Skip to content
Wuthering Heights is an iconic love story in Western culture, and like most iconic love stories (Romeo and Juliet, Eloise and Abelard, Gone with the Wind) it’s not all soft lighting and roses. Our iconic love stories are frequently terrifying. Even if we believe that love conquers all, we have to recognize that “conquering” conjures [...]
When we experience a masterpiece, perhaps a fugue by Bach, or a painting by Rembrandt, our respect makes it hard to imagine them as anything but successful from the moment of inception. The great works of the past seem to us now as solid as monuments and as magical as if they sprang into being [...]
On October 15, 1951, the first episode of I Love Lucy debuted on national television, and audiences fell in love with a red-haired housewife named Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball), her enthusiastic husband Ricky (Desi Arnaz), their landlords and friends Ethel (Vivian Vance) and Fred Mertz (William Frawley). Over the course of six seasons on CBS, [...]
By the time Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote his Slavonic March in 1876, Imperial Russia had become the world’s largest country, encompassing one-sixth of the world’s land surface, eleven time zones, and dozens of different national groups. Yet Russia remained a poor and largely agrarian country. Its serfs had been emancipated only in 1861, and with [...]
Imagine an empty expanse of field: quiet, flat, nondescript. One day, seemingly by magic, the field is punctuated by a vibrant big-top tent filled with strange colors and sounds, and the mind-bending feats of costumed performers. As we enter the tent and cross the threshold of the ring we come to a distinct space: the [...]
There is high art, and there is low art. There is the stuff that enriches the mind, elevates the spirit, and transcends human differences. And then there is entertainment for the many: fun, but frivolous, silly and not too serious. At least, that is what we are used to hearing. It’s an old idea, one [...]
“The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration that may be awarded by the United States government. It is presented by the President of the United States, in the name of Congress, and is conferred only upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the [...]
Sphinx Virtuosi and the Catalyst Quartet at the Norton Center give depth to Latin American Studies and African and African-American minors. It is no secret how important role models are in the choices and development of children and young adults. When asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” we look to [...]
Brazil is perhaps best known as a place of cultural fusion, and no part of the country represents that trait more fully than the northeastern state of Bahia, home of world-renowned performance troop Balé Folclorico Da Bahia. Bahia was the site of the first Portuguese settlement in Brazil in 1500, and it had been home [...]
Seraphic Fire – and The Kings Singers, Chanticleer, Cantus, Stile Antico, VOCES8, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Sixteen, The Monteverdi Choir, Musica Sacra, Conspirare, The Tallis Scholars, Voices of Ascension, The Swingle Singers, Continuum, Anonymous 4, the Cambridge Singers – I’ve barely started listing small vocal ensembles and choirs which are truly excellent by any measure [...]
