Month: April 2002

Charlotte Church notwithstanding, it seems classical music is still one of the rare showbiz channels where a child prodigy has a better than 50-50 chance of cultivating a long, fruitful, and relatively stable career. Then again, 31-year-old violinist Midori has had her share of detractors over the not-so-many years, alternately criticizing her more eclectic and…

There’s a tradition of proud, passionate folk revivalism and hardcore banjo-on-mandolin action in these parts that predates any George Clooney movie you could name. So forget for a moment that this is the year of Grammy-canonized bluegrass. Recognize that devoted and studious musicians all over the Midwest and elsewhere have been laboring for ages to…

Woody Allen’s new bi-coastal comedy (take a guess at which big city curries his favor) concerns a tired and temperamental filmmaker who’s on the verge of a big comeback until chronic neuroses, friction with his ex-wife, and disdain for Hollywood convention render him blind as a bat. Any vague parallels to the writer-director’s real life…

Forget all the stereotypes about foreign flicks. If there’s a movie that proves high action and subtitles can work, this is it. We’re not talking about shoot-em-up, crash-and-bash action, but brisk high drama along the lines of Hitchcock and Mamet. Nine Queens is scripted in a mix of Argentinian argot and Castillian Spanish–so even our…

Wow, what a name! And an excellent painter as well. Even in these bizarre, cut-and-paste times of new-media saturation, we still crave an old fashioned oil painting with four sides and no pretensions. We’re new to Svendson’s work, but we like what we see. Here, she shows some lush landscapes painted at the southern terminus…

Skyways & Icehouses Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Walker has been on the bleeding edge of the museum business–yes, it’s a business. And the good people here in the Twin Cities have been happy to serve as a petri dish for a commercial plan that often involves a delicate balance between populism and serious art,…