Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, which the Dallas Opera opened on Friday night, is only mildly involving musically, but visually it’s a knockout. Benoit Dugardyn’s sets, Ingeborg Bernerth’s costumes and Mark McCullough’s lighting consistently dazzle, and director Stephen Lawless’ pertinent ideas are a strong enhancement. Vocally, the cast is decent — I was especially taken with Elizabeth [...]
Exactly how powerful is music? We listen for entertainment and enjoyment, but can music actually heal? Barbara L Bastable, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, discusses the topic with Krys Boyd during a recent episode of Think. Think airs Monday-Thursday from noon-2 p.m. on KERA (90.1 F.M.).
With Jaap van Zweden conducting elsewhere through mid-April, a parade of guest conductors will guide the Dallas Symphony Orchestra through the next few weeks. The first guest is a major one: Leonard Slatkin. He opened in the Meyerson Symphony Center on Thursday night with a program that sandwiched a new work between two oldies. The [...]
KERA radio story: Online review here Expanded online story: The Dallas Theater Center has been rehearsing a new show. But the cast and crew have also been writing it at the same time. That’s only fitting because it’s a play about creativity — in this case, the creation of the world. [ambient rehearsal sounds, muttering, [...]
MEADOWS MUSEUM, PLUS TWO: The Meadows Museum at SMU has acquired a pair of early 20th Century oil paintings that will go on display this spring. The paintings were purchased through the Meadows Foundation. El Tajo, Toledo (The Tajo, Toledo), from Spanish painter Aureliano de Beruete (above), pairs nicely with another work in the collection [...]
The famed saxophonist, a native of Corsicana, Texas, a former sideman for Ray Charles, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. He was 75. UPDATE from Anne Bothwell: Just spoke with Joanna St. Angelo, executive director of the Sammons Center, and Sammons Jazz Artistic Director James Gilyard. Newman performed often at Sammons events. “We were priviliged to [...]
KERA radio story: Expanded online story: The Dallas Arts District has office towers, condos and new arts venues going up. What it needs now, a new organization believes, is a clear plan to become a real urban gathering place. Wednesday afternoon, at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Mayor Tom Leppert, Dallas City Council member [...]
Elizabeth Alexander’s inauguration poem, “Prose Song,” hasn’t won many accolades. But her publisher is betting that it will still sell well: Graywolf Press is rushing out a printing of 100,000 copies. Many people believe — no, make that ardently hope — that Barack Obama will be “an arts president.” But the inaugural music from composer [...]
A call to action and activation at 1919 Hemphill in Fort Worth. Guest blogger Lydia Regalado is an arts educator, crafter and blogger who writes about people who gather to make things. The tenacity and spirit of the DIY movement is alive and well in Fort Worth. This was evident Monday night at the meeting of [...]
INAUGURATION OVERLOAD: As you could probably guess, every publication worth its salt has some story that fits somewhere in the Obama-Inauguration-Arts triangle. – Yo-Yo Ma and other performers today are leaving their prized instruments at home in favor of carbon-fiber models that can better withstand the cold. It may be a big day, but they;re [...]
