AUSTRIAN POLAR OPPOSITES

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, February 27th 2009 at 8:42

Here are two SACD reviews I contributed to Fanfare some time ago, one disc drawing from Austrian Romanticism, the other from Austrian Classicism ...

AGAIN UPON THE MATTRESS

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, February 26th 2009 at 8:48

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time this morning perusing the 25th-anniversary issue of the Tucson Weekly. There’s a lot of fascinating material there, looking back at the last quarter century of the publication and of Tucson, and even looking ahead. But the main item of interest, of course, is my contribution, which this week is a review of a little show on the east side ...

A NON-CLASSICAL MUSICAL OBSESSION

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, February 25th 2009 at 11:05

At another blog, I stumbled upon a video of Jacques Brel singing his terrific song “Ne me quitte pas.” As you’d expect, Brel superbly brings out many of the song’s dark elements—but there’s a version by someone else I’ve always liked even more ...

CLASSICIZING ITUNES

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, February 24th 2009 at 7:55

The people who design the leading databases that organize music files have never understood the special needs of classical music—like, for instance, the composer serves as a far more important organizing field than the performer. In this imperfect world, Randy Salas of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune offers a primer on how a classical fan can best manage iTunes.

THE POWER AND THE PENIS

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, February 19th 2009 at 8:39

In the latest Tucson Weekly, you can witness my effort to cover four plays in the space of two reviews (damned economy). First, the anatomy lesson: ...

HANSON ON THE MARKET

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, February 18th 2009 at 8:32

The e-newsletter of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has landed in my e-mail box, with news that Tucson Symphony Orchestra music director George Hanson is applying for a job there ...

"PROCESS OF DISESTABLISHMENT HAS BEGUN"

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, February 13th 2009 at 7:56

A friend of mine, a professional musician, has been saying that given the legislature-imposed budget crisis in the state university system, the separate music programs at the UA and ASU should be consolidated into a single, world-class program, probably at ASU, which he thinks has better performance facilities and is in a much larger metropolitan center. But now I learn via Patty Mitchell’s blog oboeinsight that ASU is in the process of huge chunks of “disestablishing” its arts programs, particularly at the graduate level. You can learn what’s going to be eliminated here (scroll down to “Herberger College of the Arts"). Meanwhile, the UA, which is usually underfunded compared to ASU, is slower to announce its own cuts. We’ll have to wait and see what happens here.

ON THE BURGERS, NOT THE BOARDS

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, February 12th 2009 at 8:19

I’m seeing four plays this week (at this writing: one down, three to go), but nothing opened last week, so I have no theater reviews in the latest Tucson Weekly. I do, however, contribute to the Chow section ...

CD REVIEW: EDUARADO EGÜEZ PLAYS BACH

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, February 11th 2009 at 9:09

Here's a review of Bach lute recordings I've written especially for this blog, for a change ...

GUARNERI RECORDINGS RESURRECTED

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, February 10th 2009 at 7:52

As you may know, the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, of which I’m an officer, will present one of the last-ever performances by the Guarneri String Quartet, on April 22 at the Leo Rich Theater. You can find the article on the Guarneri I wrote for Strings magazine here; if the site demands that you log in, use the password “chamber.”

In Tucson, the Guarneri Quartet will play Bartók, Mozart and Dvořák, quartets the ensemble recorded long ago. Many of those recordings from the 1960s and ’70s never made it to CD—until now. Take a look at this press release from its record label ...

ARTS BAILOUTS?

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, February 10th 2009 at 7:29

Greg Sandow has posted two thoughtful, challenging entries regarding arts bailouts/stimuli in the current economic climate—how there are problems with the very idea, and how arguing for the economic importance of the arts isn’t sufficient. Read what Greg has to say, then perhaps take a look at a piece I wrote for the Tucson Weekly in 2004 about the dangers of commodifying culture.

WHOSE LIFE IS IT, ANYWAY?

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, February 9th 2009 at 8:44

Apropos of nothing except that it would be nice if I blogged more substantially than has been my recent norm, here's an essay I wrote 10 years ago when I was doing a monthly literary column for an e-zine called The Whole Wired World (TW3). Yes, it's dated, but on the Internet, everything lives forever...

YONKERS LOST AND FOUND

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, February 5th 2009 at 7:15

Distracted by this week’s membership drive, I’m not blogging faithfully, but here’s an easy one: a link to my latest screed in the Tucson Weekly ...

CARPENTER'S GOTHIC

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, February 2nd 2009 at 7:49

These days we're playing a lot of tracks from Cameron Carpenter's newish CD on the air; here's a review of the disc I wrote for Fanfare: