Review

Theater Review: “Breath & Imagination” — An Indomitable Voice

December 11, 2018
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The success or failure of this show rests primarily on the physical presence, voice and acting of the actor playing the celebrated lyric tenor Roland Hayes.

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Theater Review: “Man in the Ring” — A Precipitous Fall

December 10, 2018
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Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Michael Cristofer’s script is very open about portraying Emile Griffith’s sexuality.

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Classical Music CD Reviews: H&H’s Haydn & Mozart, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette

December 10, 2018
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Handel & Haydn Society’s Haydn and Mozart is about as good as it gets; Martyn Brabbins’ recording of A Sea Symphony is one of the year’s best releases; and for elegance and technical command, you can’t go wrong with Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony.

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Folk CD Review: Mountain Man’s “Magic Ship” — There’s Magic in Them Thar Hills!

December 9, 2018
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When Vermont’s Mountain Man brings us its Appalachian vocal stylings the trio is venturing into the hollers of both the Green and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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Film Review: “Divide & Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” — Media Mogul, Serial Sociopath

December 9, 2018
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This blistering new documentary manages to offer a fairly balanced portrait of a man who, at the end of his life, was widely demonized.

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Classical CD Reviews: Bavouzet plays Mozart, Lintu conducts Lutoslawski, and Morlot’s Berlioz Requiem

December 8, 2018
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Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet delivers some fine Mozart; conductor Hannu Lintu brings rhythmic energy and textural transparency to the music of Witold Lutoslawski; Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra don’t do right by Berlioz.

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Film Review: “Shoplifters” — Family Life in the Lower Depths

December 8, 2018
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Shoplifters is a masterpiece about the underclass that effortlessly explores emotional complexity amid moral contradictions.

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Theater Review: “Gloria” — A Drama About Journalistic Hell

December 7, 2018
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The vacuousness of the digital world and the mainstream media is an easy target.

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Film Review: A Compelling Look at Dieter Rams, Industrial Design Icon at 86

December 6, 2018
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Rams is a documentary film carefully crafted to be more than a biography of a great designer.

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Classical Music CD Review: American Romantics, Mozart Sonatas for Fortepiano & Violi, & Brahms Cello Sonatas

December 5, 2018
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American String Quartet’s disc features the premiere recording of Robert Sirota’s String Quartet no. 2, American Pilgrimage.

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