Music

Reeder’s Movie Reviews: Maria

By Steve Reeder
Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas
“Maria Callas was someone that as she was singing, she was dying every time. Life was taken from her while she sang.” The Chilean writer-director Pablo Larrain has a fascination with mortality. The manifestations of it course throughout his work. In many respects, it inspires his art.Read More

Anton Bruckner Bicentennial

By Steve Reeder
Today, two hundred years after his birth, Anton Bruckner’s music continues to challenge and fascinate. He was a humble man. A devout Catholic. A highly trained organist. A largely self-taught composer. A singular voice in music, especially in his massive symphonies.Read More

Reeder’s Movie Reviews: Maestro

By Steve Reeder
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in "Maestro"
Biopics are notoriously fraught with difficulty. They have to achieve an emotional and intellectual resonance, as well as a period look and feel. The script has to reflect and enhance the inherent drama in the lives of its characters, and the main one really has to matter. In Oppenheimer, the British-American writer-director Christopher Nolan embraces the challenge of Read More

Gigi Yellen Reflects On Her Time At NWPB

By Anjuli Dodhia
This week, we are saying goodbye to longtime classical music host Gigi Yellen. For more than ten years, Gigi has delighted NWPB listeners with music and commentary, and contributed to many more projects and initiatives. You can read or listen to her work on the Music and Culture page. We wish Gigi a happy retirement, and all the best on her next chapter. Gigi sat down with Read More

Reeder’s Movie Reviews: Oppenheimer

By Steve Reeder
Biopics are notoriously fraught with difficulty. They have to achieve an emotional and intellectual resonance, as well as a period look and feel. The script has to reflect and enhance the inherent drama in the lives of its characters, and the main one really has to matter. In Oppenheimer, the British-American writer-director Christopher Nolan embraces the challenge of Read More

Reeder’s Movie Reviews: Barbie

By Steve Reeder
barbie movie picture
You might not have imagined a connection between the new Barbie and the acclaimed 2001: A Space Odyssey. True enough, Barbie the toy character does have pilot and astronaut on her résumé. In this case, however, she makes her big screen appearance to the accompaniment of Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, enhanced by the droll narration of Dame Helen Mirren. Read More
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