The first results of the Academy Awards’ grand experiment to cheapen -- uh, I mean widen -- the Best Picture nominations were announced this morning, and predictably, there were a couple of films that made the cut that would not have come close in past years. Let’s just call it the Blind Side Effect, named for the sentimental white-family-aids-the-illiterate-black-athlete … [Read more...]
Out among the quirks at Art Basel
The larger-than-life, realistic sculptures by the Canadian artist Evan Penny caused a stir at last year's Art Basel, with his nude self-portrait selling within the show's first days. At this year’s Art Basel, Penny is proving just as provocative. Penny’s sculptures aren’t simply lifelike reproductions, even though it may seem so when you first see them. From a different … [Read more...]
‘Doll’s House’ effective, but play has outlived its moment
Ah, to have been in Copenhagen’s Royal Theatre that night in late December 1879, when Henrik Ibsen elicited shock and outrage with his new play, A Doll’s House, and particularly the final door-slamming, convention-flaunting exit of its heroine, Nora Helmer. Watching what she endures through 21st century eyes, however, the only conceivable response is a hearty, “You go, girl,” … [Read more...]
Schmitt suite, Septet violinist stand out at chamber fest
Florent Schmitt (1870-1958). A standout instrumental performance and two intriguing rediscoveries took pride of place Friday night as the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival opened its second series of concerts. The finest of the two rediscoveries, the Suite en Rocaille, Op. 84, of French composer Florent Schmitt, reanimated a beautiful and unjustly forgotten work for an … [Read more...]