Criticultura em Portugal

After some years in which Spike Lee's realism-comedies were about the only mainstream films by black directors, there has been a recent bounty of such films, all with thoughtful, individual takes: Precious  (2009), Straight Outta Compton (2015), and now work by two young (37 year old) directors: Nate Parker's The Birth of a Nation  and Barry Jenkins' Moonlight . In very different ways, these films join Toni Morrisons's novel Beloved  as helping me to have a window into our persistent troubles with race in this country, and the seeming futility of solutions offered by both the political right and left. The Birth of a Nation's excellent title gives a hint of Parker's intent--he sees Nat Turner's failed 1831 slave rebellion as a metaphorical beginning of an American black consciousness, just as D.W. Griffith saw the Klan as the driver of a new Christian white triumphant South in 1915. Much more than the safer Twelve Years a Slave , this new film immerses you ...

When Wagner's  Tristan und Isolde  premiered in 1865, it pioneered the daring idea that an opera could have a minimal plot and still be compelling. It was followed by similar works in Debussy's P é llea s et M é lisande (1902), Messiaen's St. Francis of Assisi  (1983), and now the compelling L'amour de loin (Love from Afar) by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. These works have a number of things in common. All tell an unconventional love story: Tritsan and Isolde meet as opponents but are swept up by a love potion; P é lleas and  M é lisande  veer between sibling-like and romantic love as part of a love triange; St. Francis is in love with God; and Jaufr é  and Cl é mence,  the two lovers of   L'amour de loin are separated by the sea (i.e. love from afar) and barely meet in life before the troubadour Jaufre dies, having fallen sick on his sea voyage to find her.  All have the "female" protagonist end in some hybrid of love and death: Isolde'...

Have you ever been to Chuck-E-Cheese? In these circles of hell, there are so many hyperkinetic kids, loud music playing from different corners, and flashing lights that the adult brain either overloads or involutes. This is what parts of the new Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812  are like. Combine that with mediocre music poorly aligned with a trivial subplot from War and Peace  and you have a bad night at the theater. Natasha  is based on a silly subplot from Tolstoy's novel, trivially involving several young people meeting, trying to elope, being thwarted by elders, etc. There are doubtless reasons why the novel is a landmark, but this episode is not one of them. There is much direct quoting from Tolstoy, but the resultant lyrics are pedestrian, matching the overall plot. Perhaps seeking to amplify the sacred text, the composer made the whole thing through-sung, i.e. no spoken dialogue except for rare special effects. This overuse of recita...

Sweet Charity joltingly begins with the star being pushed into a Central Park pond, then having her purse lifted by her departing boyfriend. This show, which struggles to deal with the then-emerging womens' liberation movement, premiered on Broadway in 1966 featuring mega-star Gwen Verdon and was later filmed in 1969 with Shirley MacLaine. It is closely based on the Fellini 1958 film Nights of Cabiria,  a spin on the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold story, which tells the tale of a prostitute who longs for real committed love, is betrayed by men, yet still keeps her eternal hope. The Sweet Charity  revival I saw off-Broadway this week features the youthful, innocent Sutton Foster (TV's  Younger, Broadway muscials) as Charity Hope Valentine. That this production sought something other than the typical star vehicle was evident from Ms. Foster's program listing as part of an alphabetical cast roster, not up in lights as the featured player. Overall the production had diffic...

Wednesday night in Carnegie Hall I heard the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) conducted by Semyon Bychkov in a program of the contemporary composition Theatrum bestiarum  by German composer Detlev Glanert and the Gustav Mahler Fifth Symphony. The combination of peerless orchestra, inspired conductor, and first rate music made this a memorable concert. The RCO has performed since 1888, under only seven music directors. The most recent, Daniele Gatti, was appointed in 2016, so is not yet performing with them full time, ergo the guest conductor for this tour. They have a nice balance of young-old, men-women in the orchestra, with several Russians in first chair wind positions. The sound, like Berlin and Vienna, is rich, foundational on the bass sonority, and fills the hall with balanced sound unlike most orchestras. The range of dynamics is wonderful, and the piano dynamics sound as rich as the fortes. What set this orchestra apart from other Carnegie Hall all star tour...