Music
The set-up sounds promising, a look back at a time of furious intellectual and artistic ferment, especially with its demand for art that challenges rather than caters to conventional tastes, creativity that revels in distortion, the surreal, the political, and the visceral. The Blue Flower. Music, Lyrics, and Script and Videography by Jim Bauer. Artwork,…
With gift season comes the existential quandary: What to give the culture lovers on your list? This season the writers for The Arts Fuse waylay the crisis by recommending items that will delight the heart and stimulate the mind. Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section. Keep in mind that…
A second quarter-century celebration, this one for Either/Orchestra, plus some unusual Christmas programs and some outstanding Latin music, all in the latter part of December.
I never knew I needed to own a book like this, but I undoubtedly do. If there is anyone you know who loves singing and isn’t a snob about genre, this book would be a great holiday gift. It’s a colossal achievement that is also marvelously idiosyncratic. A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and…
This concert was the idea of local flutist Julie Scolnik, who is herself a breast-cancer survivor. (It should be noted that this affliction strikes men as well as women.) She was able to get no less a conductor than Sir Simon Rattle, who along with his 77 orchestral players contributed their services without fee. By…
Pianist Haochen Zhang’s Boston appearance proved that his Cliburn win was no accident. He may be only 20, but his playing was nearly flawless all evening, and his interpretations were those of a fully mature artist. By Caldwell Titcomb. Last year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition turned out to be a most remarkable event. The…
The first weeks of December feature lots of fine jazz, from the 25th-anniversary concert of the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra to the Moroccan vocalist and sintir player Hassan Hakmoun and a Klezmer Nutcracker. By J. R. Carroll. At 8 p.m. on Friday, December 3, Emmanuel Church hosts the 25th-anniversary concert of the Jazz Composers Alliance…
The Ups and Downs of the biz. At this time of year it’s easy to question your choice of residence in sun-deprived New England. The cold, the wet, and the absence of vitamin D in your skin rattles through to your bones and leaves you asking, can we just skip to June already? You are…
A modern version of the venerable double bill: first, Drácula, a 1931 Spanish-language film accompanied by guitarist Gary Lucas performing his half-improvised original score. Next came the film Spark of Being, a re-imagining of the plot of Frankenstein, co-directed by filmmaker Bill Morrison and trumpeter-composer Dave Douglas, who led his band Keystone in 13 pieces…
BEMF’s Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs have, once again, produced a work of impeccable and imaginative scholarship for a production that’s not only historically informed, but musically, dramatically, and visually entertaining. Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell and Nahum Tate. Presented by the Boston Early Music Festival. At New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA,…
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