Music & Culture

Classical Music Posts

Men

Reeder’s Movie Reviews: Men

Sometimes a filmmaker tells a story so dense, so deliberately ambiguous, so deeply rooted in symbolic imagery that you realize you’re either intrigued by and invested in the narrative or you’re utterly defeated by the process. The memory of Men, a hallucinatory study in toxic masculinity, will linger long after the closing credits.

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Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà

Music Moment: Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà

Twenty-five years ago, Angèle Dubeau had a thriving career as a concert violinist, having studied with the legendary Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. She had become a popular broadcaster at home in Québec, where she hosted a weekly French-language program on CBC. She already had her Arthur (as she calls her prized Stradivarius violin), but she envisioned an all-Canadian, all-female ensemble.

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Claudio José Brindis de Salas y Garrido

Music Moment: Claudio Brindis De Salas Garrido

Claudio José Brindis de Salas y Garrido. A renowned violinist, born in Cuba in 1852. A contemporary journalist described his playing, and the effect it had on his listeners. “His eyes sparkled. His fingers multiplied…reaching into the deep nerves of the melody…leading a rapt audience to drunken emotion.”

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Semyon Bychkov, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna, Austria in 2017.

As Performing Artists Denounce Or Stay Allied With Putin, History Offers Some Lessons

Russia reveres its high arts heritage of classical music and ballet. But Western European and American arts organizations are canceling appearances by performers who have financial or personal ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including some of Russia’s biggest stars. At the same time, some Russian and Russian-born artists have been speaking out against the invasion of Ukraine.

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