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Tangolandó
I spent Thursday night at Terraza 7 Train Café, where, as this vertiginous view suggests, Tangolandó sent me reeling. It was not just the boldness of the sound, which backs tango, sung in its own time by Sofía Tosello, with the Afro-Peruvian rhythm known as landó, arranged by the guitarist and impresario of the project…
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Irène Jacob
The double life of Irène Jacob. Her performances in the films of Krzysztof Kieślowski are indelible in the modern cinema, and her grace and intelligence have persisted in the work – all too little of it – that I have been able to see since. I have known her only as an actress, so I…
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La Traviata
Of all the performing arts, is any more obviously equipped to assert the largeness of human emotions in the face of eternity and infinite space than opera? The isolated instance of joy or pain breaks the confines of the human frame and demands the attention of the cosmos, or at least of anyone within hearing…
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Camila Meza
Camila Meza has once again executed the rare feat of both singing the standards and playing the guitar, this time at the Cornelia Street Café’s downstairs cabaret, one of my favorite New York venues for food and music. When I first heard this Chilean artist sing in her native Spanish, I thought there was something…
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Last Tango in Berlin
LAST TANGO IN BERLIN is the current show by the sort of legendary Ute Lemper (even though I have never warmed to her recordings), tango themed, in an intimate venue, around the block from my office. Of course I was going to go: she is a consummate performer, technically flawless, with a good band, deft,…
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Everyday Rapture
EVERYDAY RAPTURE, now playing at 2econd Stage Theatre, is a reminder that some theatrical genres, and some specific works, arise from the urgent need for certain personalities possessed of particular talents to express themselves. Sherie Renee Scott has one of those personalities and a wealth of such talents (from singing to legerdemain), as well as…