Susan Hall
Bio:
Recent Articles:
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Vivian Maier Photographer at Greenberg Gallery Photography
Billing as a Nanny Photographer Is Inappropriate
By: - Dec 17th, 2011Tens of thousand of images shot on the street throughout the world by an artist who well may come to be called great have emerged through the accidental discovery and then dogged determination of John Maloof. Howard Greenberg is beginning to curate the images.
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Iestyn Davies Delights at Carnegie Music
Foremost Among Countertenors Following David Daniels
By: - Dec 17th, 2011The Weill Hall at Carnegie is intimate and a wonderful acoustical venue. It was a particular treat to hear countertenor Iestyn Davies here after his commanding presence in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Rodelinda and his smashing New York debut at the City Opera.
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Baroque Collection by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Music
18th Century Music Here and Now
By: - Dec 14th, 2011David Finckel and Wu Han are funny, warm, talented and consummate musicians too. This is the magic mix for institutions bringing classical music into the present and future. It is not hard to see why his contemporaries loved CPE Bach for his daring, turbulent music, which agitates with volcanic harmonies and distinctive rhythms.
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Opera Notes: Faust in HD December 10 Music
Broadcast to the Clark and Mahaiwe
By: - Dec 09th, 2011The production is so disappointing that we simply are not going to comment. Some of the singing can not be called singing. But Jonas Kaufmann in the title role and Rene Pape in his iconic Mephistopheles role, make this Gounod Faust from the Metropolitan Opera worth watching.
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New Metropolitan Opera Introduced at The Greene Space Opinion
WNYC's Performance Space Brings Us to the Future
By: - Dec 09th, 2011Starbucks founder Howard Schultz bet that even when people got their wish to work at home, they would want to spend a good part of their day in the presence of others. The Greene Space suggests another venue that provides this with a live radio presence.
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The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Brings Us Bach Music
John Harbison Selects Unfamiliar Cantatas
By: - Dec 07th, 2011John Harbison is familiar to Bostonians as the conductor of Emanuel Music, which has a commitment to perform all of Bach's 200 cantatas in cycles. At Alice Tully Hall, four of them were presented for an unusual and exciting evening.
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Kozlova's Nutcracker at Symphony Space Dance
Founder of Boston's International Ballet Competition Dazzles
By: - Dec 05th, 2011The Nutcracker has become the messenger for classical music in a world dominated by Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and the Kardashians. Audiences young and old love it.
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Occupy Wall Street Occupies the Metropolitan Opera Music
OWS Shouted Out Over a Dozen Times Before Act III of Faust
By: - Dec 04th, 2011Occupy Wall Street was banned from the Lincoln Center Plaza, city owned property leased to Lincoln Center, on December 1, as Philip Glass read from the Ghandi libretto in front of the Met. On December 3, a protester succeeded in getting into the house and calling out his message, by and large favorably received by audience claps, but quelled by Met staffers.
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Aerial Dance Festival at New York's Manhattan Movement Center Dance
Swinging from Ropes, Trapezes and Fabric
By: - Dec 03rd, 2011In extending the movements of dance to the aerial apparatus of the circus, modern dancers add immeasurably to the pleasure of performance. Fly by Night's festival was thrilling.
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Stephanie Blythe Joins the New York Festival of Song Music
Stephen Blier's Humorous and Touching Take on Goyishe Christmas
By: - Dec 02nd, 2011Assimilation is not the point. Celebrating a national holiday that is more culture than religion is something all Americans do, some with more angst and guilt than others. Noel anxiety was part of this evening's fun.
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The Collegiate Chorale Performs Moise et Pharaon Music
An Unexpected and Glorious Rossini Opera on the Exodus
By: - Dec 01st, 2011This not often performed opera brought down houses in Naples and Paris when it was first put on in various versions. Stendhal, who hated Biblical subjects and the lead soprano, attended to laugh and ended up extraordinarily moved. So was the audience at Carnegie Hall.
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Opera Notes: Jesus Christ Superstar and More Music
Rodelinda at Neighborhood Theaters on December 3
By: - Nov 29th, 2011It is heartening to think that people who love and make opera, even if they don't know what they are doing or saying, come up with dramas that heightened our every day. Rodelina at the Clark and Mahaiwe December 3rd, followed by Faust on December 10. Both poperas are bound to be fun.
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Ian Bostridge and Thomas Ades at Carnegie Hall Music
Blissful Music Making
By: - Nov 29th, 2011Taking on the challenge of the dark and painful places of life, tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist (composer and conductor) Thomas Ades presented an evening of wrenching beauty.
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Girls Only at the Garner Galleria in Denver Theatre
Plus Ca Change But Not Quite La Meme Chose
By: - Nov 25th, 2011In the cabaret venue of the Denver Performing Arts Center, women of all ages gathered to hear and participate in stories about growing up which haven't changed much over the years, but are fresh and achingly funny here.
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Thanksgiving in America Presented at the Denver Arts Center Theatre
American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose
By: - Nov 24th, 2011In Denver where the purple mountains majesty rises above the plains, the playwright Richard Montoya takes a satirical but also heart-rending look at American history. This take is based more on Howard Zinn than Sarah Palin.
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Opera Notes from New York and Chicago Music
What is Opera? The Metropolitan and Lyric Operas Disagree
By: - Nov 22nd, 2011A new production of Faust is coming up at the Met, and the company held a discussion on Monday with the artists responsible. It was very revealing. In the heartland, Ariadne Auf Naxos, the great Strauss opera about the role of music in life, spelled out in every detail that music drives the form. Why should this even be a subject for debate?
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Clyfford Still Unfolds in the Rockies Fine Arts
A Stand Alone Museum for Still Opens in Denver
By: - Nov 18th, 2011Ninety-four percent of Clyfford Still's output is now housed in a new museum in Denver. The hush hanging over his work has been broken and all the early excitement and praise he received from his peers and critics is proven correct in the paintings exhibited in this extraordinary viewing space.
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Mile High with the Denver Philharmonic Music
Kolaty, Effinger and Brahms Delight
By: - Nov 14th, 2011Community orchestras when they are successful,and Denver's, started by the great conductor Antonia Brico after she was cast off for being a woman, has thrived by bringing classical music to old and young alike.
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Nico Muhly's Dark Sisters in World Premiere Music
A Moving Performance by the Gotham Opera
By: - Nov 10th, 2011Some say critics are waiting to take Muhly down a peg or two, but his new opera doesn't even give them a chance. It is wonderful. The world premier of Nico Muhly’s eagerly anticipated chamber opera, Dark Sisters, was held at the Gerald Lynch Theater in New York last night.
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Angela Gheorghiu Triumphs at Carnegie Music
The Opera Orchestra of NY's Adriana Lecouveur
By: - Nov 09th, 2011A highly anticipated evening delivered the goods. With a stellar cast, the OONY put on the best opera performance in New York this year. Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, whose improbable and confusing plot is often noted, has beautiful music that more than makes up for over-threading the plot needle. Cilea rivaled his contemporary Puccini as a master of melody. His orchestration is subtle and yet full of drama.
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Margaret Stein, Berkshire Artist Fine Arts
Two Retrospectives of Her Work
By: - Nov 08th, 2011Stein painted her way through life. She taught for decades at the Greenfield Community College where she ran one of the most important small print making departments in the country. Now her daughter Jenny offers up her work for view.
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Ralph Fiennes Directorial Debut As Coriolanus Film
Set in Belgrade, Coriolanus Hits Home
By: - Nov 05th, 2011Ralph Fiennes explains that shooting in the former Yugoslavia was cheap, but the Coriolanus setting provides more than an inexpensive backdrop. The Shakespeare tragedy set as recent wars, and street protests seem as fresh as Occupy Wall Street protesters in Oakland.
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Opera Notes: Siegfried at the Met in HD Music
Jay Hunter Morris Steps in to Triumph
By: - Nov 02nd, 2011Everyone in haute opera was whispering, "Why is Morris, the cover, singing this role?" Morris answers, "I can do it and I will." And the good news is that he delivers. Siegfried will be screened Live in HD on Saturday at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington and the Beacon in Pittsfield.
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The Budapest Festival Orchestra at Carnegie Hall Music
Andras Schiff Delivers a Schubert Piano Concerto
By: - Oct 31st, 2011Europeans clearly have an edge in presenting music anyone can love, because they understand it, and do not hold back in performance. We have the beautiful sound of Carnegie and the new Disney, Fisher and Helzberg Halls whose sound is designed by Yasuhisa Toyota. Now they can begin to figure out how to bring an audience in.
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Live from the Metropolitan Opera, Don Giovanni in HD Music
Arrives in the Berkshires October 29
By: - Oct 26th, 2011Find it at Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, the Clark in Williamstown.
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