Mendelssohn's real tragedy

What would the world have been like if the Fates had been just a little kinder and allowed Schubert and Mendelssohn to know each other’s music as contemporaries? Mendelssohn was, I believe, the most musically gifted of all his famous contemporaries: the only composer in music history smart enough to assimilate Mozart’s music successfully. Yet his music makes we want to scream.

Dan Coren

Jul 14, 2007 · Articles · 7 minute read

National Gallery tour— Part 2

Where other painters are content to offer us a representation of life, Leonardo da Vinci strives to capture reality itself. Plus other insights from Andrew Mangravite’s continuing idiosyncratic tour of the National Gallery of Art.

National Gallery of Art, Fourth St. and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. (202) 842-6799 or www.nga.gov.

Andrew Mangravite

Jul 14, 2007 · Articles · 5 minute read

'Foto' at National Gallery of Art

If an image is worth a thousand words, this collage of images constitutes a moving history lesson, in which the vanished European world of 1918 to 1945 comes alive again.

“Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945.” Through September 3, 2007 at the National Gallery of Art, Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. (202) 842-6799 or www.nga.gov.

Andrew Mangravite

Jul 10, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

Critic's tour of the National Gallery— Part 1

Our critic, “amazed and delighted” by his first visit to “The Nation’s Picture Gallery,” offers his own idiosyncratic tour.

National Gallery of Art, Fourth St. and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. (202) 842-6799 or www.nga.gov.

Andrew Mangravite

Jul 10, 2007 · Articles · 7 minute read

Milanov vs. Eschenbach

BEETHOVEN AT THE MANN, or:
THE GREAT ESCHENBACH DEBATE continues

When Milanov conducted the Shostakovich, I realized it was a perfect expression of the feelings I associate with the quiet, sober veterans I met immediately after World War II. I didn’t hear any of that in Eschenbach’s performance.

Philadelphia Orchestra: Higdon Concerto for Orchestra, Beethoven Symphony Number Nine. Arianna Zukerman, soprano; Jennifer Hines, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Tharp, tenor; Stephen Powell, baritone; Philadelphia Singers Chorale; Ro

Tom Purdom

Jul 07, 2007 · Articles · 5 minute read

Eschenbach vs. Milanov

When Milanov conducted the Shostakovich, I realized it was a perfect expression of the feelings I associate with the quiet, sober veterans I met immediately after World War II. I didn’t hear any of that in Eschenbach’s performance.

Philadelphia Orchestra: Higdon Concerto for Orchestra, Beethoven Symphony Number Nine. Arianna Zukerman, soprano; Jennifer Hines, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Tharp, tenor; Stephen Powell, baritone; Philadelphia Singers Chorale; Ro

Tom Purdom

Jul 07, 2007 · Articles · 5 minute read

Three New York gallery shows

Thank heaven for New Jersey Transit: Three brilliant gallery shows cap off the New York season, and show why the small to medium exhibition, thoughtfully mounted, is still the happiest experience of art.

“Claude Monet,” through June 15, 2007 at Pace Wildenstein Gallery, 32 East 57thh St., New York. (212) 421-3292 or www.pacewildenstein.com.

“Sublime Convergences, through July 2

Robert Zaller

Jul 03, 2007 · Articles · 3 minute read

Rennie Harris Retrospective at Perelman

Hip-hop and rap culture may or may not be racist and misogynist. But by constantly pushing its envelope, Rennie Harris demonstrates the best possibilities of this constantly evolving idiom.

Rennie Harris Puremovement: 15-Year Retrospective. June 18-20, 2007 at Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Sts. (215) 893-1999 or www.kimmelcenter.org.

Lewis Whittington

Jun 30, 2007 · Articles · 3 minute read

Gay Theatre Festival's "Heart and Music'

The composer lyricist William Finn has broken fresh ground on both gay and Jewish themes. Why, then, has he been embraced by gay audiences but not by Jewish theatergoers?

Heart and Music. Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival production through June 29, 2007 at the Arden Theater, 40 N. Second St. 215-922-1122 or www.philagaylesbiantheatrefest.org.

Steve Cohen

Jun 30, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

Leah Stein's 'Gate'

Site choreographer Leah Stein’s Gate, performed at Eastern State Penitentiary, is not only a riveting movement drama; it’s allegorically stunning.

Gate. Leah Stein Dance Company June 8-17, 2007 at Eastern State Penitentiary. 215) 438-2688 or www.leahsteindance.org.

Lewis Whittington

Jun 30, 2007 · Articles · 1 minute read