DOWNLOAD REVIEWS
From the desk of James Reel on Monday, August 25th 2008 at 10:45
Deutsche Grammophon has been making a substantial effort to expand into the digital download market. Here are reviews I wrote for Fanfare of two of DG's download-only releases.
Read MoreMUSICAL POLITICS
From the desk of James Reel on Friday, August 22nd 2008 at 8:26
The Democratic National Convention has a composer in residence, David Amram. No word on whether the Republicans will follow suit ...
Read MoreJENNIFER KOH AND MUSIC@MENLO REVIEWS
From the desk of James Reel on Friday, August 22nd 2008 at 8:25
All I’ve got in the latest issue of Strings is a pair of CD reviews: one of Jennifer Koh’s latest CD, String Poetic, with music by Jennifer Higdon, John Adams, Lou Harrison and Carl Ruggles, and another of Music@Menlo’s 2007 festival concerts.
Read MoreARIZONA ONSTAGE UPDATE
From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 21st 2008 at 8:28
My latest scribbling for the Tucson Weekly: "Kevin Johnson has been having one of those good-news/bad-news summers." ...
Read MoreMEMORABLE TV MOMENTS?
From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, August 20th 2008 at 8:11
I was curious about the nominees for television's "most memorable moments," and disappointed. I didn’t watch all the clips, but I’m not sure that even those from shows I have watched really constitute “most memorable moments.” ...
Read MoreRHEINBERGER SUITES
From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, August 19th 2008 at 7:55
Here's a review I wrote for Fanfare of something off the beaten path: romantic music for solo strings and organ ...
Read MoreTHE POST OFFICE IS KILLING OUR MAGAZINES
From the desk of James Reel on Friday, August 15th 2008 at 8:55
Magazines are in financial trouble, and part of the situation—but only part of it—is described in an Associated Press article that includes this information ...
Read MoreUAPRESENTS CONTINUES ITS RECOVERY
From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 14th 2008 at 7:52
In the latest Tucson Weekly, you’ll find in the Mailbag section a noble defense of yours truly by a reader I swear I do not know. More pertinent to the self-aggrandizing, self-promoting nature of this blog is my own contribution, checking in with UApresents ...
Read MoreFOXY
From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, August 13th 2008 at 8:54
Yesterday I stayed home in the morning to fend off a cold, but I had to rally sufficiently to attend an afternoon meeting with Jim Williams, the new executive director of the Fox Tucson Theatre. We’re trying to work out a co-production with the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, of which I’m the vice-president ...
Read MoreANTHEMS
From the desk of James Reel on Monday, August 11th 2008 at 8:02
Alex Marshall of The Guardian girded his loins and listened to the national anthem of every country represented at the Olympics right now ...
Read MoreORPHANED ORCHESTRA
From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, August 7th 2008 at 7:41
In the 1990s, I saw a lot of little local arts groups collapse when they lost their founders/leaders. There just wasn’t enough of an administrative infrastructure or shared artistic vision to sustain the organizations once their charismatic leaders burned out or moved on. Now, the Tucson Chamber Orchestra is facing life after the departure of its founder, but I think that this group just might survive ...
Read MorePROKOFIEV AND GANDOLFI
From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, August 6th 2008 at 8:54
Here are two more reviews I wrote earlier this year for Fanfare ... one devoted to a 20th-century Russian, the other to a 21st-century American ...
Read MoreSPOKE AND BOW
From the desk of James Reel on Monday, August 4th 2008 at 7:45
Oregon Symphony violist Charles Noble has produced a blog entry that intertwines two interests of mine, music and cycling ...
Read MoreMOZART ON A DIET
From the desk of James Reel on Friday, August 1st 2008 at 7:35
A review I wrote for Fanfare recently, concerning chamber versions of Mozart piano concertos ...
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Cue Sheet
James Reel's cranky consideration of the fine arts and public radio in Tucson and beyond.
