Girl’s Got Talent: Basking in the Foreverglow with Lindsey Stirling Lindsey Stirling is utterly adorable. Cheerful, funny, genuinely welcoming, she radiates warmth the moment you’re in her presence. Just as she was voting (along with fellow judges Piers Morgan and Howie Mandell) to eject Stirling prematurely off the fifth season of America’s Got Talent in… Continue reading Lindsey Stirling, Part 1
Tag: Classical Music
Lindsey Stirling, Part 2
You don’t usually make a big public deal about it, but I know your faith is tremendously important to you. Conversely, the music business, and entertainment business as a whole, is infused with a terrible amount of sleaziness. You’ve remained pretty much independent this entire time, to your credit. But have you encountered any circumstances… Continue reading Lindsey Stirling, Part 2
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Rodrigo y Gabriela: Echoes of the Past, Focus on the Present The music that Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela make is sometimes characterized as “acoustic speed metal.” The pair’s flamenco-influenced instrumental approach has certainly attracted fans from the metal scene, but Rod y Gab’s style draws from flamenco and classical guitar as much… Continue reading Rodrigo y Gabriela
Green Book
Director Peter Farrelly’s fact-based Green Book isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but it’s truly one of the most solid films of last year, and ought to be a shoe-in to get those coveted Academy Award nominations in January and wins in late February. However, some of the “powers that be” behind the scenes in nonsensical,… Continue reading Green Book
Itzhak
His parents were emigrants to Israel. He was a polio survivor who became the rock star of classical music. Itzhak Perlman went from tackling the third movement from Mendelsohhn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64 on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958 to accompanying Billy Joel in Madison Square Garden, and in between he received… Continue reading Itzhak
Steve Reich
Not Revolution But Restoration: Composer Steve Reich Ponders the Possible in Modern Music “Well, that’s good enough,” says Steve Reich, the world’s most influential living composer. “I can see some musical intelligence behind that. I might not view it in the same way, but sure – you’re onto something.” Reich is assessing my assessment of his… Continue reading Steve Reich
Anthony Braxton
No Passport Necessary: From Every Direction, Anthony Braxton Embraces Music as His Life’s Work Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn on a Sunday morning is like an iPod on crack, stuck in oscillating shuffle mode. Dozens of food stalls crowd the sidewalks, sending up smoke from barbecue grills like votive offerings laced with the pungent tang… Continue reading Anthony Braxton
Owen Pallett
Not Afraid: Owen Pallett Gets Personal with In Conflict Edmond de Goncourt, French author, diarist, essayist and art critic of the 19th century, once wrote, “A poet is a man who puts up a ladder to a star and climbs it while playing a violin.” Had he been living in the present day, it would… Continue reading Owen Pallett
Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi – Rome
The film music of composer Ennio Morricone includes some of the most powerful and memorable compositions of modern times, particularly his ringing, stinging soundtracks devised for the classic Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, where his music underscored gunfights, hangings, and dizzying chases for a fortune in gold. However, the great Italian maestro also has a much… Continue reading Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi – Rome
Julia Wolfe & Ensemble Resonanz – Cruel Sister
Jagger attended the London School of Economics. Keith Richards could afford art school. So much for the street fightin’ man. During one of my perennial arguments about the Beatles’ negative impact on 20th century life far exceeding their musical influence, I pointed out that Johnny Ray has never been accused of causing any generational conflict,… Continue reading Julia Wolfe & Ensemble Resonanz – Cruel Sister