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Per the advice of nearly everyone in the comments that appear under the previous post, I’m trying out Firefox for blog posting. I’m not seeing any new features above and beyond what I’ve always noticed in Internet Explorer, but at least I’ve now been schooled in the art of saving drafts. Time will tell whether…
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I spent a long time tonight composing a post about Gustavo Dudamel’s appearance with the New York Philharmonic on Saturday night. Recklessly, however, once again I wrote it in the Typepad window of the browser rather than a text editor. It’s more convenient, especially in designing the post and searching for links. At least it…
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Tactus at the Manhattan School of MusicThe New York Times, November 30, 2007
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By now you’ve heard all about Deutsche Grammophon’s swanky new e-commerce web site DG Web Shop, which was launched on Wednesday. Alex Ross reported promising results from an initial test drive. A.C. Douglas quoted part of a TechCrunch article that was helpful regarding nerd specs (320 kbps encoding, DRM free), if not especially informed about…
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The world grew just a bit dimmer and sadder today with the passing of Tom Terrell, a gifted writer and — more importantly — one of the sweetest, most loving human beings it has ever been my privilege to encounter. Tom left us this morning after a long battle with cancer. A lot of folks…
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Having spent the past hour-plus composing a post on my unexpected and amazing weekend rendezvous with Lucy in Houston, only to see my efforts trashed by the fabulosity that is Windows (Vista apparently included), I’m wishing that Nico Muhly’s warning had arrived a day or so earlier. Feh. Which is not to mention that the…
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Ending months of speculation among intense, balding, bespectacled* not-so-young men, the new King Crimson lineup was finally confirmed this week on DGMLive, Robert Fripp’s website. In addition to Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto, about whom we’ve known for quite a long time now, drummer Gavin Harrison was announced as a fifth (and…
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Newly added to the blogroll are Classicalive, Brian Hinrich’s fresh reportage of classical-music life from both eastern and western perspectives in Bangkok — which doesn’t need my help racking up fresh visits since hitmeister nonpareil Alex Ross mentioned it first — and Urban Modern, New York oboist James Roe’s lively site. Look for both among…
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Gordon Mumma at the Merce Cunningham Dance Company studioThe New York Times, November 21, 2007
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Jo Kondo and Robert Wilson at the Guggenheim MuseumThe New York Times, November 20, 2007 Footnote: You can see Robert ParkeHarrison’s "The Architect’s Brother," an evocative collection of images mentioned in this review, here.
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Bernard Holland earns his share of both hosannas and brickbats amongst the bloggerati. It is far from my place to judge, but I am gladly willing to state in this most public of forums that I hope to one day write a piece of criticism as insightful and incisive as this review of Friday night’s…
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Denis Matsuev at Carnegie HallThe New York Times, November 19, 2007
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Over the last few weeks, my notebook computer had started to make some decidedly unfriendly sounds. The hard drive was buzzing and whirring; one day it even whined rather pathetically. The machine, only about six years old, started to slow down appreciably. I took what I thought were the necessary precautions: various scans and diagnostic…
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Louis Schwizgebel-Wang at Zankel HallThe New York Times, November 16, 2007
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Cream reunited. So did other irreconcilables such as the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. Led Zeppelin, or a version of it, is due to play next month in London. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood presented as close to a Blind Faith reunion as we’re ever likely to see in Chicago last July, and will do it…
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Nadine Sierra at Christ and St. Stephen’s ChurchThe New York Times, November 13, 2007
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I finally managed to witness firsthand the Gustavo Dudamel Experience (patent pending) tonight (November 12) at Carnegie Hall. I’m very glad to have done so, because this concert by the Simón Bolívar Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela managed to dispel whatever reflexive instincts toward dubiousness and cynicism Dudamel’s extraordinary press may have preconditioned. This was…
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KNM Berlin at Zankel HallThe New York Times, November 12, 2007
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"A Little Composition and a Little Archaeology"The New York Times, November 7, 2007 An article about the completion of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke’s Symphony No. 9, which will receive its American premiere tonight (Nov. 7) in a Juilliard Orchestra concert conducted by Dennis Russell Davies at Avery Fisher Hall. The story deals with the process…
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There’s a certain valor in concision, but I wish I’d had twice as much ink to spill on the particulars of David McVicar’s Giulio Cesare, which I reviewed on Friday night. I’ve admired the Opus Arte DVD of the original Glyndebourne debut run, but this production done live was revelatory. If you’re in Chicago —…
Night After Night 