Susan Hall

2 months ago | berkshirefinearts.com | Susan Hall

Conrad Tao takes our inner ear on new journeys in a program at Carnegie Hall on January 31. The first notes we’ll hear are often said to be Claude Debussy making fun of Carl Czerny. Czerny’s exercises are of course where most of us begin our piano journeys. Thumping away at scales, we don’t learn to appreciate the sounds that can emerge from the instrument. We don’t coax.   We hammer.  Tao is arguably the finest technician performing today. Technique is where he starts.

Jan 19, 2025 | berkshirefinearts.com | Susan Hall

Film at Lincoln Center is presenting  “Frederick Wiseman: An American Institution,” a retrospective featuring an extensive selection of films spanning decades of the filmmaker’s prolific career, all newly restored in 4K. Eleven of Wiseman’s films have been selected for the New York Film Festival since 1967. This series celebrates the long-standing relationship between FLC and this documentary filmmaker. The series will be presented from January 31 through March 5, 2025.

Jan 13, 2025 | berkshirefinearts.com | Susan Hall

Igor Levit, a deeply thoughtful musician, gave voice to Bach, Brahms and Beethoven at Carnegie Hall. Each of these composers was represented by a seemingly uncharacteristic work that revealed unfamiliar approaches. Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, Arnold Schoenberg remarked, is a 12-tone composition. Johannes Brahms in his Opus 10 Ballades, writes poetry with unaccompanied musical notes.

Jan 7, 2025 | berkshirefinearts.com | Susan Hall

Percival  Everett’s James won the National Book Award in 2024. It is a wonderful read, often humorous in its darkest corners. A deep examination of the origins of fury, in its last chapters we come to understand the results of escalating anger. A slave’s wife and children are sold to another master, a boy is lynched for stealing a pencil, a girl the same age as his daughter is raped repeatedly by her master and then the last straw.

Dec 10, 2024 | berkshirefinearts.com | Susan Hall

Film at Lincoln Center presents a Robert Siodmak retrospective from December 11 to December 19. Siodmak, according to his 98-year-old brother (with whom he worked),spent his entire life in film studios and on location. Robert made films in many different genres. Yet he is best known, and not well-enough known, for his contributions to the film noir form.