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Film and the Arts

New York Philharmonic delivers Dec. 30 concert

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Monday, 24 January 2011 04:00; Written by Jack Angstreich

On December 30th, 2010, the New York Philharmonic, under the direction of Alan Gilbert, presented what proved to be an utterly delightful program, revised due to the recent snowstorm, substituting a few familiar classics for some modern works originally scheduled.

The concert opened with a thrilling rendition of the exciting Polonaise from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, played here with a superb control of orchestral dynamics.

A luminous account of the lovely Valse Triste by Jean Sibelius followed -- in recent memory surpassed for me in intensity only by the performance of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Paavo Järvi, at last summer's Mostly Mozart Festival. The ravishing selections from Tchaikovsky's gorgeous score to The Nutcracker ballet which concluded the first half of the program were irresistible and typified the ability of this outstanding ensemble to enliven even the most commonly played of works.

After intermission, four excellent Philharmonic players took the stage to act as soloists accompanied by a considerably scaled down version of the orchestra in a riveting, crystalline version of Antonio Vivaldi's magnificent Concerto in B minor for Four Violins from the great L'estro armonico collection.

A measured, lovely reading followed of Claude Debussy's early, revolutionary masterwork, the often-played but still stunning Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, memorably performed here, even if not the strongest version heard in New York in the past year or two.

The concert closed with an astonishing account of Ravel's arresting Boléro -- the most compelling performance of this unusual work I have yet encountered, with Gilbert and the ensemble displaying, again, a masterful command of orchestral dynamics, concluding one of the most enjoyable evenings of music this season.

New York Philharmonic
December 30, 2010
Avery Fisher Hall
10 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023
212-875-5656

NY String Orchestra 2nd concert review

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Monday, 24 January 2011 03:36; Written by Jack Angstreich

The second of the two recent New York String Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Jaime Laredo -- this one took place on December 28th, 2010 -- was much more impressive than the agreeable first program.

The highlight of the evening for me was the all-too-rarely performed, arresting Samuel Barber Capricorn Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Trumpet, and Strings. Played with a full command of the glittering range of tone of this engaging work, the orchestra was superbly matched by an accomplished trio of soloists: Tara Helen O'Connor on flute, Ariana Ghez on oboe, and David Washburn on trumpet.

The ensemble did fine work with the more ambitious concerto that followed -- the Romantic, tuneful Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello --here accompanying soloists Daniel Hope and Paul Watkins, respectively.

That extraordinary masterpiece, the Beethoven Eroica Symphony, closed the evening -- Laredo led the players in an estimable reading of this titanic but also very familiar work, managing by the program's end to fully redeem the promise of the previous week's concert.

New York String Orchestra Concert
December 28, 2010
Carnegie Hall
881 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10019
212-247-7800

on Inside Job

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Monday, 24 January 2011 02:26; Written by Jack Angstreich

Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson, is another clever, engaging, and entertaining documentary of no especial aesthetic merit but is a well-crafted account of the recent financial crisis.

Much of the film is devoted to exposition and it thus eschews the gonzo mode of Michael Moore even as it features several confrontational interviews where the subjects are greatly embarrassed by the questions posed to them.

The film is especially noteworthy in at least two respects. First, Ferguson devotes several minutes to revealing the intellectual and ethical bankruptcy of academic economics. Second, the film doesn't shrink from exposing the collusion of the Democratic Clinton and -- especially and remarkably -- the Obama Administrations with the moneyed interests that precipitated the crisis.

The main weakness here is the final, naive exhortation for government reform, where everything preceding this in the film suggests that such a possibility is purely utopian.

Kevin's January 2011 - Digital Week III

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Saturday, 22 January 2011 10:00; Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week
Jack Goes Boating
(Anchor Bay)
For his directorial debut, Philip Seymour Hoffman helmed this adaptation of Bob Glaudini’s play (which Hoffman starred in off-Broadway) about a loner who finds a soul mate amid the noisy clutter of New York. Hoffman directs sensitively, and his and Amy Ryan’s portrayals are first-rate; John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega (who both acted with Hoffmann in the play) are less impressive in the showier roles of Jack‘s closest friends.

The low-key romantic character study gets a good-looking, clean Blu-ray transfer; extras include deleted scenes and two on-set featurettes.

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