"Kandinsky' at the Guggenheim in N.Y. (1st review)

An amusing guest who stayed too long at the party

Wassily Kandinsky's art is not so much abstract as it is other-directed. It's about capturing the music of the soul. But when you're looking at hundreds of his works, sensory overload sets in.

Andrew Mangravite

Oct 27, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Opera Company's "Madame Butterfly' (2nd review)

Butterfly, improved yet again

This Butterfly was perhaps the most beautiful I've ever seen. Virtually everything about it suits the legend and never intrudes on the story. I have only two quibbles.

Steve Cohen

Oct 26, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Moving the Barnes: A done deal

Yes, Dan, there are lost causes (and preventing the Barnes move is one of them)

Amid the debate over moving the Barnes Foundation, Dan Rottenberg argues that very often the supposedly “done deals” of history wind up becoming undone. And he's right. But many historical developments are irreversible. The Barnes move is a likely example.

Gresham Riley

Oct 26, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

'50s films that stoked the "60s

The revolt of the '60s: Blame it on the movies

At movies in the ‘50s, nice middle-class Jewish kids like me learned patriotism and foreign policy from John Wayne. But the lessons that stuck with us into the ‘60s were the ones we learned from rebels like Marlon Brando and James Dean.

Bob Levin

Oct 26, 2009 · Articles · 7 minute read

Martha Clarke's "Garden of Earthly Delights'

One hour with Hieronymus Bosch

Last winter's revival of Martha Clarke's dance theater masterwork, Garden of Earthly Delights, freely adapted from Hieronymus Bosch's Renaissance triptych, was a work of astonishing beauty and rare erotic candor in its revival production, the first in more than 20 years.

Robert Zaller

Oct 25, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Gorky retrospective at Art Museum (2nd review)

Despite everything, his spirit survived

Arshile Gorky made significant contributions to modern art, but he's less well known than many other artists. This is a wide, deep, rich retrospective that combines recognized masterpieces with many exciting surprises.

Marilyn MacGregor

Oct 25, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Michael Moore's "Capitalism' (2nd review)

Is capitalism evil?

Michael Moore's latest film screed takes on the ultimate evildoer, capitalism itself. Slogging from scene to scene of the crime in his working-class version of The Tramp, Moore looks for a little truth and decency in all the mess. Good luck to him, and to all of us. But is the theology really so simple?

Robert Zaller

Oct 25, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Mendelssohn Club: "Battle Hymns'

Battle Hymns, revisited

The Mendelssohn Club offers a second look at David Lang's new Battle Hymns. Four other Philadelphia music organizations collectively demonstrated the range and variety of Philadelphia's music season.

Tom Purdom

Oct 20, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Streisand's "Love Is the Answer'

The lioness in autumn

Barbra Streisand's tastes have often changed over the past 40 years. Now, at 67, she has come out with an album of self-reflective songs performed by a great singer in the autumn of her years.

Armen Pandola

Oct 20, 2009 · Articles · 6 minute read

Reif Larsen's "Selected Works of T.S. Spivet'

Inside the head of a precocious 12-year-old

You can tell when you pick up Reif Larsen's The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet that it's not just another novel. The physical book, slightly larger than the standard octavo, is sized to accommodate the extensive marginalia interwoven with the story. The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet. Novel by Reif Larsen. Penguin Press, 2009. 400 pages; $27.95. www.tsspivet.com.

Judy Weightman

Oct 19, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read