Monday, October 24, 2016
"I have no answer to the great civic questions raised by the behavior of Furtwängler or the other artists I have named. Splendid artists all, they compromised their civic virtue in order to…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Friday, October 21, 2016
In today's Wall Street Journal I review two Roundabout Theatre Company productions, the U.S. premiere of Mike Bartlett's Love, Love, Love and a Broadway revival of The Cherry Orchard. Here's…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]The main titles and prologue of Laurence Olivier's 1944 film version of Shakespeare's Henry V. The score is by William Walton: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that app…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"Skepticism as a philosophy is not merely doubt, but what may be called dogmatic doubt. The man of science says 'I think it is so-and-so, but I am not sure.' The man of intellectual curiosit…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Thursday, October 20, 2016
In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column I look at the current rash of symphony-orchestra strikes, and offer a historical perspective. Here's an excerpt. * * * Two American orchestr…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]"Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination." Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Alfred Cortot plays Chopin's A Flat Waltz, Op. 69/1, in Paris in 1943: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"I always thought that one secret of a good western, with the exception maybe of High Noon, is that the story's problem is not the leading man's problem. The leading man should be able to wa…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Tuesday, October 18, 2016
From 2006: Love-hungry bachelors of the Fifties and early Sixties were notorious for using jazz and romantic ballads to grease the skids. Frank Sinatra, I'm told, was their artist of choice,…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"My theory has always been to write a real small story against a big background." Burt Kennedy (quoted in The Guardian, February 16, 2001)
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Monday, October 17, 2016
I started writing newspaper and magazine profiles, mostly of musicians, some thirty-odd years ago. I only gave it up when my duties as a peripatetic drama critic grew too demanding. It would…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]A very rare kinescope of Bob Fosse and Carol Haney performing Irving Berlin's "I Love a Piano" on Toast of the Town, hosted by Ed Sullivan. The routine was choreographed by Fosse. This episo…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"'Try to do some really good work.' "'Oh I want to, heaven knows!' "'Well, you can't do it without sacrifices"don't believe that for a moment,' the Master said. 'I've made none. I've had eve…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Friday, October 14, 2016
In today's Wall Street Journal I review an off-Broadway revival of Horton Foote's The Roads to Home and the Broadway premiere of Simon Stephens' Heisenberg. Here's an excerpt. * * * It's no …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]Bob Dylan sings "Man of Constant Sorrow" on Folk Songs and More Folk Songs, a Westinghouse special taped on March 3, 1963. This was Dylan's national TV debut: (This is the latest in a series…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"How extraordinary it is that one feels most guilt about the sins one is unable to commit." V.S. Pritchett, Midnight Oil
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Thursday, October 13, 2016
"Most comic writers like to think they could play it straight if only their public would let them." V.S. Pritchett, "Evelyn Waugh: Club and Country"
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Wednesday, October 12, 2016
One last reminder: John Douglas Thompson and I are speaking at the Drama Book Shop tonight. We'll be discussing, taking questions about, and signing copies of the published version of Satchm…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]Paul Draper improvises a jazz dance on Rainbow Quest, a TV series hosted by Pete Seeger. This episode was taped in 1965: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"On one plane, the very great writers and the popular romancers of the lower order always meet. They use all of themselves, helplessly, unselectively. They are above the primness and good ta…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Tuesday, October 11, 2016
From 2006: I loathe biographers who nudge you in the ribs every few pages, sticking in pointed little reminders that the deeply suppressed sadomasochistic tendencies (or whatever) of Flanner…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"Like many popular best-sellers, he was a very sad and solemn man who took himself too seriously and his art not seriously enough." V.S. Pritchett, "Rider Haggard: Still Riding"
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Monday, October 10, 2016
As I approach the far shore of middle age, I can now say without exaggeration that I remember a fair number of things that happened a half-century ago. It feels more than a little bit strang…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]Glenn Gould plays Beethoven's E Major Piano Sonata, Op. 109, on the CBC in 1964: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"One recalls how much the creative impulse of the best-sellers depends upon self-pity. It is an emotion of great dramatic potential." V.S. Pritchett, "Rider Haggard: Still Riding"
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Friday, October 7, 2016
"The gentlemanliness of our statesmen is no secondary excellence. It was said by Burke of a great nobleman of the last century that 'His virtues were his means'; that he accomplished by a ge…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 04:50PM[SHARE]A quick reminder: John Douglas Thompson and I are coming to the Drama Book Shop next Wednesday. We'll be discussing, taking questions about, and signing copies of the published version of Sa…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 09:14AM[SHARE]In today's Wall Street Journal I review a Chicago revival of Leonard Bernstein's Wonderful Town and the Broadway premiere of a new stage version of Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn. Here's an exc…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]A rare kinescope of a complete TV performance of Wonderful Town, originally broadcast live by CBS on November 30, 1958. Rosalind Russell stars as Ruth Sherwood, the role she created in the 1…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]"Life is an illness we must enjoy." V.S. Pritchett, "Boswell's London"
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]Thursday, October 6, 2016
In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column I speak out in support of shorter theatrical performances"and cutting the classics. Here's an excerpt. * * * The Metropolitan Opera will be …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
