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Artscope Magazine | November/December 2020

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ISANGO ENSEMBLE PLAYS MOZART’S THE MAGIC FLUTE AT EMERSON

// Artscope Online, Music

by James Foritano

When Mozart composed The Magic Flute in Vienna in 1791, he hoped it would become as popular as he thought it should. It did. First it conquered Vienna, then the other great cities of Europe fell to its enchanting mix of singing, dancing and fairy-tale plot. Not long ago, a grade schooler in Cape Town, South Africa, returned home after having seen a student production and vented enthusiastically to his mother that her troupe Isango Ensemble should try it on. They did. And we were lucky enough to be at its performance at Emerson’s Cutler Majestic Theatre on opening night. Isango, an all-black troupe, has inherited tribal traditions rich in dancing, singing, magic and shrewd psychology that are more than a match to communicate the nuances of “The Magic Flute,” conceived in Europe of universals that strike the heart and mind globally. The costumes are minimal, richly African, and … [Read more...] about ISANGO ENSEMBLE PLAYS MOZART’S THE MAGIC FLUTE AT EMERSON

THE BOSTON LYRIC OPERA PRESENTS PAGLIACCI

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Music, Visual Arts

by James Foritano

Once again, the Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) has made a brilliant virtue of its present homeless state by choosing an unorthodox and roomy site in which they can design a stage that is more an invitation than the old-style elevated barrier. This stage was the DCR Memorial Steriti Skating Rink located on Commercial Street, just a short walk from North Station. We took advantage of the Green Line’s public transportation then climbed upstairs to enjoy an illuminated urban experience on Commercial Street as it circles a North End dotted with restaurants. Since we longed for the full immersive experience, we ignored the restaurants and headed for the advertised food trucks. I grabbed a heap of Indian food, then followed the signs to the back of the skating rink where we positioned ourselves on a picnic bench overlooking the Charles River as it flows towards the locks that lead into Boston … [Read more...] about THE BOSTON LYRIC OPERA PRESENTS PAGLIACCI

STREET STYLE: ‘GOING PLACES’ AT THE K. SIMON CENTER; PAINT FOR PREVENTION EVENT ON MAY 11

// Artscope Online, Music, Visual Arts

by Olivia MacDonald

For two nights, on April 26 and 27, the small city of Broad Brook, Connecticut came together to celebrate art, skateboarding and music as one. The K. Simon Center for the Arts held the show, “Going Places,” where hand-painted and printed skateboard decks lined a wall, New England artists showcased their work in colorful displays for visitors to purchase, and rhythmic beats reverberated throughout the second-story room. Creativity pulsed through the space. Featured vendors included MelRose Denim (@melrose_denim on Instagram), creators of denim jackets with vintage and iconic printed images like Polaroid, Bob Marley and MTV, as well as other repurposed denim items like placemats. Positive State Apparel (@positivestate_apparel) also sold clothing with their signature Positive State name repeated row after row on t-shirts, ending with “have a nice day,” inspired from the plastic grocery … [Read more...] about STREET STYLE: ‘GOING PLACES’ AT THE K. SIMON CENTER; PAINT FOR PREVENTION EVENT ON MAY 11

Lia Cirio in William Forsythe's Blake Works I. Photograph by Angela Sterling, courtesy of Boston Ballet.

PERFORMANCE: BOSTON BALLET’S FULL ON FORSYTHE AT THE BOSTON OPERA HOUSE

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, News, Visual Arts

by James Foritano

The Boston Ballet’s world premier presentation of “Full on Forsythe" opened on Thursday, March 7 and will run through March 17 at the Boston Opera House. Madeleine, my wife and partner in this critique, sat beside me for the full two hour and 30-minute performance with two intermissions. Madeleine was restive during the first of the three pieces, which I could sympathize with, since this first work, titled, obscurely, “Pas/Parts 2018,” is packed with so much raw energy, helicoptering dancers, electronic bonging and shearing and vibrating that I too sat back in my seat feeling the ice in my veins from the outside temperature begin to boil and bubble. And yet, as avant-garde a choreographer as William Forsythe is, he is also a performer, and knows when to slow down, just as the month of March proverbially “roars like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” The second piece, titled … [Read more...] about PERFORMANCE: BOSTON BALLET’S FULL ON FORSYTHE AT THE BOSTON OPERA HOUSE

Nevet Yitzhak, WarCraft (detail), 2014. Photography by Thomas Seely. Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.

Common Threads: Contemporary Fiber Art at the Gardner

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Bryanna F. Drew

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is known for many things: the beautiful Venetian palazzo-inspired architecture, the unconventional way it displays its pieces of art, the largest and still-unsolved art heist in history, and Isabella Stewart Gardner’s wide taste in art — from Italian renaissance and medieval European to Asian and Islamic art; from paintings and sculptures to rare books and textiles — to name a few. Keeping in tradition with her love of textiles, “Common Threads: Weaving Stories Across Time,” is on view through January 13. The exhibition features work from contemporary artists who are continuing the tradition of conveying stories and histories in their works while pushing the boundaries of textile art and distorting the line around what can be defined as a tapestry. Their works are housed in both the Hostetter Gallery as well as the Tapestry Room. Walking into the … [Read more...] about Common Threads: Contemporary Fiber Art at the Gardner

THEATER PREVIEW: BOSTON OPERA COLLABORATIVE PRESENTS “AS ONE” AT PICKMAN HALL

// Artscope Online, Featured, Music, Theatre

By James Foritano Cambridge, MA — I’m occupying the cat-bird seat in the intimate recital space of Cambridge’s Longy School of Music at Bard College at a pre-performance interview with cast members of a new operetta, “As One,” which will be presented January 25-28 by the Boston Opera Collaborative at Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall. The two male vocalists sitting at our conference table are young, intense, and talented. They are bursting with information about what it’s like to represent with their resonant baritones the existential struggles of a young man, a boy really, transitioning to a mature woman. I’m trying to focus as much as possible on the sense of what they’re saying, but the sensuousness of their trained voices short circuits, repeatedly, my hard- headed note taking. I’m rescued, anchored by an anecdote related to me by vocal coach Jean Anderson Collier, sitting to my … [Read more...] about THEATER PREVIEW: BOSTON OPERA COLLABORATIVE PRESENTS “AS ONE” AT PICKMAN HALL