Music
The merry mood, welcoming atmospherics, and cultural richness of this year’s Irish “Christmas Revels” make it the perfect family event.
Now in his mid-50s, Esa-Pekka Salonen is one of the most interesting and important composers of his generation and the recent attention his music is receiving is well deserved.
In Memphis, the risqué exhilaration of early rhythm and blues is airbrushed away, to the point that the show appears to argue that from its inception black music sold out to mainstream tastes.
On Sunday, the New England Philharmonic and music director Richard Pittman are presenting a family concert that pays no heed to the season but showcases some of the area’s finest young performers in action.
Bravo to Courtney Lewis and the Discovery Ensemble for programming Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Five Images” and pulling off such an engrossing performance.
The Emerson String Quartet gave its all – beauty, power, fire – in Johannes Brahms’s String Quartet in A minor, Opus 51, no. 2.
With major clubs closing their doors for private parties, December can be a little thin for mainstream jazz. But if you like to walk on the wild side, this is your month.
Wondering about what to give the arts and culture lover on your gift list? No problem—the sage writers for The Arts Fuse (with an assist from our readers) come to the rescue with thoughtful suggestions.
Chucho Valdés moved almost seamlessly from African-Cuban rhythms and chants in Yoruba or Spanish to a hip modern jazz style. The latter, paradoxically, owes much to the brilliant runs and glissandi of Art Tatum, the bluesiness of Horace Silver, and the power of the left hand chords of McCoy Tyner.
As 2012 comes to a close and we panic to complete last minute holiday shopping, party planning and mental preparation for enduring the inevitable familial snafu, let us remember that no matter how broke, stuffed, hung-over or disowned we may be, the first of January is just around the corner and with it a chance to start anew in 2013.
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