last great frontiersmen, one of the last great travelers taking voyages of discovery.

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Movie Review: “The Galapagos Affair” — An Edenic Experiment Gone Wrong

April 18, 2014
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It would take a series of spoilers to explain who might have killed whom in “The Galapagos Affair.” See the movie and find out, and revel in the grim gallows humor.

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Poetry Review: “Book of Hours” — From Mourning to Celebration

April 18, 2014
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Kevin Young’s poetic line is generally on the concise side, generating a pithy, earthy, evocative quality that hovers somewhere between the haiku-like jazziness of Robert Creeley and the delta blues of Son House or Skip James.

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Classical Concert Review: Conductor Charles Dutoit and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Perform Mozart and Mahler

April 18, 2014
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Conductor Charles Dutoit seems to have little affinity for Mahler’s distinctive style.

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Classical Concert Review: Winsor Music Chamber Series at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

April 18, 2014
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Praise is due Peggy Pearson and Winsor Music for providing a forum for the talented young composer Lev Mamuya.

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Classical Concert Review: The Discovery Ensemble at Jordan Hall — A Group That is Growing Strong and Fast

April 16, 2014
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The Discovery Ensemble’s precision was also on full display in the vigorous contrapuntal writing that came across with impressive, electrifying energy and visceral punchiness.

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Theater Review: “Becoming Cuba” — A Sugary Historical Melodrama

April 16, 2014
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Dramatist Melinda Lopez’s “Becoming Cuba” holds your attention even after you see just where it is going and why.

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Visual Arts Review: “Quilts and Color” — Far From Folk and Perhaps Beyond Art

April 16, 2014
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Far from being the cool, detached, and cerebral creations of the color field artists, these quilts, imagined in their intended context, are deeply personal, sensuous, and alive.

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TV Review: “Fargo”: or, Do Contract Killers Get Bored and Create Chaos for Fun?

April 15, 2014
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“Fargo” creates its own world of crime and moral conundrums while delivering a fair share of blood. Whether the TV series delivers on its promise to be in the same aesthetic world as the original movie is an open question.

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Book Review: “Long Mile Home” — An Informative View of the Boston Marathon Bombings That Lacks Investigative Muscle

April 15, 2014
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A fast-paced, fact-laden book by two “Boston Globe” reporters about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that doesn’t answer the tough questions.

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