Review

Fuse CD Reviews: Benjamin Hochman’s “Hommage à Schubert” and the Cypress Quartet’s “American Album” (Avie Records)

February 9, 2014
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Pianist Benjamin Hochman is a musician who’s interested in insightful programs that can be provocative, speak across centuries, and engage the mind as much as they delight it.

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Dance Review: Compagnie Käfig — Arbitrary Exoticism

February 8, 2014
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I get why Compagnie Käfig’s Correria/Agwa has been booked onto stages in 15 countries and counting. But the troupe’s polished athleticism comes at the sacrifice of hip hop dance’s precious anarchy.

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Movie Review: “The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz” — Martyr to Prosecutors’ Zeal?

February 6, 2014
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Aaron Swartz is indeed a martyr, but there’s more here. The film identifies an ongoing battle over control of information as much as it explores a troubled life that ended far too soon.

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Book Review: “The Good Lord Bird” — History As a Morality Tale, With Wings

February 5, 2014
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There is more than one way to tell the truth, “The Good Lord Bird” reminds us again and again, and many reasons to cloak it in humor.

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Book Review: “An Unnecessary Woman” — A Memorable Story of Redemption

February 5, 2014
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When the septuagenarian protagonist of this novel finally gets out of her claustrophobic apartment, everything changes.

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Concert Review: All-Ravel at Symphony Hall

February 4, 2014
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BSO’s conductor emeritus Bernard Haitink may be best known for his interpretations of Austro-German repertoire, but, on Saturday night, he channeled his inner Francophile.

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Book Review: “The Devil I Know” — A Brilliant Satire of Ireland’s Boom and Bust

February 3, 2014
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Claire Kilroy’s dark and fantastical comedy “The Devil I Know” nails the greed and rampaging ambition of the corrupt avatars of “the new Ireland” — developers, bankers, and government pooh-bahs.

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Music Review: “Angel Guts : Red Classroom” — Indispensably Edgy Art Pop

February 3, 2014
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I cannot express my love for “Angel Guts : Red Classroom” strongly enough. At the very least, it’s necessary listening for anyone with an interest in “no wave” and avant-garde music.

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Book Review: “The Elixir of Immortality” — A Fabulous Ride Through European History

February 1, 2014
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Love stories, treachery, brilliant plans, history itself gone awry – it’s all here in inspiring abundance in this fabulous novel, where the Spinozas make their way through hundreds of years of European history.

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Theater Review: A Pitch Black “House/Divided”

January 31, 2014
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“House/Divided” – a mélange of dazzling videography, startling and inventive lighting/props/stage craft, and spoken snippets of John Steinbeck’s quasi-Biblical prose – does not add anything new to our understanding of the current national malaise.

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