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Concert Review: The Boston Lyric Opera Takes a Fresh Look at “The Flying Dutchman”

April 29, 2013
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The Boston Lyric Opera’s production of “The Flying Dutchman” may not the subtlest you will see — the Freudian elements are slathered on pretty thick — but the nervy dramatic concept adds to our understanding of the opera without compromising its core elements.

Film Review: In Defense of a Cinematic Masterpiece — “To the Wonder”

April 28, 2013
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To The Wonder — the best American feature by far of 2013: beautiful, compassionate, tragic, transcendent.

Visual Arts Review: At the Currier Museum of Art and the MFA — Bask in the Deadly Splendor of the Samurai

April 27, 2013
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The time is short, but the opportunity rich via these two exhibitions, to bask in the military culture of old Japan, with all of its deadly splendor.

Jazz Week 2013: After a tumultuous year, Boston looks ahead

April 26, 2013
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In the wake of the horrors of last week, Jazz Week 2013 comes as almost an act of defiance, an insistence that life will go on in all sectors of the Boston community.

Book Review: “The Bottom of the Jar” — An Indelible Glimpse of Moroccan Life

April 25, 2013
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Moroccan poet Abdellatif Laâbi’s autobiographical fiction draws deeply on his own childhood in Fez during the late 1940s and especially the 1950s.

Concert Review: Pianist Evgeny Kissin — An Extraordinary Recital

April 25, 2013
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In my experience, few leave an Evgeny Kissin concert disappointed.

Visual Arts Feature: The Design Museum Boston Invites You to Sit Yourself Down

April 24, 2013
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In a modest tweak of Dorothy Fields’ lyrics to the famous Jerome Kern song, this weekend will be Boston’s chance, via the Design Museum Boston, to sit yourself down, dust yourself off, and start all over again.

Music Commentary: The 15th Annual New England Metalfest — Blunt Over Pretty

April 23, 2013
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I was curious to see how the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent events would filter into the fest. It began with my Facebook newsfeed displaying “Going to Worcester to blow off steam”-type messages.

Cultural Commentary: Why is Boston’s Arts Coverage So Bland?

April 22, 2013
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According to our docile mainstream media, Boston enjoys a perpetual Renaissance — the merchandise in the cultural window is always worth buying. And that predictability makes for very boring journalism.

Book Review: “The Melancholy Art” — Art History and Depression

April 21, 2013
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If I suffered half as much from the thought that most art has been lost as I suffer every day from the recollection of departed family and friends, I would be in a mental hospital. In this sense, I found myself resisting the message of “The Melancholy Art,” to the point that I felt that the book was laying a guilt trip on me.

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