“There is in every one of us, even those who seem to be most moderate, a type of desire that is terrible, wild, and lawless.”—The Republic, Book IX 572bWhat’s the best way to describe the mania of an Andrzej Żuławski film? William Grimes, eulogizing Żuławski for The New York Times chose “emotionally savage.” J. Hoberman used “hyperkinetic,” “frenzied,” and “‘awful’ in its root sense of inspiring dread. Daniel Bird, writing about the most recent Lincoln Center screenings in New York, chose “deeply disturbing.” These descriptors make perfect sense after experiencing a Żuławski film, but I’ve never been able to sell his films to a newcomer this way. How could I? They’re much too primal for adjectives in our delicate English language, crafted to communicate Enlightenment-era ideas in a pleasing series of vibrations. The intensity of this director’s films could only be described in some sort of ancient Lovecraftian squelching,...
- 3/28/2016
- by Zach Lewis
- MUBI
“To please the majority is the requirement of the Planet Cinema. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t make a concession to viewers, these victims of life, who think that a film is made only for their enjoyment, and who know nothing about their own existence.”Coverage of the director's final film, Cosmos (2015), from the Locarno Film Festival by Daniel KasmanBeginnings Are Useless: A Conversation with Andrzej Żuławski by the Ferroni BrigadeAn exploration of The Third Part of the Night (1971) by David CairnsAn exploration of Boris Godunov (1989) by David Cairns...
- 3/3/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Jenny Lin Stravinsky: Solo Piano Works (Steinway) Night Stories: Nocturnes (Hänssler Classic)
Long-time readers may have noted my admiration for Lin's immaculate pianism and eclectic programming. She's been a prolific recording artist as well, with 21 albums to her credit (plus inclusion on a multi-pianist set), and her repertoire is highly eclectic even by modern standards.
She's back with two more brilliant albums, and even on the single-composer disc manages to throw some repertoire curveballs. Guido Agosti's rarely heard arrangements of the last three movements from the Firebird Suite is a dazzling tour-de-force; it works well and Lin's performance sparkles vividly (the outer movements sound like real knuckle-busters).
Stravinsky's transcription of the Prologue from Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov, written for his children, is simple and touching; Lin communicates its quiet emotive power. The fragments of the unfinished sonata he was working on near the end of his life are very brief,...
Long-time readers may have noted my admiration for Lin's immaculate pianism and eclectic programming. She's been a prolific recording artist as well, with 21 albums to her credit (plus inclusion on a multi-pianist set), and her repertoire is highly eclectic even by modern standards.
She's back with two more brilliant albums, and even on the single-composer disc manages to throw some repertoire curveballs. Guido Agosti's rarely heard arrangements of the last three movements from the Firebird Suite is a dazzling tour-de-force; it works well and Lin's performance sparkles vividly (the outer movements sound like real knuckle-busters).
Stravinsky's transcription of the Prologue from Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov, written for his children, is simple and touching; Lin communicates its quiet emotive power. The fragments of the unfinished sonata he was working on near the end of his life are very brief,...
- 7/11/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Striking Russian opera singer and wife of Mstislav Rostropovich, she was made an 'unperson' during the Soviet era
The soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, who has died aged 86, coloured her performances of opera, and especially of Russian song, so beautifully that full comprehension was not essential for enjoyment. Of course, once you did understand the words, you realised how much meaning she brought to them.
Possessed of a striking physical presence with lustrous dark hair, she was such a natural actor that she became the star of her generation at the Bolshoi opera company in Moscow, forging artistic relationships with the stage director Boris Pokrovsky and the conductor Alexander Melik-Pashaev. And – appropriately for a performer who sang with all the skill of an instrumentalist – for more than half a century she was married to Mstislav Rostropovich, not just a great cellist, but also a considerable conductor and pianist.
Their marriage – her third...
The soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, who has died aged 86, coloured her performances of opera, and especially of Russian song, so beautifully that full comprehension was not essential for enjoyment. Of course, once you did understand the words, you realised how much meaning she brought to them.
Possessed of a striking physical presence with lustrous dark hair, she was such a natural actor that she became the star of her generation at the Bolshoi opera company in Moscow, forging artistic relationships with the stage director Boris Pokrovsky and the conductor Alexander Melik-Pashaev. And – appropriately for a performer who sang with all the skill of an instrumentalist – for more than half a century she was married to Mstislav Rostropovich, not just a great cellist, but also a considerable conductor and pianist.
Their marriage – her third...
- 12/11/2012
- by Tully Potter
- The Guardian - Film News
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