So yeah, mortality was a heavy theme in Bruce Springsteen’s passion play – or what he could still impressively summon at 73 after rocking oft-mythical local shows for five decades.
Music
Jazz Album Review: “Luis Russell — At the Swing Cats Ball”
This collector is happy to have Luis Russell: At the Swing Cats Ball with all its faults.
Concert Review: Boston Camerata’s “Dido and Aeneas” — Plenty of Contemporary Razzmatazz
What emerged was a lithe, almost Shakespearean rendition, complete with moments of unexpected humor and an infectious dramatic vitality.
Classical Music Album Review: Paul Bowles’s “A Picnic Cantata” — A Bittersweet Charmer
Festival of American Song Records has released an elegant, touching performance of the totally delightful half-hour long “Picnic Cantata.”
Classical Concert Review: The Boston Symphony Orchestra Plays Wolfe and Górecki
Brimming with edge-of-seat intensity and fist-waving theatricality, Julia Wolfe’s oratorio “Her Story” is the unequivocal highlight of the current BSO season.
Book Review: “Dickens and Prince” — Together Again?
The overall thesis of this short book/long essay is that both Charles Dickens and Prince embody a certain kind of rare genius combined with a freakishly inexhaustible work ethic.
Music Interview: Singer-Songwriter James McMurtry — Playing With Words
James McMurtry’s Facebook page describes him as “Steadily Shedding Fans Since 1989.”
Opera Album Review: A Major Baroque Opera in English Receives a Stylish Recording
Aside from English pronunciation issues, the singers put over this remarkably polished and attractive opera by one of England’s great seventeenth-century composers with great panache, matching the superb instrumentalists.
Opera Interview: Director Anne Bogart Takes on “Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs”
“We take the audience on a journey that’s not part of a traditional approach to opera.”
Book Review: “Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock & Roll History”
Even more impressive than the sheer amount of raw knowledge Bill Janovitz puts on display is the way he expertly elaborates on Leon Russell’s familiar resume highlights to create a full, three-dimensional portrait of a very complicated artist (and person).