Tag: Vol. 22 No. 51

An entertaining if somewhat uneven departure by Mohsen Makhmalbaf–perhaps the most versatile contemporary Iranian director, and certainly one of the most talented, prolific, and controversial–this 1992 film can be regarded in part as a kind of peace offering to the Iranian government after the banning of his two previous features (loosely comparable as a gesture […]

What you think of the Compagnie Philippe Genty depends a lot on how much narrative you require in your drama. Those who need to know at all times why they’re watching and where the story is going are advised to satisfy their yearning for theater elsewhere. With its witty optical illusions and ever-changing stage pictures, […]

Three compositions were written for the joint centennials of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the University of Chicago, and Shulamit Ran’s belated entry, Legends, promises to be a middle-of-the-roader. As a composer, the Israeli-born Ran is not as resolutely radical as her onetime mentor and U. of C. colleague Ralph Shapey, whose contribution to the […]

Pianist Hal Galper spent a dozen years working with two of the ballsiest alto saxophonists in jazz–Cannonball Adderley and Phil Woods–and so you’d expect his ability to summon, a full-figured, densely textured keyboard persona whenever needed. But that side of his character doesn’t surface all that often in Galper’s own trio, where he revels in […]

Twenty-five years ago four young Japanese musicians formed the Tokyo String Quartet at the urging of their mentor, Robert Mann of the Julliard String Quartet. It was an auspicious debut, signaling the arrival of a new generation of quartets capable of inheriting the mantle of their distinguised elders. At first the Tokyo emulated the Juilliard’s […]