Jan Swafford and Classical Music
YOUR humble blogger is a longtime fan of the classical music writer Jan Swafford, ever since friend gave me his lucid and wise Vintage guide. Swafford, who’s known for biographies of Beethoven, Brahms, and … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-06-18
Uncle Vanya Meets Porgy and Bess
What did the legendary Russian experimental theater director Yevgeny Vakhtangov (1883-1922) have in common with Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma!, and Carousel? The immigrant director of these landmark Broadway productions, Rouben Mamoulian, was to some … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered QuestionPublished 2017-06-17
More Looping in World Music: Redi Hasa and Maria Mazzotta
I just got my notification of the line-up for one of my favorite festivals. It takes place 50 kilometers outside Barcelona, in the small city of Manresa. The 20th Fira Mediterrània de Manresa will take … read more
AJBlog: OtherWorldlyPublished 2017-06-17
The Late, Great Kevin Starr
LIKE a lot of people, I was originally baffled when I moved to California, which in my case was 20 years ago, this July. Some of the key to its complex code arrived in … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-06-17
A thing worth doing
When I was a small boy, I worshipped my father. I was bedazzled by his deep voice, which he loved to raise in song on Sunday drives, and even more by his seeming ability to … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-06-16
Almanac: Randall Jarrell on great criticism
“Taking the chance of making a complete fool of himself—and, sometimes, doing so—is the first demand that is made upon any real critic: he must stick his neck out just as the artist does, if … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-06-16