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About Last Night

Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Archives for February 12, 2013

CD

February 12, 2013 by Terry Teachout

Maria Bachmann and Adam Neiman, French Fantasy (Bridge). Sensitive yet bracingly incisive performances of sonatas by Franck, Saint-Saëns (the D Minor, familiar to Proustians as the model for the “sonate de Vinteuil”), and Debussy, with a lovely performance of Jascha Heifetz’s violin-and-piano arrangement of Debussy’s “Beau Soir” thrown in for good measure. Bachmann, who doubles as the violinist of Trio Solisti, is one of the outstanding soloists of her generation, and Neiman is no mere “accompanist” but a sonata partner of impeccable authority. This one’s a winner (TT).

TT: Up and down, up and down

February 12, 2013 by Terry Teachout

photo_2011_01_21_duke_ellington.jpgOn Monday I flew from Tampa to New York, where the weather is demoralizingly gray and soggy, with no prospects for immediate improvement. I staggered out of the plane, looked at the fog, and felt my spirits sink. Then I went into the terminal, booted up my laptop, checked my e-mail, and discovered that Bill Shinker, the man who runs Gotham Books, my new publisher, read the manuscript of Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington over the weekend and loved it. Modesty forbids my quoting Bill directly, but suffice it to say that his note made me forget about the weather.
I’m not done with Duke yet. The manuscript is now being copyedited, and I’m giving it a second editorial pass myself. I also have to finish choosing the photographs that will appear in the book (and obtain permission to reprint them, which is a horrendous chore). Nevertheless, the boss likes it, and that’s what matters most.

TT: Lookback

February 12, 2013 by Terry Teachout

From 2003:

I just got back from Sotheby’s, where I failed to bring home the bacon–an exquisite 1931 etching by Giorgio Morandi on which I bid unsuccessfully this afternoon–but had an exhilarating, educational, and slightly scary time anyway.
Sotheby’s New York is near the eastern end of 72nd Street. As soon as I got there, I went straight to the seventh floor, where I registered and was given a numbered paddle, which you need in order to place bids. (No, you can’t accidentally buy a million-dollar painting by scratching your nose at the wrong moment, unless you’re dumb enough to scratch it with the paddle.) Much to my surprise, all I had to do was show a photo ID. I wasn’t asked to furnish proof of solvency. Had I wanted, I could have bankrupted myself several times over, and no one would have been the wiser until it came time to settle the tab….

Read the whole thing here.

TT: Almanac

February 12, 2013 by Terry Teachout

“He had only one vanity; he thought he could give advice better than any other person.”
Mark Twain, “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg”

Terry Teachout

Terry Teachout, who writes this blog, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the critic-at-large of Commentary. In addition to his Wall Street Journal drama column and his monthly essays … [Read More...]

About

About “About Last Night”

This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout. Terry is a critic, biographer, playwright, director, librettist, recovering musician, and inveterate blogger. In addition to theater, he writes here and elsewhere about all of the other arts--books, … [Read More...]

About My Plays and Opera Libretti

Billy and Me, my second play, received its world premiere on December 8, 2017, at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Fla. Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, closed off Broadway at the Westside Theatre on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. That production was directed … [Read More...]

About My Podcast

Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I are the panelists on “Three on the Aisle,” a bimonthly podcast from New York about theater in America. … [Read More...]

About My Books

My latest book is Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, published in 2013 by Gotham Books in the U.S. and the Robson Press in England and now available in paperback. I have also written biographies of Louis Armstrong, George Balanchine, and H.L. Mencken, as well as a volume of my collected essays called A … [Read More...]

The Long Goodbye

To read all three installments of "The Long Goodbye," a multi-part posting about the experience of watching a parent die, go here. … [Read More...]

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