St. Michaels: A Tourist Town, Twice Reinvented-
The new release “Winter Journey” from Signum Classics follows from the performances at the Ryedale Festival and Wigmore Hall of Jeremy Sams‘s translation of Franz Schubert’s three great song cycles. Here, baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Christopher Glynn perform. I have interviewed a number of singers, including baritone Benjamin Appl, who have talked about the challenge of getting the audience to […] -
The new film “A Quiet Place” is an edge-of-your-seat tale about a family struggling to avoid being heard by monsters with hypersensitive ears. Conditioned by fear, they know the slightest noise will provoke a violent response, and almost certain death. Audiences have come out in droves to dip their toes into its quiet terror, and […]
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BROOKLYN, N.Y.—”Long Day’s Journey Into Night” is considered by many to be one of Eugene O’Neill’s finest plays, if not the finest. This production of the play, transplanted from the Bristol Old Vic in Britain, has weathered crossing the “pond” to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). It is certainly O’Neill’s most autobiographical work, for […]
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NEW YORK—An exquisite conversation has started between the past and the present in “The Unbroken Line: Old and New Masters” exhibition at the Robert Simon Fine Art gallery. Curators often hope that the works they display will “talk to each other.” The drawings and paintings Robert Simon has curated with Grand Central Atelier artists and faculty […]
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NEW YORK—Surviving a near-death experience is one thing. Coming through it unscathed is something else. Kieran Knowles’s harrowing drama “Operation Crucible,” based on actual events, takes the audience underneath a massive pile of rubble to meet four men who were trapped for more than 12 hours in the basement of the Marples Hotel in Sheffield, […]
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During the 1950s, jazz impresario Norman Granz had three of the greatest jazz figures on his Verve Label: Oscar Peterson (1925–2007), Louis Armstrong (1901–1971) and Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996), and he recorded them separately and, on occasion, together. Now, Verve/Ume has released on CD three invaluable box sets. ‘Pops Is Tops’ “Pops Is Tops: The Verve […]
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The San Francisco skyline is a mesmerizing sight. And on Tuesday, May 22, the skyline will have an extra bright light beaming from the Salesforce Tower. San Francisco’s tallest building, standing at 1,070 feet, has been equipped with roughly 11,000 LED lights covering the top 6 floors, according to SF Gate. The lights will be […]
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MOUNT HOPE, N.Y.—There is more to classical Chinese dance than meets the eye. Behind each movement is a system of values deeply rooted in culture and traditions, pulled from history by the artists through countless hours of study and practice. According to Piotr Huang, one of the principal dancers performing in practicum with the New […]
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The essence of O’Neill story can still be seen in director George C. Wolfe’s production of “The Iceman Cometh,” but too many elements simply don't ring true.
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NEW YORK—Jules Massenet’s 1899 fairy tale opera “Cendrillon” (Cinderella) finally arrived at the Metropolitan Opera. It was clearly ladies’ night on stage with the glorious mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in the title role and mostly other divas, including another mezzo, Alice Coote, as Prince Charming. The Plot “Cendrillon” has a libretto by Henri Cain that is […]
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Artist and documentary filmmaker Masha Savitz recently released her debut book, “Fish Eyes for Pearls: A Magical Realism Memoir.” This “experimental memoir,” as the author has categorized it, is a journey that delves into understandings of aesthetics, memory, relationships, and predestination. Its unique structure redefines what literary nonfiction can be. Savitz is perhaps best known […]
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Sophisticated, minimal, yet inventive, Chinese ceramics from the Song Dynasty are often considered the foremost expression of ceramic art in the world. Less extravagant compared to their predecessor and successor, Song ceramics are known for their straightforward shapes and subtly hued glazes. Among the foremost scholars of Asian art is Robert Mowry, an expert on […]
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NEW YORK—Drawings communicate the inner world of the artist perhaps more intimately than any other medium. From the spirit, heart, mind, and hand to the marks made on paper, the artist draws his or her own visual language—a language that defies words. When you see the result in person, a good drawing communicates viscerally. “With drawings, […]
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NEW YORK—Produced by Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, “Daybreak,” in its world premiere by playwright Joyce Van Dyke, has managed to merge material on a major horrific political occurrence—the Armenian Genocide of 1915—with material on her own family. Often called the first genocide of the 20th century, this was a systematic murder and deportation of Armenians […]
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NEW YORK—Alan Ayckbourn’s comedic drama “A Brief History of Women” has a misnomer for its title. Something more accurate would be “One Man’s Experience with Women Through the Decades,” or “The Life of an Unassuming and Relatively Insignificant Fellow.” Part of the Brits Off-Broadway Festival at 59E59 Theaters, the play examines key events in the […]
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NEW YORK—Never wager more than what you can afford to lose is a credo of professional gamblers everywhere, and it’s the ultimate message in Conor McPherson’s ominous drama “The Seafarer.” The production at the Irish Repertory Theatre is the show’s first major New York revival since its 2007 Broadway debut. It’s Christmas Eve in Baldoyle, […]
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NEW YORK—In Act 2, scene 2 of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the heroine famously asks, “Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” The Metropolitan Opera may have been asking the same question with respect its current production of Charles Gounod’s opera “Roméo et Juliette.” Originally, Bryan Hymel was scheduled to sing the male lead. However, he […]
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At her trial for adultery and treason against her husband, the king, Anne Boleyn spoke calmly—her speech was neither accusatory nor defamatory. Her words were surprisingly introspective. The disgraced queen reflected on her own faults. She had shown a lack of humility toward a kind husband and expressed jealousy toward him. But, she added, those […]
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A museum in the South of France that is dedicated to the work of Etienne Terrus, a close friend of Henri Matisse, has discovered that more than half of its collection is fake. Experts found that 82 of the 140 paintings attributed to the Catalan artist at the Terrus museum in Elne, near the Spanish […] -
NEW YORK—Craftsmanship and time were intricately interwoven in the 1750s, a time of reliance on the land and its provisions. An hour out of New York City, the train whisks you to the village of Sleepy Hollow, home of Philipsburg Manor, the colonial estate of Anglo-Dutch merchants. A 20-minute stroll from the Tarrytown train station […]
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NEW YORK—Suppose you go for a walk to discuss a certain matter with four people on several occasions, 15 to be exact. As you walk together on the same trail, toward the same destination, you stay on topic every time. Each one of you carries equal weight in the matter, while holding different opinions. All […]
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NEW YORK—Opera News, started by the Metropolitan Opera Guild in 1936, has the largest circulation of any classical music magazine in the United States. The black tie-award dinner for distinguished achievement in opera is an annual event looked forward to by music lovers. The 13th annual award presentation was held at the Grand Ballroom of […]
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NEW YORK—Light enough to blow away yet filled with a plot so wonderfully convoluted that I dare you to keep up with it, David Ives’s “The Metromaniacs” contains numerous cases of mistaken identity (I stopped counting at seven), false assumptions, and important lessons about life in general. Ives’s “translaptation” (his word), presented by Red Bull […]
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BROOKLYN, N.Y.—London’s Royal Shakespeare Company has brought to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) its fine production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” The role of Lear is considered to be the Mount Everest for older actors, and here, Antony Sher scales its heights. It is a thoughtful, intelligent portrayal, and remarkably clear. In fact, the entire […]
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Reverend Jonathan Arnold, dean of divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford, has written about the “seeming paradox that, in today’s so-called secular society, sacred choral music is as powerful, compelling, and popular as it has ever been.” But is this a paradox? Arguably, the power of this music derives from having been written by supremely talented, well-trained composers […]
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When Ken Ludwig’s daughter was just 6 years old, he, as with most dads, wanted to get to know her and share one of his own loves. As a two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright, Ludwig’s love just happened to be Shakespeare. He started with his daughter and then his son. “I just loved sitting down with […]
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Trees were once considered sacred and awe-inspiring: Oaks were worshiped by the European Druids, redwoods were a part of American Indian ritual, and baobabs a part of African tribal life. Ancient Chinese records describe the Ginkgo biloba as a living fossil tree. The ancient Romans and scholars during the Middle Ages venerated trees in their literature. Today we often admire […]
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