Orchestra's "Damnation of Faust'

Faust is damned (and I'm bemused)

The Damnation of Faust is the kind of work that throws the literary half of my personality into a state of head-shaking bemusement. The musical half, on the other hand, revels in every bar. And this time I had no complaints with Simon Rattle.

Tom Purdom

May 02, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Mitsuko Uchida at the Perelman

The agony and the ecstasy

Mitsuko Uchida's piano recital at the Perelman was, in some surprising ways, a deeply unsettling experience. But in the end, she demonstrated why she is a musical legend.

Dan Coren

May 02, 2009 · Articles · 6 minute read

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Apr 29, 2009 · Articles · less than a minute read

Greenberg's "Mother's Brief Affair' in California

Calling all masochists

Richard Greenberg won a Tony for Take Me Out. Several Philadelphia theater companies have staged his comedies. His latest, Our Mother's Brief Affair, recently opened in California. Let us hope it ventures no closer to Philadelphia.

Jim Rutter

Apr 28, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Sonata form (Part 11): Recapitulation

How Beethoven changed everything

Beethoven devoted most of his career to intensifying the inherent drama of sonata-form. Ultimately he drilled so deeply into its bedrock that the form itself became barely recognizable in his very last works. In this 11th installment in his series on sonata-form, Dan Coren moves on to the recapitulation section.

Dan Coren

Apr 28, 2009 · Articles · 6 minute read

Wagner's "Ring' cycle (Part 2)

The Ring keeps changing (but then, so did Wagner)

For the past half-century, producers of Wagner's Ring have focused on the characters' psychology, much more than on the telling of a story. Instead of celebrating German forests, castles and genius, they tapped into themes like fear of death and loss of control. All well and good. But must the original version disappear altogether?

Steve Cohen

Apr 28, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Jeanne Ruddy's "Juxtapose"

Civilization's trappings, stripped bare

Jeanne Ruddy Dance presented two divergent world premieres: Ruddy's elegant but confusing Lark, and Martha Clarke's lusciously nightmarish Sandman.

Jim Rutter

Apr 28, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

"Eggs' at People's Light

Children's theater for grownups

Eggs is children's theater with substance: a touching, compelling adaptation of Jerry Spinelli's novel about a friendship between two lonely misfit children.

Bill Murphy

Apr 28, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read

The Baroque revival: Three concerts

Telemann's revenge, or: The sheer delight of going for Baroque

For musicians, today's Baroque revival has created new opportunities and challenges. For those of us who sit in the audience, it has broadened our experience and added new names to the musical firmament that were once long forgotten.

Tom Purdom

Apr 25, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Arden's "Something Intangible' (2nd review)

If it walks like a Disney and talks like a Disney….

By hewing too closely to the true story of Hollywood's Disney brothers, Bruce Graham distracts the audience from an otherwise generally entertaining play. Graham would do better to take his details from his own imagination rather than the historical record.

Steve Cohen

Apr 25, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read