Month: October 2012

Book Review: An Admirable Look at the Art of Robert Frost

October 12, 2012
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THE ART OF ROBERT FROST helped me get closer to the poems and in doing so helped me get closer to the poet.

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Arts Feature: Water Music – Rockport Music’s Shalin Liu Performance Center

October 11, 2012
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For performers and audience members alike the Shalin Liu setting is as much a part of the experience as the music. It has quickly transformed the intimate hall into a destination location for a growing number of admiring artists.

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Short Fuse Commentary: Contra “The Master”

October 11, 2012
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The director of THE MASTER, Paul Thomas Anderson, runs toward Scientology as fast as he runs away from it and its top guns (Tom Cruise did visit the set to lodge a few complaints).

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Fuse Theater Review: Not-so-Hot “Heir”

October 10, 2012
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The first episode of the “Blood Rose Rising” series possessed creepy comic potential and an intriguing mix of multimedia, magic, and thrills that hinted at even better things to come. Alas, these hopes were dashed.

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Jazz Appreciation: Mark Harvey 44, Aardvark Jazz Orchestra 40

October 8, 2012
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Mark Harvey and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: It’s hard to remember what the Boston jazz community was like before Harvey came along. In fact, the term “jazz community” would have seemed far-fetched at best if anyone had used it.

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Film Commentary: Submitting to “The Master”

October 8, 2012
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Director Paul Thomas Anderson doesn’t provide answers nor does he pose questions: the ambiguity of his characters and his confounding storytelling style are what drive “The Master.”

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Jazz Review: Eliane Elias/ Marc Johnson – “Swept Away” at Sculler’s

October 7, 2012
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Intimacy has been the key note of bossa nova performance ever since the initial murmurings of Joao and Astrud Gilberto, and singer Eliane Elias can whisper with the best of them.

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Concert Review: Joshua Bell and the Boston Symphony Orchestra/Marcelo Lehninger

October 5, 2012
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This weekend’s soloist, Joshua Bell, is a performer who perhaps best approximates Leonard Bernstein’s charismatic personality in performance: a fully engaged interpreter, he does not shy away from physically expressing the emotional content of what he’s playing.

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: October 2012

October 4, 2012
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[Update: Tonight’s performance at Scullers by Mozik and special guest Rebecca Parris is still on. Rumor has it that the set will include Herbie Hancock’s “The Eye of the Hurricane”.] All treats, no tricks—it’s a great month for jazz in New England. The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra turns forty, and so does NEC’s Contemporary Improvisation department. Meanwhile, a raft of musicians make deep dives into electronica.

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Concert Review: Pianist Jorge Luis Prats — In the Grand Tradition

October 3, 2012
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Jorge Luis Prats’ performance was absolutely breathtaking, and one had the sense of being at a historic recital, of discovering a hugely gifted, yet virtually unknown, artist.

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