Mughal-e-Azam again and forever, but this time on the big screen at Walter Reade, in the original version, not 2004 full colorization. As heady a myriad of beauty and sensation as ever. The full ten scintillating seconds of pearls sent scattering, pattering onto a polished patterned floor. The billet-doux secreted into the lotus flower, the […]
Thirty-odd concerts since September between Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Missed a handful of the best offerings: Thomas Adès’s brilliantly programmed Carnegie recital, Muti’s Met conducting debut with Attila (how I heart Ildar Abdrazakov—ever since seeing his 2004 Met debut as Masetto), Lulu at the Met with Marlies Peterson who rules that role. And no […]
Also filed in Asiana, New York, Opera
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Tagged abdrazakov, berg, bruckner, chopin, cleveland orchestra, lulu, masur, ny philharmonic, philadelphia orchestra, yundi, yundi li
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The BUZZCOCKS, May 8, 2010, Fillmore Irving Plaza Dense, spirited crowding of bodies—just enough to make one heartsick for bygone days of all-ages shows in smoky clubs, of foolish jubilant jumping, of secretly being in awe of while gingerly dodging the scariest slam-dancers’ windmilling arms. Nostalgia simply to stand at the frontmost pit’s innermost edge, […]
Basement Bhangra 13th anniversary Friday at the Fillmore Irving Plaza: a re-inspection after many years away. The combination of busy yet puzzling performer line-up with low bhangra-to-hip-hop ratio, and probably roomier venue, and probably too-predictable playlists, resulted in a night of fits and starts and mostly waiting. Nina Sky: cute; random. Raghav (who he?): low-blow […]
Alan Bennett’s THE HABIT OF ART, April 22, 2010 National Theatre, London—via simulcast at NYU Is squalid solitude prerequisite to habitual art? A case can be made, no doubt. Yet it was strange to see Auden portrayed so slobbering, forgetful, corpulent—a man in a barely buttonable cardigan, wobbling with fat and pissing into his kitchen […]
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Belatedly catching up on the Winter Olympics, especially the figure-skating pair upon which China has been pinning its dreams. After near-misses at three prior Olympics, Shen Xue (31) and Zhao Hongbo (36) finally took the gold Monday—with a new world record. In the flawless clinching of each most critical moment one sensed the poignant history […]
Also filed in Asiana, Dance, Love, New York
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Tagged carnegie, dyad, figure skating, Love, mahler, mariss janssons, rco, royal concertgebouw
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 8 PM Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, cond. Manfred Honeck Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage BRAHMS | Violin Concerto (Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin) MAHLER | Symphony No. 1 Encore: JOSEF STRAUSS | “Die Libelle”: Polka Mazur, Op. 204 Last night’s Mahler First with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony was the most seizing […]
Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 8 PM Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. Pierre Boulez Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage BOULEZ | Livre pour cordes BARTÓK | Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra (Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Tamara Stefanovich, pianos) STRAVINSKY | The Firebird (complete) A privilege to hear Boulez conduct, last night for the third time in […]
Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 8 PM Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. Pierre Boulez Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage RAVEL | Le Tombeau de Couperin DALBAVIE | Flute Concerto (Mathieu Dufour, flute) BARTÓK | Bluebeard’s Castle (Michelle DeYoung, mezzo; Falk Struckmann, bass-baritone) To carry Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle to its bloodcurdling pitch without recourse to hysterics is […]
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Richard Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 7:30 PM Conductor: Edo de Waart Production: Nathaniel Merrill Stage Director: Robin Guarino Main Cast: Renée Fleming (Marschallin), Susan Graham (Octavian), Kristinn Sigmundsson (Baron Ochs), Christine Schäfer (Sophie), Eric Cutler (Italian tenor). The first twenty people or so who make it into line for the Met’s $20 […]
Also filed in Love, New York, Opera, Philosophy
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Tagged death, der rosenkavalier, dyad, dyads, hoffmannsthal, hugo von hoffmannsthal, libretto, Love, marschallin, met, met opera, metropolitan opera, mortality, ochs, octavian, Opera, philosophy of love, renee fleming, richard strauss, romantic, rosenkavalier, strauss, susan graham, tempus fugit
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