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Boston Symphony Orchestra at United in Sound: America at 250 Part 2
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 17 April 2026 14:01
- Written by Jack Angstreich
Photo by Fadi Kheir
At the wonderful Stern Auditorium, on the night of Friday, April 10th, I had the enormous privilege to attend the second of two amazing concerts on consecutive days—presented by Carnegie Hall as part of its festival, United in Sound: America at 250—performed by the extraordinary musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the outstanding direction of Andris Nelsons.
The event started very auspiciously with the brilliant realization of the New York premiere of Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s haunting, mysterious Day Night Day from 2024, which is a joint commission from the Berlin Philharmoniker, this ensemble, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Robert Kirzinger provides some background on the piece in a useful note on the program:
Tarkiainen’s latest opera, Day of Night, is a collaboration with the director, writer, and dramaturg Aleksi Barrière, son of the composers Kaija Saariaho and Jean-Baptiste Barrière. The opera’s libretto is primarily in English but also features other languages, including Sámi. The scenario is based on the Sámi poet and writer Niillas Holmberg’s first novel, Halla Hella. The opera was commissioned by Aalto Musiktheater Essen and Finnish National Opera and Ballet.
The musical material of Tarkiainen’s single-movement tone poem Day Night Day is derived from the music of Day of Night. The composer writes, “Day Night Day is an orchestral work about the northern light and ice that every winter invade the land but that reflect the early spring light in brilliant spectra. The work incorporates references to two Sámi melodies: a yoik of Láve Nigá Risten from the Teno region of Northern Finnish Lapland, heralded by muted trumpets towards the beginning of the work; and a variation of the old South Sámi lullaby Sjamma, sjamma hummed at the end by the woodwinds.” A yoik (or joik) is a vocal genre described as being a kind of musical totem of a person, place, or animal.
The composer was present to witness the audience’s acclaim.
The astonishing virtuoso Lang Lang then entered the stage as soloist for a fabulous account of Edvard Grieg’s enchanting Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16, from 1868. The tuneful, initial, Allegro molto moderato movement begins dramatically and what immediately follows is passionate, sometimes moody, and highly Romantic, although there are moments of more subdued lyricism; it closes forcefully. The succeeding Adagio has a more reflective ethos on the whole but there are bravura passages; it ends softly. The finale, marked Allegro moderato molto e marcato is propulsive and energetic, even exuberant, and often dazzling, but again, there are serene, as well as emotional, inward measures before breathless music with dance-like rhythms moves to the fore; it concludes triumphantly. Enthusiastic applause elicited a delightful encore from the pianist: “Mia and Sebastian's Theme” from Justin Hurwitz’s score for the film La La Land (arr. Kerber).
The second half of the evening was even more memorable: a seemingly unsurpassable version of Jean Sibelius’s marvelous Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 39, from 1899. The Allegro energico, first movement opens with a somewhat forlorn, Andante ma non troppo introduction for solo clarinet and timpani, but more turbulent music quickly ensues; brighter, transitional measures for the strings, harp and woodwinds usher in more characteristically Sibelian sonorities, although the early influence of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is discernible—the movement’s almost tentative finish arrives surprisingly early. The subsequent, Andante ma non troppo lento has a somewhat lugubrious, if stirring, quality that is sometimes displaced by more affirmative, quasi-pastoral interludes—it also foreshadows the sensibility of the composer’s later symphonies and it too closes unexpectedly soon. The main body of the next, Allegro movement—it functions as a scherzo—has a dynamic, driving momentum, while its Trio is more song-like; it concludes abruptly. Much of the Finale (Quasi una fantasia) has a suspenseful intensity contrasting with plaintive, if noble, episodes for the violins—it ends quietly after a powerful climax.
The artists deservedly received a standing ovation.
Boston Symphony Orchestra at United in Sound: America at 250, Part 1
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 16 April 2026 14:30
- Written by Jack Angstreich
Photo by Chris Lee
At the wonderful Stern Auditorium, on the night of Thursday, April 9th, I had the exceptional privilege of attending the first of two outstanding concerts on consecutive days—presented by Carnegie Hall as part of its festival, United in Sound: America at 250—performed by the splendid musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the brilliant direction of Andris Nelsons.
The event started strongly with an impressive realization of John Adams’s marvelous concert suite, Three Scenes from Nixon in China, excellently sung by the now legendary soprano Renée Fleming—she wore a fabulous gown—and baritone Thomas Hampson, along with the superb Tanglewood Festival Chorus conducted by Lisa Wong. Robert Kirzinger provided some background in a useful note on the opera from which the selections were drawn:
Composed between 1985 and 1987, Nixon in China grew out of a suggestion from the director Peter Sellars, who, along with librettist Alice Goodman, collaborated with Adams on most of his stage works. Adams has also worked frequently with Nixon in China choreographer Mark Morris. The plot of Nixon in China is based on historic events that took place just 15 years before the opera’s premiere.
The music is written in the minimalist idiom forged by artists like Philip Glass and Michael Nyman.
The second half of the evening was even more remarkable, consisting of a terrific account of Antonín Dvořák’s magnificent Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, “From the New World,” completed in 1893. The composer was quoted in an interview as saying the following about the United States of America:
The future of music in this country must be founded upon what are called the Negro melodies … These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil [with] nothing in the whole range of composition that cannot be supplied with themes from this source.
The main theme of the initial, Allegro molto—which has a solemn, Adagio introduction that ushers in a highly dramatic series of statements—is stirring, as is the movement on the whole, but there are subdued, often very beautiful, quasi-pastoral passages—the composer’s prodigious melodic invention is on full display here and throughout the work. The music builds to measures of climactic intensity more than once before finishing forcefully.
Annotator Steven Ledbetter explains:
According to the composer, the two middle movements were inspired in part by passages in American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, on the subject of which he had considered writing an opera. The slow movement was suggested by the funeral of Minnehaha [ . . . . ] (His student William Arms Fisher later wrote the lyrics to the song “Goin’ Home” to fit the melody.) Dvořák’s image for the third movement was the dance in the scene of Hiawatha’s wedding feast.
The ensuing Largo at first recalls the gravity of the first movement’s introduction, but with the articulation of the exquisite primary theme, a predominantly lyrical inspiration becomes manifest; a lovely, contrasting motif that emerges later has a more wistful quality, but a brief, bucolic interlude momentarily summons back some of the portentous grandeur of the symphony before the movement’s haunting, if gentle, conclusion. Much of the succeeding Scherzo, which is also marked Molto vivace, has a suspenseful, seemingly inexorable, forward momentum, but again there are alternating, charming, leisurely, dance-like sections that exude a cheerful spirit; the movement ends abruptly and emphatically. The Allegro con fuoco finale begins dynamically but again there are quiet passages that project a graceful affirmation that differs from the powerful exuberance that ultimately triumphs before it closes softly.
The musicians deservedly received a very enthusiastic ovation.
April '26 Digital Week II
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- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 16 April 2026 12:56
- Written by Kevin Filipski
In The Horror Film, “They Will Kill You,” Zazie Beatz Battles a Cult of Rich Satanists To Save Her Sister
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- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 09 April 2026 19:34
- Written by Brad Balfour
Film: “They Will Kill You”
Director: Kirill Sokolov,
Cast: Zazie Beetz, Myha’la, Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, Heather Graham
In “They Will Kill You,” Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) takes a maid job at The Virgil, a 100-year-old apartment building in the heart of New York City. Long a place where the elite, the one percenters, have called it “home,” she’s not there for simple employment but for a deadly purpose. Her true motives for taking the gig are soon revealed.
Not unlike the Continental in The John Wick series, the building may seem like just another impressive piece of Gilded Age architecture built for the wealthy. But it’s really housing something much more: a devil-worshipping cult that has been granted immortality in exchange for finding human sacrifices for Satan.
In the opening sequence, Asia abandons her younger sister Maria (Myha’la) after the two run away from their abusive father. He tracks them down and Asia shoots him, but he survives and takes her sister away to endure further years of abuse.
Meanwhile, Asia goes to prison for the next decade. While in prison she’s hardened up and has trained to defend herself through whatever means is necessary.
Once she’s freed, Asia tracks down her long-lost sibling to the building, which has a dark history of the help going missing. It soon becomes clear that the building’s tenants have nefarious plans for her, intending to make her an offering to Satan in exchange for continued immortality. But, Asia comes prepared with a bag full of weapons and the determination to save her sister. Little does she know that her sister isn’t quite on board for being rescued as she had planned.
Underpinning the movie’s high-octane action sequences, the film features an iconic ensemble cast, from Patricia Arquette‘s Irish building superintendent Lilith to wealthy tenants Kevin (Tom Felton) and Sharon (Heather Graham.) Each brings unhinged performances to their characters as cult members in this high-octane, adrenaline-pumping flick. Given her Irish background, Lilith provides a bridge between the wealthy owners and the ethnic staffers — having married a Black man a century ago before coming to the building and gaining immortality.
For example, Asia blows Graham’s head away, splattering blood, bones and brains everywhere. What remains is a stump where the head was, with the body still flailing about. But because she’s immortal, the next scene shows a tiny head regrowing where the shoulders were. It’s bizarre, sort of funny and repulsive as ever.
Director Kirill Sokolov is quite a student of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and even earlier ones like Sam Peckinpah. He spares no blood throughout the film, with red spraying from wounds and viscera everywhere. He uses some creative visual tricks that test the limits of his villains’ invincibility.
With nods to samurai films and shoot-'em-ups, Beetz gives the physical performance of a lifetime, wielding swords, machetes and shotguns while firing at a gang of evil residents. Asia and Maria also pack an emotional punch with their tragic story of complicated sisterhood, pushing the pair to reconnect and make things right. Although Satan prefers blood, it turns out the most impactful sacrifices come from love.
Sokolov offers his genre-driven take on satanic cults, with touches of humor and heart and lots of red. Thanks to a stellar cast, led by this pair of newly minted ‘Scream Queens’, audiences will root for them to eliminate the one percent. Obviously, the movie appeals to audiences beyond just the horror film fans due to its underlying political message -- that the wealthy willingly sacrificing anyone beneath them for fealty to Satan. Though I'm not sure it was a conscious notion to express this socially conscious element -- beat down the rich because they have no moral rudder -- that certainly makes the film more relevant than ever in this day and age.
