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Book Review: “Lost Battles” — Leonardo and Michelangelo Strut Their Stuff

March 17, 2013
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In some ways, Jonathan Jones’ narrative structure works against his strengths. Highly respected as a critic, he is an energetic and engaging writer and excels at what art historians call “close looking,” where he guides the reader line by line, brush stroke by brush stroke, through a work of art.

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Classical Music CD Review: Attacca Quartet’s Adventurous “Fellow Traveler” (Azica Records)

March 16, 2013
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This album manages to impressively realize the depth and versatility of John Adams’s music for string quartet. It also announces the arrival of a phenomenal ensemble that plays with a mix of maturity, adventure, and musical insight: this is a group to follow closely and cheer.

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Theater Review: A Searing “Raisin in the Sun”

March 15, 2013
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Director Liesl Tommy’s unflinching approach gives Lorraine Hansberry’s classic a surprising urgency more than half a century after the drama first played on Broadway.

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Jazz Review: SF Jazz Collective at Berklee, 3/8/13—This Year’s Model

March 14, 2013
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The members of the Collective seem to have an understanding that their job is to make music that reflects a group identity as well as their individual personalities.

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Fuse Concert Review: Vladimir Jurowski Leads the London Philharmonic at Symphony Hall

March 12, 2013
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The Celebrity Series of Boston offers top-notch artists and performing ensembles from around the world. With a Russian at the helm, it is no surprise that the Shostakovich Concerto would match or exceed expectations. The question was whether the Beethoven would.

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Stage Review: Rejuvenating Harold Pinter’s Kinky One-Act, “The Lover”

March 12, 2013
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Whether or not there’s a real lover, or whether all of this is an elaborate fantasy is beside the point. For Harold Pinter, it may all be the same thing.

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Book Review: A Powerful Remembrance of the Cambodian Genocide — “The Elimination”

March 11, 2013
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Ultimately, “The Elimination” is less a literary effort than an act of witness by both writer and reader.

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Stage Interview: Turf Wars — “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Clybourne Park”

March 10, 2013
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“Clybourne Park” was expressly written to be in conversation with Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” The former gives us a new perspective — actually new perspectives — on the latter.

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Theater Review: “Clybourne Park” — Chafing at the Raw Wound of Racism

March 8, 2013
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In Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer prize-winning play “Clybourne Park,” resentment and racism chafe at the thin veneer of polite pleasantries.

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: March 2013

March 8, 2013
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[UPDATE: Yes, the Aardvark concert is happening!] Aardvark Jazz Orchestra turns 40, Mango Blue makes a one-night return, Evan Ziporyn plays Don Byron’s new clarinet concerto, drummer Brian Blade arrives with his Fellowship band, and much, much more.

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