Articles

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Page 348
Zhu: A piano that sings.

Dolce Suono's Debussy farewell

Debussy and his putative successors

Dolce Suono ended its season-long tribute to Debussy by combining a Debussy retrospective with a new music event.
Tom Purdom

Tom Purdom

Articles 4 minute read
‘Bedouins’ (1905-06): Exotic to us, routine to them.

Sargent watercolors at Brooklyn Museum

Worlds apart from his portraits

A landmark exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum showcases the brilliant watercolors of John Singer Sargent. It's a rare opportunity to see an abundance of these rich intimate treasures by the 19th-Century master of fashion portraits.
Marilyn MacGregor

Marilyn MacGregor

Articles 4 minute read
Milligan (left), DiCaprio: Calling Orson Welles.

Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby'

The book was so much better

Why do film directors seem intent on trashing great literature? Baz Luhrmann's glitzy, elaborate version of The Great Gatsby is all self-important spectacle, and, like Joe Wright's recent Anna Karenina, a travesty of the original.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 5 minute read
Hecht (left), Light: Unsurprising surprises.

"The Assembled Parties' on Broadway

Terms of estrangement

In Richard Greenberg's witty comedy drama, The Assembled Parties, life doesn't turn out as expected for an extended upper class New York family. But does Greenberg have a substantive message to deliver, or is he just out to entertain us with witty dialogue and plot contrivances?

Jane Biberman

Articles 3 minute read
Hannigan (left) and Rattle channel Ligeti: Both a parody and a celebration.

Philadelphia Orchestra plays Ligeti (2nd review)

Is Ligeti the Orchestra's savior?

When was the last time you heard a Philadelphia Orchestra concert that included the crumpling of newspaper as a part of the score? Not to mention the audience laughing out loud throughout the performance?

Articles 3 minute read
Ames: Fearless to the point of recklessness.

Verdi's "Macbeth' in Wilmington

Verdi's not so hidden agenda

With Macbeth, Verdi wasn't merely adapting a great work of literature; he was nudging history forward in real time.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 4 minute read
Allen (left), Shrader: Like a clock gone haywire. (Photo: Johanna Austin.)

Philip Dawkins's "Failure: A Love Story'

A whimsical survival course

Failure: A Love Story is an enchanting poetic fable in which members of the Fail family make the most of life's tragedies by spinning their own narratives to turn back the clock.

Jane Biberman

Articles 2 minute read
Hannigan: Like the Queen of the Night on LSD.

Rattle and Hannigan with the Philadelphia Orchestra (1st review)

From the sublime to the macabre

Simon Rattle, conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra's penultimate concert of the season, reminded us that it's easier for a visiting conductor to choose the road less traveled than for the helmsman of the Orchestra, for whom the risk of empty seats is not to be taken lightly.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 7 minute read
Jose Llana and Ruthie Ann Miles as Ferdinand and Imelda: Life is a disco.

"Here Lies Love': Imelda Marcos in New York

Bedazzled

How could an entire starving nation fall under the sway of a dazzling charlatan like Imelda Marcos? The disco-style poporetta Here Lies Love will seduce you in much the same way. Unfortunately, it neglects to address the greatest irony of all: what happened to Imelda after the music stopped.

Carol Rocamora

Articles 5 minute read
Louis XIV often got into the act.

Tempesta di Mare: Four Baroque entertainments

Music, entertainment— or both?

Baroque music languished in the 19th Century because it seemed tame next to Beethoven or Brahms. It was merely entertainment— albeit for musically sophisticated audiences, as Tempesta di Mare reminded us.
Tom Purdom

Tom Purdom

Articles 2 minute read