The fantasy fable follows the preparations for a wedding between over-the-moon Jenny and Sebastian, a shiftless, barely-interested charmer who seems to have proposed as a lark.
Read More »Jon Sobel
Art: ‘Musical Bodies’ – Humans and Our Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
A new exhibit explores the myriad of ways we have created musical instruments in our own image – and incorporated them into our own physicality.
Read More »Music Review: a·pe·ri·od·ic – ‘Aus der Nacht’ by Magnus Granberg
A work like this asks us to exercise our patience, something in short supply these days – to listen closely to a spread of sound over time without imposing expectations on it.
Read More »Concert Review: Soprano Liv Redpath and Pianist Harry Rylance – Chansons of Love
Redpath's wonderful control of shifts in mood and register charmed and impressed in French chansons by Poulenc, Debussy, Fauré and Messaien.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): Xhloe and Natasha in ‘And Then the Rodeo Burned Down’
Xhloe and Natasha's shows almost represent a genre all their own. There's comedy and clowning, eros and acrobatics. There's zany dialogue that touches on deep human subjects. The pair are masters of both physical comedy and conceptual juggling.
Read More »Music Review: Pianist Ann DuHamel – ‘Prayers for a Feverish Planet: New Music about Climate Change, Vol. 1’
Works that incorporate organic sounds from outside the piano make some of the deepest impressions.
Read More »Music Review: Eric Chasalow – ‘…arching, reaching, breathless’ – Music for Strings
The man-machine duality of a soloist performing alongside a recording has what in the pre-robotic, pre-AI age we might have called a futuristic quality. Today it touches on the "uncanny valley" effect.
Read More »Concert Review: ‘From Formosa’ – Taiwan Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble
The Taiwan Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble and Taiwu Ballads Troupe vocal ensemble unveiled a panoply of fascinating, mostly Taiwan-rooted music that incorporated Western classical, contemporary avant-garde, and Indigenous music.
Read More »Concert Review: Curtis Chamber Orchestra
The breakdown was once again romantic, sweet, but this time also tense and subdued, giving a sense that a lot of potential energy lurked within.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘Julius Caesar’ from Smith Street Stage
With Bryce Foley sparking a solid cast as a dangerous Marc Antony, Smith Street Stage's production makes great use of its outdoor space and excels at rendering Shakespearean language understandable and the story hit home.
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