"Music As Alchemy': Inside the great conductors

The work behind the wand (from both sides of the podium)

How do conductors elicit great sounds from their musicians? In Music As Alchemy, Tom Service follows six prominent conductors as they pursue their arcane trade. Who knew that Claudio Abbado steadfastly avoids unionized orchestras?

Tom Purdom

Jul 24, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Can computers replace composers?

With Darwin and a computer, who needs Mozart?

When Beethoven was a little baby/ Sittin' on his daddy's knee,/ He picked up an iPhone, little CD-ROM,/ Said, “Computer's gonna be the death of me, Lawd, Lawd”¦.”

Kile Smith

Jul 24, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

What I learned from Nora Ephron

What exactly made Nora Ephron so special?

I long for Nora Ephron's recognition, especially since I'm just as witty and urbane as she was. So what was the secret of her success? Let me suggest a few possibilities.

Susan Beth Lehman

Jul 24, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Bruce Graham's "Mr. Hart and Mr. Brown' at People's Light

Ties that bind

Bruce Graham's Mr. Hart and Mr. Brown imagines an encounter between two men fleeing from their past in 1920s Nebraska.

Bill Murphy

Jul 22, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

"Safety Not Guaranteed': Comedies about real people

When is a comedy more than a comedy?

It's easy to laugh at two-dimensional stock characters. But the best comedies find ways to make us laugh at real three-dimensional people.

Judy Weightman

Jul 22, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

21st Century art: Rome's new MAXXI Museum

A museum of the here and now

Rome's new MAXXI Museum is the first national museum devoted to 21st-Century art. As such, it's a refreshing alternative to all of that city's art and architecture of the last three thousand years— and a reassuring reminder that human creativity isn't finished.

Anne R. Fabbri

Jul 17, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Can black opera save Classical music?

Beyond Leontyne Price: For whom the black operatic bell tolls

Exciting and innovative black operas are struggling because white audiences tend to avoid them. But all classical music groups are struggling because white audiences tend to avoid them. Is there a common cause here? And might there be a solution to both problems?

Maria Thompson Corley

Jul 17, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Eric Fischl's "Dive Deep' at Pennsylvania Academy (2nd review)

Has anyone here seen Eric Fischl's soul?

Art students will surely find value in Eric Fischl's reconstruction of the myriad steps leading up to the creation of an original artwork. Unfortunately, the finished products themselves fail to stir the emotions.

Anne R. Fabbri

Jul 15, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

Eric Fischl's "Dive Deep' at Pennsylvania Academy (1st review)

A story-teller, maybe. But an artist?

Eric Fischl made a big splash in the '80s with his lush but facile narrative paintings of bored suburban white people. Has he grown or matured since then? Not to judge from “Dive Deep.”

Marilyn MacGregor

Jul 15, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

The Rodin Museum, restored

Honoring a collector's intent (No, not Albert Barnes)

After an exceptional three-year restoration, the largest collection of Rodin sculpture and drawings outside of Paris is once again on display as its collector intended.

Steve Cohen

Jul 15, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read