BalletX "Hot Summer Series' (2nd review)

A spunky newcomer finds confidence

BalletX has segued from an intriguing experiment into a mature local institution with a viewpoint and edge all its own, as this spunky little troupe demonstrated in its second summer program as the Wilma Theater's resident dance company.

Janet Anderson

Jul 28, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Lenape Chamber Ensemble

To venture inside the composer's head

Is a “pure” rendering of the composer's intent indeed ever possible? A mid-summer concert of Beethoven, Faure and Prokofiev by the Lenape Chamber Ensemble conjured thoughts about each composer's circumstances at the moment of creation.

Victor L. Schermer

Jul 28, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Composing vs. writing; Moalem vs. Coren (contd.)

A further exchange: The young composer and the older critic

Continuing their debate about composing music and writing about it, Beeri Moalem and Dan Coren find some common ground, and also some flaws in BSR as an appropriate vehicle.

Be'eri Moalem

Jul 25, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

BalletX "œHot Summer Series": Neenan and Gates (1st review)

Sometimes older is better

Jodie Gates's new but dreary Inevitable Kiss contrasted sharply with Matthew Neenan's older but inventive and prop-driven Broke Apart in the BalletX “Hot Summer Series.”

Jim Rutter

Jul 25, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Evan's "The Rock Tenor'

Rocks meets opera meets Broadway

Can rock, classical and Broadway music co-exist? The Rock Tenor ingeniously blends some of the best of each. It's an ingenious concept, brilliantly executed— until Act II, when it runs out of gas.

Jim Rutter

Jul 21, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Composing vs. writing about music (a reply)

Composing music vs. writing about it: A critic replies (again) to Beeri Moalem

If I had Beeri Moalem's talent and vision as a composer and player, I wouldn't even bother to write about music. But when you're expressing ideas, you must accept a certain amount of responsibility for facts.

Dan Coren

Jul 21, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Vincent Desiderio's "Pantocrator' at PAFA

A postmodern history painting, from an artist who was trained to think

Who is Vincent Desiderio, and why haven't we heard more about him? A single Desiderio masterpiece of wonder and curiosity, sandwiched among works of other Pennsylvania Academy, deserves more than just a casual encounter.

Victoria Skelly

Jul 21, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

My personal Bad Cop Film Festival

L.A. Detrimental, or: My personal Bad Cop Film Festival

Movies about good cops gone bad are so fascinating that I've often wished some cable channel would assemble a Bad Cop Film Festival. They haven't, so I'm doing it here. Is it a coincidence that most of my choices are set in Los Angeles?

Bob Ingram

Jul 21, 2009 · Articles · 7 minute read

What Hollywood could learn from 1939

It was a very good year in Hollywood: What today's movies could learn from 1939

The Academy Awards committee recently increased the number of Oscar nominees for “Best Film” from five to ten. But today's ten best films would be hard-pressed to make the top 100 of 1939. What did Hollywood do right in that year when everything else in the world went wrong?

Armen Pandola

Jul 21, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

A composer's response

The young composer's struggle: A reply to Dan Coren

The young and opinionated composer Beeri Moalem responds to assorted nitpicks from BSR's critic Dan Coren, as well as to Coren's larger question: What, exactly, is the struggle of a young composer today?

Be'eri Moalem

Jul 20, 2009 · Articles · 6 minute read