Review

Classical CD Reviews: Mozart’s “Haydn” Quartets and James Gaffigan conducts Dvorak (Harmonia mundi), plus James Brawn plays Beethoven (MSR Classics)

July 9, 2014
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Cuarteto Casals brings out Mozart’s playfulness, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester delivers a solid Dvorak’s Sixth, and James Brawn continues to brilliantly play Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

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Book Review: In “Europe in Sepia,” Croatian Writer Dubravka Ugrešić Bets a Few Chips on the Future

July 8, 2014
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Translator David Williams has hit upon a judicious combination of snappy repartee and dark underbelly that communicates essayist Dubravka Ugrešić’s rapier wit and black despair in equal measure.

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Book Review: “The Thaw” — Memorable Stories of Fear and Loathing in Iceland

July 8, 2014
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Throughout these superb stories, there is a certain desolation, of the heart as well as of the landscape.

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Fuse Film Review: “Third Person” — Too Mysterious for Its Own Good

July 7, 2014
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In Third Person , the characters are so intentionally mysterious that, oddly, the surfeit of enigma denies them any depth of personality.

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Fuse Theater Review: A Glitzy, But Empty, “June Moon”

July 7, 2014
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June Moon is a piece of satirical fluff with 27 characters, lots of piano playing, and a half-dozen memorable lines.

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Fuse Film Review: “Begin Again” — Lost Souls Making Uneven Music Together

July 5, 2014
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Begin Again is a film with considerable flaws and strengths. The later include stellar performances by Mark Ruffalo, Catherine Keener, and Hailee Steinfeld.

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Fuse CD Review: Underground Music Round-Up

July 2, 2014
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Here are a handful of underground/alternative music releases worth your consideration.

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Jazz Review: The 35th Annual Montreal International Jazz Festival Starts Off Huge

July 2, 2014
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If you can’t make the Montreal International Jazz Festival this time, put it on your bucket list.

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Visual Arts Review: Ian Hamilton Finlay — Revolution Without a Manifesto

July 1, 2014
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His art’s sunny, unhurried elegance, so at odds with its message, suggests that Finlay is taking a Swiftian rhetorical stance.

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Jazz Review: Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion — A Taste of Genius

June 30, 2014
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If drummer Ginger Baker’s staring into the abyss, he’s doing it with defiance and a good beat.

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