Curtis Opera's "Wozzeck' (1st review)

A searing operatic experience (that I'd just as soon skip)

Here I am in my mid-60s, having devoted most of my life to the study of classical music, and I still haven't come to terms with the music of Alban Berg. The Curtis Institute's production of Wozzeck was superb, but listening to it was an appalling experience I have no desire to repeat.

Dan Coren

Mar 19, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Libby Newman's "Holocaust and Revival'

Libby Newman finds a home

Here's one way to beat the recession: To demonstrate the role of art in the home, interior designer Caroline Millett has effectively transformed her house into a salon with her exhibit of Libby Newman's “Holocaust and Revival.”

Linda Bantel

Mar 17, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Lyric Fest's "Voices of the Sea'

Of mermaids and slave ships

Lyric Fest made its debut on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society schedule with a program that could have used more of its customary narrative drive.

Tom Purdom

Mar 17, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Two pianists: Polonsky and Podgurski

There's something about Anna

Pounding, pedaling and darting like quicksilver, the slender young pianist Anna Polonsky stole the show at her duet recital with cellist Peter Wiley. At the Art Museum, by contrast, the jazz pianist Neil Podgurski showed a different, quieter side with a new band.

Michael Woods

Mar 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

"Tale of Two Cities' at People's Light

From page to stage

A Tale of Two Cities at People's Light is a modest but effective dramatization that skillfully strips the Dickens novel to its essentials. A capable cast brings dozens of Dickens characters vividly to life, aided by imaginative direction and set design.

Bill Murphy

Mar 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

"Iron Kisses' at Act II Playhouse

Just enough light to get home

James Still's Iron Kisses— the kind that come with locked lips— details a small-town family's reaction to an only son's homosexuality. Well acted, with its two actors taking multiple roles, and skillfully directed by Harriet Power, this play transcends its well-worn genre and offers an affecting evening of theater.

Robert Zaller

Mar 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Matt Phillips monotypes at Drexel

The tougher the challenge, the greater the satisfaction

Along with Jasper Johns and Richard Diebenkorn, Matt Phillips is one of America's finest masters of that most difficult of all graphic art forms, the monotype. Even the most casual viewer will take pleasure in its light-drenched evocations of the Mediterranean and the fluency of its color and line.

Robert Zaller

Mar 14, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Jurowski's latest Orchestra 'audition'

The Jurowski watch

In a well-conceived and generally well-executed program of Berg and Mahler, Vladimir Jurowski once more dropped his card into the Philadelphia Orchestra's conductor sweepstakes. The performance of Mahler's rarely heard choral masterwork, Das klagende lied, should be remembered as one of the season's highlights. But please can the condescending pre-concert talks.

Robert Zaller

Mar 13, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Lucinda Williams at the Keswick

A country icon finds her cruising speed

Dark though her subjects have been over the years, Lucinda Williams now gives the impression of being completely at ease with herself and her fellow musicians and reveling in 30 years of her own repertory.

Dan Coren

Mar 10, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

O'Neill Festival in Chicago

O'Neill rediscovered— but only in Chicago

Chicago's Goodman Theatre is nearing the end of a two-month, eight-play festival that concentrates on O'Neill's early works”“ the oeuvre that made his reputation as America's leading playwright. Philadelphia and New York should be so lucky.

Steve Cohen

Mar 10, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read