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ABOUT "ABOUT LAST NIGHT" AND ITS AUTHORS 
This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout, Laura Demanski (otherwise known as Our Girl in Chicago, or "OGIC" for short), and Carrie Frye (who signs her postings "CAAF"). Terry, who lives in New York, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the music critic of Commentary. more

ABOUT TERRY'S BOOKS 
Terry wrote the introductions to William Bailey on Canvas, just out from Betty Cuningham Gallery, and the paperback edition of Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado, recently published by New York Review Books. His latest book is All in the Dances: A Brief Life of George Balanchine, published by Harcourt. more

ABOUT TERRY'S OPERA 
Lend me your ears (and eyes)
Men at work
Men at work (II)
Men at work (III)

SEE TERRY TALK 
To view Terry's October videoblog, go here.

Archive  4579 entries and counting

CONTACT
tteachout@artsjournal.com
ogic@artsjournal.com
caaf@artsjournal.com

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TOP FIVE

A list of new things we've liked (subject to unexpected and wildly capricious updating).

GALLERY 
Jules Olitski: The Late Paintings, a Celebration (Knoedler & Company, 19 E. 70, up through Jan. 5). The final canvases of the once-fashionable American color-field abstractionist who outlived his fame but kept on painting--brilliantly. I've been a passionate admirer of Olitski's work ever since I finally caught up with him two years ago. This much-needed show will give you a chance to see where he wound up at the end of a long, excitingly unpredictable career (TT).

CD 
Yolanda Kondonassis, Salzedo's Harp (Telarc). Iridescent, immaculately worked compositions by Carlos Salzedo, the composer-instrumentalist who brought the harp into the twentieth century, played with great sensitivity by one of America's top concert harpists. In addition to the (relatively) familiar "Chanson dans la nuit" and "Scintillation," Kondonassis and Kathryn Brown give us the fascinating but near-unknown Harp-Piano Sonata of 1922. Gorgeous stuff--and definitely not for harpists only (TT).

MUSEUM 
Martin Puryear (Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53, up through Jan. 14). A forty-five-piece retrospective by the American Brancusi, a master woodworker whose elegantly crafted creations, by turns playful and mysterious, allude subtly to political matters without once bowing to the tyranny of the idea. Is there a better sculptor anywhere? Not in my book (TT).

PLAY 
Pygmalion (Roundabout/AA, 227 W. 42, closes Dec. 16). George Bernard Shaw's greatest comedy, lavishly and immaculately revived for the first time on Broadway since 1987. Claire Danes makes her professional stage debut as Eliza Doolittle and belts it out of the park, with Jefferson Mays (I Am My Own Wife) giving a comparably dazzling performance as Henry Higgins, the fanatical phonetician who means to make Eliza a lady by erasing her Cockney accent. Great staging, great supporting performances, great sets, great lighting. Even the incidental music, all of it by Elgar, hits the bull's-eye. This one is already a tough ticket, but do your damnedest (TT).

GALLERY 
William Bailey (Betty Cuningham, 541 W. 25, up through Nov. 24). New table-top still lifes and nudes by the controversial American painter whose "realism" is tinged with subtle but unmistakable touches of abstraction. I wrote the introductory essay for the exhibition catalogue: "Today Bonnard is widely acknowledged as the major master he always was, and Morandi and Diebenkorn seem well on the way to achieving similar recognition. William Bailey will likely prove a harder sell, not just because of the American obsession with 'cutting-edge' art but also because his paintings never raise their voice....They give nothing away: you must come to them." Here's your chance to do just that (TT).

Out of the Past

Not new, but still worth a look or listen (and no less subject to change without notice).

BOOK 
Flannery O'Connor, Collected Works. The Library of America's compact compendium of O'Connor's novels, short stories, essays, and letters might just be the best single-volume anthology of anything ever published. Not only does it contain all of her fiction and most of the best of everything else she wrote, but it's light enough to hold comfortably in one hand, the typography is elegant, and the notes (by O'Connor scholar Sally Fitzgerald) are extensive and impeccable. Speaking as a sometime editor and longtime connoisseur of collections, I consider this to be one of the half-dozen super-essential books in my library, pre-designated for a place in my suitcase in the event of my hasty and involuntary evacuation to anywhere (TT).

CD 
Dizzy Gillespie, The Quintessence (Frémeaux & Associés, two CDs). While we're on the subject of really cool anthologies, this imported thirty-six-track collection is--not to put too fine a point on it--perfect. It contains each and every one of the finest recordings cut by the co-inventor of bebop between 1940 and 1947, all of them in better-than-decent transfers from the original 78s. Charlie Parker deserves all the ink he gets and then some, but Diz rates equal attention, so if you haven't spent sufficient time listening to and reflecting on the music of the trumpeter who helped change the sound of jazz, start here (TT).

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