Review

Opera Album Review: “Der ferne Klang” Does Its Thing and Does It Amazingly Well

March 23, 2022
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I am beginning to suspect that Franz Schreker was the most effective of the many semi-forgotten opera composers who were active in the German lands during the first decades of the twentieth century (that is, ones less well known today than Strauss, Berg, and Kurt Weill).

Jazz Album Review: “Arcades” — Beautifully Speculative Sounds

March 22, 2022
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This is free jazz perhaps, but it never sounds frantic, wild, or abandoned.

Theater Review: “Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends” — “This Whole Going Downhill Thing”

March 22, 2022
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Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends is admirable because it takes contemporary theater into fresh territory — the slow paralysis of the body and the demands this decline makes on caregivers.

Television Review: “Bridgerton” — Who Needs the Duke?

March 21, 2022
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Dear reader, do enjoy a second season of Bridgerton’s ornate balls, lush landscapes, and 19th century flirting.

Book Review: “The Archeology of a Good Ragù” — A “Bipolar” Memoir

March 20, 2022
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Rather than the usual story of assimilation, John Domini gives us a deftly written narrative of return, self-discovery, disillusionment, personal metamorphosis, and ultimately, rejection.

Classical Album Reviews: “Dance With Me” and “Eden”

March 20, 2022
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Marvelously accomplished albums from American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan.

Arts Review: “Bad Blood” and “The Dropout” — Valley Girl Set Aflame in the Bonfires of the Vanities

March 19, 2022
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Playing on their strengths and working within the limitations of each medium, both The Dropout and Bad Blood pull us into the very American story of Theranos’ and Holmes’ rise and fall.

Film Review: “Master” — The Ghosts of Oppression

March 19, 2022
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Mariama Diallo’s film is a subtle, sure-handed thriller that nevertheless delivers a stunningly deft commentary on the enduring horror of racism and sexism.

Television Review: “Human Resources” — Self-Help for Monsters?

March 19, 2022
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Human Resources isn’t for everyone. It’s even weirder than Big Mouth (which is saying something), though this spinoff series still packs, at times, the same heartfelt punch.

Film Review: “Deep Water” — In Way Over Its Head

March 19, 2022
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Sitting through Deep Water is like being trapped at an endless, sodden string of dinner parties that don’t go very well.

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