By James Foritano In Boston’s venerable John Hancock Hall, a few steps down Berkeley Street and just off Copley Square, our own Boston Lyric Opera roars into town with an enduring classic, a smoking hot bedroom comedy that offended one emperor, Joseph 2nd of the Hapsburg Empire, and King Louis XVI. Threats of censorship loomed, then dissipated. It was 1780, the height of the Age of Enlightenment, when the light of reason shone everywhere, especially bedrooms. So perhaps these two royal heavyweights second guessed themselves, deciding: Better bedrooms than halls of state! Besides, their own aristocracies were revolting, in both senses. Firstly, this was the way the aristocracy behaved offstage, all the time. And they wanted to see themselves as much as their underlings wanted to see what they were mostly missing. And who better to portray deliciously ‘bad’ behavior than … [Read more...] about Boston Lyric Opera presents The Marriage of Figaro at John Hancock Hall
Boston Lyric Opera presents The Rake’s Progress
By James Foritano Boston, MA - A new production by director Allegra Libonati illuminates the Cutler Majestic’s historic stage and house with a tale at once simple and profound. Simple because, to the delight of this opera lover, the characters to keep in view form a neat triad of hero (Tom Rakewell, sung by Ben Bliss), heroine (Anne Trulove, sung by Anya Matanovic) and villain (Nick Shadow, sung by Kevin Burdette). Tom Rakewell is our wavering hero who charges off to London with a new inheritance, eying the goal of tasting all London’s sophisticated — and mostly low pleasures — while keeping intact the purity of his love to Anne Trulove. Nick is a dope, but a dope with the complication of deeper qualities which shine progressively albeit tragically stronger as his fate closes around him. Villain Nick Shadow is no dope; he’s a hunter of human folly so astute you might think … [Read more...] about Boston Lyric Opera presents The Rake’s Progress
Wanderlust: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
By James Foritano San Francisco, CA - How does one sum up a museum so huge that it qualifies as the largest space in the world dedicated to modern and contemporary art? Carefully and incompletely, I found. Feelings of gratitude and trepidation alternated as I found myself transported from quaint, historic Boston to a city and museum all about the future — the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, modestly abbreviated as SFMOMA. I had already acquainted myself with Columbian artist Doris Salcedo’s mystical, complex vision of human suffering and endurance in “The Materiality of Mourning” at the Harvard Art Museums. My view of Salcedo’s vision deepened considerably as I wandered through an expansive installation of, to put it too simply, her ‘upended furniture’ at SFMOMA as part of its “A Slow Succession with Many Interruptions” exhibition showcasing 40 artists responding to the … [Read more...] about Wanderlust: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Da Vinci — The Genius at the Museum of Science
By Kate Kenney Cambridge, MA - Inside the Museum of Science is a dark room full of realized dreams that’s hosting a temporary exhibit from Grande Exhibitions and Pascal Cotte, France: “Da Vinci — The Genius,” an exhibition that allows visitors into Leonardo da Vinci’s world with a behind-the-paintings look at some of his most infamous creations. One side of the room is decorated with large wooden models depicting da Vinci’s finest experimental designs. What were once simply notebook sketches have now been realized into life-sized hand-crafted models. Structures range from a canvas parachute that could be easily mistaken for architectural art piece, to a Jules Verneian — and honestly terrifying — diving suit complete with webbed flippers. Many of the objects show da Vinci’s curiosity in military engineering. A large wooden catapult and tank show his imaginative ideas on how to … [Read more...] about Da Vinci — The Genius at the Museum of Science
Boston Ballet Presents Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker Boston Opera House, November 25, 2016
By Kate Kenney Boston, MA - The night is both decadent and magical, with grand Christmas trees lining the entrance of the spiral staircase leading to the theater doors of the Boston Opera House, whose walls, dressed in warm golds and deep, velvety reds, and ceiling glittering in ornate gilded designs, are hosting Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, presented by artist director Mikko Nissinen. This evening, its audience will see 182 costumes featuring 200,000 jewels and multiple tutus hand-dipped in gold paint. In the lobby, signed blush pointe shoes are for sale, scuffed from use and hard work. One pair of shoes is signed wonderfully, “Live What You Love!” by ballerina Dusty Button. The theater itself is majestic, lined with ornate paintings from its original 1928 French and Italian architecture. The orchestra, led by principal guest conductor Beatrice Jona Affron, opens the … [Read more...] about Boston Ballet Presents Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker Boston Opera House, November 25, 2016
Keep Still and Carry On
By Nancy Nesvet New York, NY - Three weeks after President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, five weeks after Miami’s declaration as a Zika-free zone, five months after Brexit and nine weeks after the close of Art Basel Miami, artists and other Americans and Europeans are emerging from a catatonic state of denial, protesting and marching and executing art projects that address the US and worldwide political situations. Art Basel Miami showed films by Alfredo Jaar and stills including William Pope L’s “Gold People Dance Contest, 1931, recalling the year of Hitler’s rise to power, and Sanford Biggers video showed shotgun holes in African figural sculptures, (sponsored by Marianne Boesky Gallery) calling attention to current politics. But whereas various Art Basel Miami projects were relevant to current politics, they often addressed events literally, whether in signs proclaiming … [Read more...] about Keep Still and Carry On