Criticultura em Portugal

NDR Elbphilharmonie Sakari Oramo, conducting Magnus Lindberg: Accused Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D major , Op. 43 Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg December 6, 2018 Berlin Statskapelle Daniel Barenboim, conducting Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor , op. 68 Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major , op. 73 Berlin Philharmonie December 8, 2018 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conducting Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor (Resurrection)                             Berlin Philharmonie December 10, 2018 My recent trip to Hamburg and Berlin immersed me in classical music. Besides the three formal orchestra concerts (plus one operetta) I saw, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Schumann flowed from nearly every corner, whether at Christmas markets or inside malls, including an excellent high school orchestra playing the Beethove...

Roma Written and Directed by Alfonso Cuarón My favorite current directors, each with an individual style and penchant for risk-taking, are Paul Thomas Anderson ( Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood ), Michael Hanecke ( The Piano Teacher, The White Ribbon ), Lars von Trier ( Breaking the Waves, Melancholia ), and Alfonso Cuarón. Cuarón has succeeded in a variety of styles, ranging from the realistic road movie Y Tu Mama También (2001) and the apocalyptic sci-fi Children of Men (2006) to perhaps my favorite space movie Gravity (2013). Each left me wondering at his vision of another world. His consistently compelling visual style always leaves me with mind-pictures from the films even after I have forgotten details of the plot. His new film Roma is more of the same, and has all the critics salivating. It is perhaps closest to Y Tu Mama También in conception, returning to autobiographical material from Cuarón’s youth in Roma, a walled-off upper crust enclave of Mexico City. The...

Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) Written by Will Eno Directed by Oliver Butler Starring Michael C. Hall Signature Theater, Manhattan November 30, 2018 I’ve been trying to figure out why I was so unimpressed with the current off Broadway production of Will Eno’s Thom Pain (2004), starring everyone’s favorite cuddly sociopath Michael C. Hall ( Six Feet Under, Dexter ). Hall should have been a great match for the dangerous, unhinged ramblings of Thom in this single character 70- minute monologue/play. Comparing this performance to descriptions of the original London run which starred James Urbaniak give some clues. Eno’s play should put you in a claustrophobic cauldron with this uncomfortably deranged guy, and to paraphrase the NYT clinic, make you want to take a shower afterwards. Instead, Hall emerged for group photos with the starstruck audience afterwards. There was little sense of being trapped in a room with a psycho. Some of this was due to the large theater with a hug...

American Son Written by Christopher Demos-Brown Directed by Kenny Leon Starring Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale Booth Theater, NYC November 28, 2018 American Son , written in 2016 by (white) Miami playwright Christopher Demos-Brown, joins the recent parade of plays dealing with the continuing abuses of blacks by law enforcement. It’s an angry, intense single act drama (90 minutes or so) that focuses on a worried mom (the excellent, volcanic Kerry Washington) trying futilely to find out where her missing 18 year-old son is.  The play is entirely set in the waiting room of the Miami police department, and features only four characters: the mom and dad (a mixed race couple), a young well meaning-but-clueless white police officer, and a seasoned-but- frustrated senior black cop. The play’s structure comes from gradually revealing the details of what happened to the missing son Jamal, who drives the drama yet never appears in the play, thus serving the time-...

The Bacchae Written by Euripides Directed by Anne Bogart Starring Ellen Lauren and Akiko Aizawa SITI Company Brooklyn Academy of Music October 6, 2018 The NYC-based SITI Company was founded in 1992 to “ redefine and revitalize contemporary theater in the United States through an emphasis on international cultural exchange, training, and collaboration” thus “providing a gymnasium-for-the-soul”. Their productions have included Japanese drama, performance art, and a play based on the quotes of wacky composer John Cage. I am not sure what all of this means, but they did put on a provocative version of Euripides  The Bacchae  at BAM in October. It would have been even more cool to see it at its premiere in September at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, set amidst Greek sculpture and architecture. The performance used a literal translation of the plot, but played around with both gender and culture in its presentation, not always to clear effect. The play center...