Articles
6207 results
Page 354
We speak in music
To peek inside the human soul, stop reading and listen
Our written language may be poetic, but a large part of our spoken communication is music. And often it's our music rather than our words that reveals our inner landscape to each other.
Articles
7 minute read
"Everyone and I' at the Kimmel
Lady Day, and the poet who mourned her
Elizabeth Scanlon's Everyone and I is a moving, tender, brief performance piece about the unrequited relationship between the poet Frank O'Hare and his muse, the blues singer Billie Holiday.
Articles
3 minute read
"Drawing Surrealism' at the Morgan in New York
When dreamers confront reality
The Surrealists wanted to liberate the imagination in all its forms, using the dream as its prototype. Reality ultimately caught up with them, however, in the form of nightmare.
Articles
8 minute read
"Old Jews Telling Jokes' in New York
Not your grandfather's Jewish humor
This revue tries to rekindle old memories for new generations of Jews and non-Jews alike. It's raunchier than anything I saw on "Ed Sullivan." But the passage of time imposes a kind of censorship all its own.
Articles
4 minute read
Bach's Passions, two ways (2nd review)
Back-to-back Bach, or: Sympathy for Pontius Pilate
The Philadelphia Orchestra's dramatic production of Bach's St. Matthew Passion won't soon be forgotten. But it benefitted from its juxtaposition with a traditional performance by Vox Amadeus.
Articles
5 minute read
A Dan Hoffman memory
To him, Whitman was more than a bridge
The late Dan Hoffman, my favorite Philadelphia poet, was the kind of poet that Walt Whitman asked Americans to cherish.
Articles
2 minute read
Savion Glover's "Dance Space' at Academy of Music
Inside Savion Glover's brain (and other body parts I couldn't see)
Savion Glover is surely the best tapper dancing today. It would have helped if the folks in the pricey seats could have seen his feet.
Articles
4 minute read
Sign up for our newsletter
All of the week's new articles, all in one place. Sign up for the free weekly BSR newsletters, and don't miss a conversation.
Borodin Quartet plays Shostakovich and Beethoven
Shostakovich, by those who knew him well
The Borodin Quartet, in its first Philadelphia visit in 15 years, brought a more burnished Shostakovich than we're accustomed to hearing. That's because these Russian musicians are no longer “discovering” Shostakovich, as the West still is.
Articles
6 minute read
Orchestra plays Bach's "St. Matthew Passion' (1st review)
The paradox of genius
In a magnificent performance of Bach's transcendent St. Matthew Passion, Yannick Nézet-Séguin made the most of the drama and emotion contained in the story of Christ's betrayal and crucifixion. That wasn't necessarily Bach's choice, but a work of genius lends itself to multiple interpretations.
Articles
5 minute read
"Breakfast at Tiffany's' on Broadway
Holly, we hardly knew ye
The new stage adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's is blessed with an appealing story, an evocative setting and an exceptional narrator. Too bad its inimitable heroine is missing in action.
Articles
4 minute read