NIGERIAN PRINCE THE FIRST TRIBECA UNTOLD STORY SPONSORED BY AT&T

NIGERIAN PRINCE HIGHLIGHTS CULTURAL SCISM BETWEEN AFRICANS BORN IN AMERICA AND THOSE WHO REMAIN AT HOME

Antpnio J. Bell as Eze in Faraday Okoro's Nigerian Prince


Reviewed by Dwight Casimere at Tribeca Film Festival 2017

Now in US theatrical release and On Demand

Nigerian Prince is the first film completed under a grant from the Tribeca Film Festival's Untold Stories program in conjunction with AT&T.  The film had its World Premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Flm Festival. Written and directed by Faraday Okoro, a Nigerian-American filmmaker based in New York City, the film is a true-to-life story of the culture shock faced by a first generation African teen born and raised in America, who suddenly finds himself thrown back into the country of his ancestral home, with only his wits and a bit of luck to help him survive the cultural speed bumps and manholes he'll encounter. 

The story begins when Eze (played with disarming candor by Antonio J. Bell)  is sent by his mother  back to Lagos, Nigeria to spend the summer with his aunt. The idea is for him to reconnect with his culture and learn what it means to be an African, rather than the Nike-wearing, cell phone social media and video-game absorbed typical American teen he's become. After he's had a taste of the local fast-food cuisine ( "tastes like dog food!) and spent his first night with his aunt, who douses him with cold water to get him motivated for the day, he gets the idea that this is boing to anything but a summertime picnic. Fed up with the drill sergeant attitude of his Aunt Grace (played with venom-dripping relish by Tina Mba), make an escape home only to learn that his mother had canceled his return ticket. 

Left to fend for himself, Eze is treading water, only to be offered a rescuing hand by his crooked cousin Plus (played with the smile of a Cobra on the verge of striking by Chinaza Uche). By happenstance, Eze befriends an Australian businessman on the flight over, who is living in Lagos. He decides to make him his first mark in order to gain favor and cash. Here's where the film gets really good. Eze enlists the businessman in a scheme to move a type of counterfeit money called Black Money. The money is a bunch of hundred dollar bills painted black, which are rendered whole again after soaking in a series of expensive chemicals which, of course, the mark pays for. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and a whole series of madcap events ensue. There's one particularly funny scene where some of minions of Smart (Bimbo Manuel), a crooked police chief who controls the local mob, almost mistakes him as a courier for a rival scam artist. "that couldn't be him," they scoff, noticing his decidedly Americanized, Nike-wearing geeky dress and demeanor.

Okra's film takes us directly into the gritty underbelly of modern Nigerian city life and introduces us to all of its nefarious characters. It is a harsh reality where nothing or no one is as it seems. The title of the film, in fact, alludes to a classic Nigerian ponzi scheme. The world Eze encounters is anything but. What begins as a friendly conversation with a stranger can end in sudden death. What looks like the chance of a lifetime could actually be the lynch-pin that ends it. A smile friend a supposed friend, could actual be the signal to an accomplice to drop the hammer. You get the idea. No one gets out of this film unscathed or unscammed, not even our newly streetwise hero. Nigerian Prince is a thrill ride through Tunnel of Darkness where you keep looking in the shadows for signs of life. Even when you find it, its not what it seems. In select theaters now and various On Demand platforms.

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC'S FIRST-EVER SAT. MATINEE A PRE-HALLOWEEN TREAT FOR AUDIENCE

by Dwight Casimere

 Russian maestro Tugan Sokhiev in his New York Philharmonic debut

Below: New York Philharmonic Concermaster Frank Huang will perform the Barber Violin Concerto Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and Nov. 3 with the orchestra

The New York Philharmonic's inaugural Saturday Matinee proved a real treat for the audience. One of the new initiatives of Music Director Jaap van Zweden in his inaugural season, the concerts are an opportunity to greater familiarize concert-goers with orchestra members and provide them with a forum to ask questions in an interactive discussion post-concert.   

Saturday's program featured the Mendelssohn String Quintet in B-flat major, featuring Members of the New York Philharmonic Michelle Kim and QianQian Li on Violins, Rebecca Young and Cong Wu on Violas and Eileen Moon-Meyers on Cello. 

Mendelssohn's Quintet is exuberant. The lead violin leads the ensemble members in an energetic opening theme romps through a series of athletic themes. The accompanying instruments then evolve through a series of structural and harmonic processes that coalesce at the end. Its an exciting musical adventure that really showed the prowess of the orchestra's individual members to an appreciative audience.

Russian maestro Tugan Sokhiev, in his New York Philharmonic debut, could not have chosen a more appropriate piece to show off both his and the orchestra's prowess. The Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4  in F-minor is a showcase that gives each section of the orchestra a workout with ample room for dramatic, heart-wrenching solos. The Philharmonic's majestic horns declared the opening theme, with brooding strings leading into the Romantic melodies and heartfelt waltzes that dominated both the beginning and ending movements of the work. Exceptional solos from the first violin and solos from the flute, piccolo and English horn  punctuated the imposing work. The timpani and percussion section helped bring the symphony to its thundering conclusion with brought a rapturous, prolonged ovation from the audience.

Tchaikovsky reportedly wrote the piece while in the throes of a tempestuous relationship with his patron, Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck.The two allegedly carried out a torrid emotional affair, but in letters only, having made a fierce commitment to never meet in person. Von Meck suddenly broke off the relationship in 1890 without explanation.  

Tchaikovsky described the symphony as "an unbroken alternation of hard reality with swiftly passing dramas and visions of happiness.” Sokhiev, used his hands rather than a baton, to mold the orchestra's sound and signal its soloists to marvelous effect, bringing out both the drama and the richness of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece.

The concert was followed with a lively interactive panel discussion on the prospects of the orchestra under its new Music Director, Jaap van Zweden.

Juraj Valcuha, Music Director of the Teatro de San Carlos in Naples,  conducts and New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Frank Huang is the violin solo for a program of Korngold's Much Ado About Nothing, Barber's Violin Concerto and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Weds Oct. 31, Thurs. Nov. 1 and Sat, Nov. 3.  Visit nyphil.org for concert times and ticket information.

New York Philharmonic Teams Russian Conductor in Orchestra Debut with NY Favorite Gil Shaham

ALL-RUSSIAN PROGRAM A TOUR DE FORCE FOR GUEST CONDUCTOR AND AVERY FISHER PRIZE-WINNING SOLOIST

 Violin soloist Gil Shaham in performance on his "Countess Polignac" Stradivarius

 Shaham in more casual mode at a recent dress rehearsal-Photo from You Tube

Russian guest conductor Tugan Sokhiev at the podium 





by Dwight Casimere

What else would one expect from, the head of Moscow's famed Bolshoi Theatre in their debut program with the New York Philharmonic but a subscription program of sure-to-please Russian Orchestral favorites.  Beginning the program with Borodin's atmospheric In The Steppes of Central Asia, Op. 7, guest conductor Tugan Sokhiev, in his New York Philharmonic debut, showed the type of measured, in-control, pensive style that has earned hm critical praise both in Russia and in France, where he has been the music director of the Toulouse National Orchestra for more than a decade. In addition, he performs with the Berlin Philharmonic and tours Germany with the Vienna Philharmonic, among others.

Written as a celebration piece marking the Silver Anniversary of the reign of Tsar Alexander II, Sokhiev took a more introspective approach. Slowing the tempo to allow the decidedly Oriental overtones of the piece to meld deeply into the contrasting traditional framework of the more European structure of the piece, it became a real showcase for the Philharmonic's marvelous soloists on the clarinet and English horn. Using his hands, sans baton, to mold  the orchestral colors, the orchestra developed the theme with restraint.There were moments of shimmering delight with the pizzicato of the harp contrasting with the ethereal solos of the piccolo and flute.  Borodin's "Steppes" is a virtual tone poem, which depicts the progress of a native caravan of horses and camels across the dessert and the boundless steppes of Central Asia under  the watchful eye of the Russian military. The emotional impact of its plaintive themes belied its brevity. The piece only lastedeight minutes.

New York Philharmonic favorite and Avery Fisher Prize winner Gil Shaham dazzled with his interpretation of the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major. Russia was on the brink of revolution when Prokofiev wrote the piece amidst the backdrop of increased anarchy and unrest. It became a signal of his exodus. Shaham captured all of the restlessness of the piece on his  1699 "Countess Polignac"  Stradivarius. His fingers were a virtual blur as he traversed the composer's difficult arpeggios with ease. His technique was flawless, allowing each note to ring true. Sokhiev used his considerable skill to harness the orchestra's energies, maintaining the delicate balance between soloist and ensemble. There were some exquisite moments to be had, particularly in the interplay between the  woodwinds and violas. Even in the midst of his great virtuosity, Shaham proved himself to be a great listener, allowing the orchestra to ring in at just the right moments, making the urgency of his playing even more evident. Prokofiev's music is full of inventive surprises and the collaboration of Sokhiev and Shaham managed to reveal many of them with aplomb. 

MET OPERA MARNIE BRINGS HITCHCOCK'S CLASSIC FILM TO THE OPERA STAGE IN DAZZLING PRODUCTION-LIVE IN HD IN MOVIE THEATRES NOV 10, 1PM ET

NORTH AMERICAN AND U.S. PREMIERE PRODUCTION SURE TO BE A NEW MET OPERA CLASSIC

by Dwight Casimere

Met Opera Photos/Ken Howard

 Isabel Leonard in the title role with her shadow multiple personalities

 Famed Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves is Marnie's mother

 Isabel Leonard as Marnie and Christopher Mailman as her husband and rival Mark Rutland

 Isabel Leonard in the title role

The dramatic sets and projections byJullian Crouch and 59 Productions

NEW YORK, LINCOLN CENTER--Spectacular singing, superb cinematic sets,  brilliant costumes and a sweeping score make the North American premiere of the new opera Marnie the crown jewel of the Metropolitan Opera's 2018-19 season. An original Met commission by composer Nico Muhly, with a snappy libretto by Nicholas Wright, also in his Met debut, it is sure to become a Met Opera staple in seasons to come. The opera will be transmitted Live in HD in movie theaters around the world during the Saturday, Nov. 10 matinee at 1pmET. For tickets and information, visit metopera.org or fathomevents.com.

Marnie is based on William Graham's sensational 1961 novel and also inspired Alfred Hitchcock's cult classic film Marnie in 1964. The Met pulled out all the stops, enlisting  a world-class team and audiences love it. 

The composer, Nico Muhly is widely known for his scope of original works for  the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and Paris Opera. Nicholas Wright, who wrote the snappy libretto, was the first director of London's Theatre Upstairs and has served as co-artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre and at London's National Theatre. Michael Mayer, who directs Marnie for the Met, won a Tony for Broadway's Spring Awakening. 

Marnie tells the story of a beautiful but confused  woman in late 1950's England who compulsively changes personalities. That fact is established at the outset of the opera, when the curtain opens after the first dramatic notes from the orchestra, under the commanding leadership of conductor Robert Spano in his Met debut. The curtain opens to reveal a series of projected video panels that depict the multiple faces of Marnie, who assumes a new look and identity at the drop of a hat. The sets and projections by Met opera veteran Julian Crouch move with a seamless cinematic quality, depicting the chameleon-like transformation of this enigmatic character. In a stroke of creative genius, Marnie, sung with commanding presence by Met opera favorite, the luminous Isabel Leonard, is shadowed by a quartet of women, dressed in neon-bright costumes by Costume Designer Arianne Phillips in her Met debut. She also did the costume's for Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 

Muhly's score uses a variety of musical textures to depict the sudden shifts in Marnie's life. She's an outright thief, who cracks a safe and steals all the profits from the ruthless takeover firm she works for.  She is then blackmailed into marriage by smarmy businessman Mark Rutland, sung with authority by Met veteran baritone Christopher Maltman. 

Marnie has an all-star cast, including the celebrated Denyce Graves as Marnie's mother. She has dazzled Met audiences in the past as Carmen ( Met debut, 1995) and Dalila in Samson et Dalila, among other starring roles. Countertenor Iestyn Davies is outstanding as Terry Rutland and English National Opera regular Janis Kelly is similarly convincing as Mrs. Rutland.  She sang the role of Pat Nixon in John Adam's Nixon in China in a role debut in 2011. Tony-nominated choreographer Lynne Page who was nominated for her work on La Cage aux Folles on Broadway and in London's West End, deserves a special mention for her superb work in this production, as does Chorus Master Donald Palumbo, who marshaled his considerable vocal forces into a cohesive presence throughout this demanding opera. Little Boy Gabriel Gurevich and James Courney as Marnie's therapist Dr. Roman also received well--deserved ovations. One of the performers gave a Chorus Line-style  high kick as the audience gave the entire cast and crew a standing ovation. And that about sums up the entire mood of the evening. Tippi Hedren, the now 88 year old American actress and animal rights activist who played the original Marnie in the Hitchcock film, was onstage to take curtain-call bows at the Opening Night of the Met's U.S. Premiere. That's as good an endorsement as any opera can get. Marnie, Live on stage at the Met in performances Weds. Oct 31 at 7:30pm ET, Saturday Nov. 3 at 8pm ET, Weds. Nov. 7 at 7:30pm ET and Live in HD in theatres worldwide Sat. Nov. 10 at 1pm ET. For tickets and information visit metopera.org. 

54TH CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: MARIA BY CALLAS DOCUMENTARY PEELS BACK THE VENEER OF FAME SURROUNDING THE CELEBRATED DIVA

NEVER BEFORE SEEN ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE, RARE PERSONAL INTERVIEWS AND RE-MASTERED PERFORMANCES MAKE THIS A FILM WORTHY THE OPERA LEGEND

  Maria Callas in her heyday in the 1950s as Norma

 Maria Callas's Paris apartment at 36 Rue Georges Mandal

The diva at the window of her Paris apartment

by Dwight Casimere

Maria by Callas, directed by Tom Volf, takes a probing look art the legendary opera diva, mostly in her own words. Composited from on camera film and tv interviews and audio interviews, archival footage of her opera performances, tabloid newspaper and magazine coverage and old newsreel footage, the film examines the complex life and personality of a true star who has been mythologized perhaps more than any other star, living or dead. A televised interview with 'TV host David Frost, is a recurring thread throughout the film, as his probative questioning is most effective in peeling back the veneer of theatrical "maquilage" to reveal the person beneath the image. "There are two people who are always with me when I perform," she said to Frost in the opening of the film. "There is Maria, the simple girl with no pretensions, and there is Callas, the great star. When  I sing, they are both represented and they are equally strong within me."  Words from her letters and personal diary are voiced by Met Opera star Joyce DiDonato. The film covers her early life growing up in "The Heights" (Washington Heights)  in New York City. Born Maria Anna Sophie Cecilia Kalogeropoulos, of Greek heritage, the family shortened their last name to Callas in order to sound more Americanized as many immigrant families did at the time (and you always thought she was Italian!). Then there was  her family's flight to Greece during the war years 1937-1945. "Those were tough years,"she remembers to Frost. But it was Greece where she was admitted into the Athens Conservatoire and came under the tutelage of Madame Elvira del Hidalgo.  "As a young girl, just 13 years old, I was immediately thrown into her arms, meaning that I learned the secrets, the ways of this bel canto, which of course as you well know, is not just beautiful singing. It is a very hard training; it is a sort of a strait-jacket that you're supposed to put on, whether you like it or not," Callas recalled bitterly to Frost. The film covers her triumphs as well as her failures. Her abusive marriage to Batista Meneghini, the disastrous performance in Rome in 1957 when she lost her voice due to bronchitis, caused by the strain of constant performing and her truncated comeback at the Paris Opera House more than a dozen years later. We see her on the yacht Christina with Aristotle Onassis and get a clearer picture of their nearly lifelong friendship and love. We also hear DiDonato's intoning of the heartbreaking undelivered letter she wrote to Onassis upon his impending marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy. In the final years of her life, she would reconcile with Onassis and retire, first to a lavish home in Palm Beach and at the end, to her tiny apartment on Avenue Georges Mandal, where she died at the age of 53, of heart failure, still reportedly rehearsing and working on her art with the hopes of making yet another comeback. With Screenplay by director Volf and Editing by Janice Jones and the marvelous voice of La Callas in a magnificently audio mastered sound track which is a miracle of modern film engineering, this is one of the most absorbing biographical films to come around in a long time. From Sony Pictures Classics.

TRANSIT FROM GERMAN ART FILM GENIUS CHRISTIAN PETZOLD IN U.S. PREMIERE

by Dwight Casimere

German art film genius Christian Petzold who brought us the Holocaust survivor drama Phoenix in 2014 takes a time-shifting look at Nazi occupattion in TRANSIT, based on the 1942 book Transit Visa by Anna Segher.  

Georg (Franz Rogowski)  is a burned out refugee who escaped from two concentration camps and finds himself in Nazi occupied France on the trail of a mysterious dissident writer. A friend on the run gives him some letters to deliver to the writer, who is living in exile in a fleabag hotel somewhere in northern France. Instead of making the connection, he finds that the writer has committed suicide n the most horrific way. He assumes the dead man's identity and learns that he is suddenly in possession of  the much needed papers for transport out of the hellish occupied territories. Armed with newly doctored transit papers, oodles of cash and guaranteed safe passage on a ship bound for Mexico and a new life. Hence the name of the film. An off-camera narrator, who turns out to be the bartender Barmann (Matthias Brandt)  at the local bistro where the protagonists often meet, intones how Georg quietly celebrates by eating a solitary Margarita pizza and sipping Rose wine. 

After a harrowing escape from occupying forces by train, shlepping  a fellow refugee dying from a Nazi-induced leg wound , he arrives in Marseilles. A mysterious woman taps him on the shoulder, thinking he is her long lost husband who was forced into exile. He chases behind her only to see her vanish into the crowd. There's a subplot where he bonds with a young North African illegal immigrant boy named Driss (Lilien Batman) who lives in the Marseilles immigrant ghetto Maghreb, an obvious reference to today's global immigration crisis. He connects with the boy's mother, (Maryam Zaree) who is a deaf mute.

 Georg falls head-over-heels in love with the mysterious Marie (Paula Beer), who herself has taken up with a dissident doctor scheduled to leave for Mexico with proper transit papers. He refuses to leave because of his love for her. 

The setting for the story is some time in the not-so-distant past, yet the plot has overtones of the Nazi occupation of  France in World War II and the notion of ethnic cleansing, called 'the purification' in the film. Its an unsettling film that alludes to the fact  that the sins of the past are oft repeated. Its all done with a seamless blending of contrasting elements, both sublime and profane,and  with brilliant camera work by Cinematographer Hans Fromm that captures the grit and mystery of Marseilles. The Mistral, the violent cold wind that savages the region, plays a role in it too. Its an expertly cast, gritty film that recalls the great 'film noir' auture movies of the 40s and 50s. Petzold has done it again!  From Schramm Film,Neon Productions, and Arte France Cinéma, with U.S. Premiere at  the 56th New York Film Festival and in International Competition at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival.

ROMA A MASTERPIECE FROM OSCAR WINNING MEXICAN DIRECTOR ALFONSO CUARON

NETFLIX FILM IS A FILM FESTIVAL FAVORITE GARNERING PRAISE IN VENICE, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO RILM FESTIVALS

by Dwight Casimere

 PHOTO: COURTESY NETFLIX

 DIRECTOR ALFONSO CUARON ADDRESSES THE MEDIA AT LINCOLN CENTER
(Below) WITH FILM STARS YALITZA APARICIO (2nd from l),  Marina de Tavira (c) and interpreter (far left)

Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron brings the quiet, but emotionally powerful film ROMA to the big screen as a Centerpiece of the Main Slate presentations at the 56th New York Film Festival. The joint Mexico/USA Netflix production is also screening as a Gala Presentation at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Cuaron is a highly accomplished director. Born and raised in Mexico City, he started filming everything that moved beginning at age 12. As a multi-talented film director who has done everything from writing, editing, photographing and producing films. He has won multiple awards on several continents, including two Academy Awards in 2013 for the space disaster drama Gravity for Best Achievement in Directing, and Best Achievement in Film Editing, which he shared with fellow Gravity Editor Mark Sanger.

ROMA is a highly personal film, shot entirely in luminous black and white, often using a wide angle lens to completely envelope the viewer in the all-encompassing world which at times overwhelms the central character, a simple teenaged domestic worker, Cleo(Yalitza Aparicio), who lives with a dysfunctional middle class family, who own precarious lives are on the verge of devolving into chaos. Cleo is of native Mexican Mixteco heritage. The family she works for are upper middle class white. 

The crystalline black and white film used in ROMA has the effect of bringing extreme clarity to the images on screen. It fixes the mind firmly in the mise- en -scene in which the story takes shape, rooting it in the mind as it were having a subconscious experience in tandem with the protagonist. It also fixes the story in the recent past, which is the social upheaval of 1971.

The house that Cleo works in  is a case study in chaos. She presides over four unruly children along  and an untrained dog who relieves himself all over the tile driveway. The film  opens with first the sound of the mop slapping against the tile,  then the sight of water washing over it.  Cleo meticulously but futilely attempts to mop the driveway clean, a task much like Sisyphus pushing his stone. 

he man of the house, Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) constantly tells his long-psuffering wife Sofia (Marina De Tavira) that he has all these last minute business trips to conferences that he has to go on (he's a medical professional), when actually he's just going across town to stay with his mistress. He eventually abandons his family, leaving them penniless. The other servant girl in the house Adela (Nancy Garcia Garcia) introduces Cleo her to her cousin Fermin (Jose Antonio Guerrero), a former juvenile delinquent turned martial arts fanatic. "I owe everything to martial arts," he tells her. "It saved my life."  There's one pathetically comic scene in which Fermin spirits Cleo back to his apartment. As she lies in bed demurely covering herself with a blanket as she awaits his advance, he strips naked, grabs a curtain rod and starts going through a bizarre series of martial arts moves! Cleo, as you would expect, gets pregnant. Once she tells Fermin, he vanishes from the scene, only to appear as a gun-toting facist in one of the deadly riots which resulted in the Corpus Christi massacre in which the military shot and killed 120 student demonstrators. The two have a chance encounter as Cleo and her family are in a baby shop buying a stroller for her out-of-wedlock child. Fermin is part of an armed gang chasing down a student demonstrator. The two stare at each other for a long, tense, protracted moment as Fermin points a gun at her in a threatening manner. Recognizing her, he turns tail and vanishes into the crowd. 

This film later contains perhaps the saddest scene ever witnessed by this reviewer. I won't reveal more, because it would ruin the film for you.

In the post screening Q. and A. session at the New York Film Festival, Cuaron revealed that he shot the film in sequence, so as to duplicate the real-life experience recorded in the book which served as the the source material for the film. Aided by a translator, the film's star, Yalitza Aparicio and co-star Marina De Tavira, talked about how they would receive copies of the day's scripts just moments before shooting, and would only have a few hours to rehearse their lines before going before the cameras. "I wanted to have the filming process duplicate as much as possible the experience of living day-to-day life." Mission accomplished. The film has a realistic film, and as they say in Oscar campaign parlance, is deserving of your attention.

ROMA, from Netflix, is currently making the rounds of all the major film festivals, where it has been met with rave reviews and honors. It was screened as a Centerpiece presentation at the 56th New York Film Festival and in a Gala Presentation at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival.

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC EXPLORES MODERN MUSIC FROM ANDRIESSEN, THRU STRAVINSKY TO DEBUSSY

Violin Virtuoso Leila Josefowicz Wins Coveted Avery Fisher Prize

Conductor and NY Philharmonic Music Director Jaap van Sweden leads the Andriessen Violin Concerto in D with guest soloist Leila Josefowicz


by Dwight Casimere

Photo: Chris Lee/New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic's regular subscription concerts of Oct 4-6 were a careful study of modern serious music, traversing several generations. The music spoke to the distinctive styles and references of each composer but conveyed a singular property of depth and imagination.  Music Director and Conductor Jaap van Zweden is showing his vast understanding of contemporary music and its relationship to the works of past composers.

The opening work by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, who was present at the concerts, grew out of his idea to create, in his words, a "war-like piece, full of fast music and nervous terror." The music is constructed like a tone poem, with sections telling the story of Agamemnon, whom Andriessen likens to a pragmatic hero, rather than the villain he is normally portrayed as. Instead,  he musically portrays him as "an inspiring leader who's originally reluctant to go to war." Andriessen's music utilizes some lovely stretches of music for the Philharmonic's superb brass section, interspersed with energetic, stylized percussive music echoeing strains of jazz, rock and funk, interrupted by some truly lovely stretches of woodwinds and long, elegant lines for strings. The work brought the audience to its feet and van Zweden invited the composer onstage for a well-deserved bow. 

Igor Stravinsky wrote his Violin Concerto in D in collaboration with violin virtuoso Samuel Dushkin in 1931.It remains to this day a challenge of rhythmic and technical achievement, even among the most accomplished violinists. Guest soloist Leila Josefowicz rose to the occasion and then some, playing the concerto as if it were written expressly for her. It was a marvel to watch her dispatch its Olympian octive leaps and Herculean runs, quadruple stops,exaggerated harmonies and sudden harmonic shifts with ease. Her energetic and enthusiastic portrayal was nothing short of extraordinary. Conductor van Sweden, an accomplished violinist himself, was careful to give her the space and tonal support to allow her leaps and bounds to shine against the lush background of the orchestra, over which he maintained absolute control.

Stravinsky's Symphony of Wind Instruments was likewise an exercise in control. Written as aeulogy to the French composer Debussy, it is at once strident and profundly sorrowful. Conductor van Zweden brought out the full palette of tonal color that made this piece a musical kaleidoscope.

Debussy's La Mer was everything to be hoped for and more. It was all there, shimmering pastel colors, undulating rhythms and vibrant energy.  This was the crowning moment in a concert that was well crafted from beginning to end.

 In addition to her stellar performance, Josefowicz was the 23rd recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize which includes a $100,000 award and the artist's name etched onto a grand plaque in the David Geffen Hall lobby. For more information on future concerts, visit nyphil.org.

MET OPERA LA BOHEME A DELIGHTFUL PRE-HOLIDAY TREAT

ANGEL BLUE, WHO DEBUTED AS MIMI LAST SEASON, IGNITES MET STAGE IN ROLE OF MUSETTA

 ANGEL BLUE AS MUSETTA IN THE CURRENT PRODUCTION OF LA BOHEME

ANGEL BLUE STARS AS MIMI IN HER ROLE DEBUT IN MET OPERA'S 2017-18 SEASON

 Nicole Car and Vittorio Grigolo as Mimi and Rodolfo/Met photo-Marty Sohl

The Christmas Eve party at Cafe Momus with Production and Scenic Design by the legendary Franco  Zeffirelli and Costume Designer Peter J. Hall


by Dwight Casimere
Reviewed at the Season Premiere Sept. 25
through Dec. 13 on the Metropolitan Opera House stage in Lincoln Center

Dwight Casimere on the Red Carpet on Season Premiere night at the Metropolitan Opera



La Boheme is a timeless story of young love among struggling artists that rings just as true today as it did when it debuted at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy in 1896. Puccini's classic has even been transposed to modern times, with the Broadway musical Rent which made history in 1996 as the first musical to win both a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize for drama. Its not surprising that the house was sold out for every performance of the opera that I attended at the Met this season.  Its my absolute favorite opera, so I saw it at every opportunity.

Much credit for the success of this year's season's Revival Production can be laid at the feet of Nicole Car as Mimi and Vittorio Grigolo as Rodolfo. The radiant duet, sung in the First Act, is the scene that anchors the opera. In it, they declare their love for each other. Standing in the cold artist's garret where Rodolfo lives with his ragtag group of struggling artists,  the poignance of their plaintive expressions is palpable. Even after hearing the same duet in countless pairings over the years, their performance still tugs at the heart.

Franco Zeffirelli's sets and costumes are to this day, superbly evocative of Paris in La Belle Epoque. Even after nearly 40 years. The Christmas Eve dinner party at Cafe Momus remains one of the true joys of operatic staging.

 As with all things of artistic value, the real significance is in the details; the a rose crushed between the pages of a little prayer book,  a handmade bonnet purchased from a street vendor, an old overcoat that one of the artist's has worn so often that parting with it is like separating from an old friend, these are the infinitesimal details that make this opera so precious.

Conductor James Gaffigan renders each passage of Puccini's lush, dramatic score with the deft hand of a true artist. Each sweep of the baton is like a brush stroke from Picasso.


Revival Stage Director J. Knighten Smit deserves a standing ovation as does Lighting Designer Gil, Wechsler. Future performance dates on the Metropolitan Opera stage fall right around the time of the Holiday shopping season, which make it a perfect opportunity to take in a performance if  planning a shopping trip to New York. Future dates are No. 29, Dec. 3, 6, 10 and 13. For tickets and information visit metopera.org.

MET OPERA LIVE HD PUCCINI'S FANCIULLA DEL WEST SAT. OCT. 27 1PM ET

 EVA-MARIA WESTBROEK AND YUSIF EYVAZOV INTHE TITLE ROLES

 MICHAEL SCOTT'S SET AND COSTUME DESIGNS

by Dwight Casimere

Met Opera photos by Ken Howard

Reviewed at the Season Premiere Oct. 4

Solid singing performances propel an otherwise rather staid production of Puccini's single opera set in America's Old West, La Fanciulla del West (Girl of the Golden West).   Giancarlo del Monaco's 1991 sets, depicting a Gold Rush-era town in the Sierra Foothills in 1849-50  and the cluttered staging of the supporting cast and chorus is beginning to look a bit long in the tooth. The whole production could use a fresh approach, but the dramatic tension between soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Minnie, the gun-toting ingenue and tenor Yusif Eyvazov as Dick Johnson, her ardent suitor, was enough to keep the audience riveted in their seats. The vaunted Jonas Kaufmann has now assumed the role of Johnson and will most likely perform in the Live HD transmission barring any unforeseen circumstances. The tenor has been absent from the operatic stage of late for unspecified reasons that have sparked rumors among opera lovers worldwide. The source of Puccini's inspiration was the American Broadway play Girl of the Golden West, written and produced by American impresario David Belasco, who also authored Madama Butterfly, which Puccini adapted  before Fanciulla. That explains the somewhat methodical transitions from one plot point to the next. There's plenty of busy-ness on stage as the action moves from a cluttered mining town to  cavernous sawdust floored saloon and its barroom brawls  and guns-drawn card games. The supporting cast  keept things along.  Michael Todd Simpson was impressive as Sonora. Carlo Bosi was convincing as the good-natured barkeep and Matthew Rose was exemplary as the hard-bitten Wells Fargo agent. Once again,Chorus Master  Donald Palumbo marshaled the full force of his massive vocal ensemble into a well-oiled machine.  Marco Armiliato led a spirited Met Opera orchestra, revealing  the full of range of tonal color and contrast in Puccini's illustrious score. Live onstage at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center NYC thru Oct. 27 and Live in HD in movie theaters worldwide Saturday, Oct. 27 at 1pm ET. Check metopera.org or fathom events.com for details.

CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT: THE FRONT RUNNER

CAUTIONARY TALE PORTRAYS SCANDAL WHICH DOOMED OF 1988 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE


FROM COLUMBIA PICTURES AND STAGE 6 IN THEATRES NOV. 7

Hugh Jackman as Sen. Gary Hart

 by Dwight Casimere

Director Jason Reitman (Tully, Young Adult, Up In The Air) brings forth  a cinematically  sweeping indictment of the American political process in The Front Runner, starring Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman as the ill-fated, but charismatic candidate. In a screenplay co-writtem by the director, the film unreels with the pacing of a Hitchcock thriller, the dramatic rise and fall of the Colorado Senator who, for one brief moment, captured the imagination of young, idealistic potential voters. There are some terrific performances throughout, not to mention the atmospheric cinematography of Eric Steelberg.  The taut editing of Stefan Grube and the pulsating score by Rob Simonsen capture the rise-en-scene of late 1980s political skullduggery with stunning clarity. Alfred Molina is superb as the hard-bitten Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee who pragmatically broke the Hart story in spite of ethical misgivings. J.K. Simmons is bracing as Hart's jaded campaign manager and Bill Burr is exceptional as Murphy, the taciturn Miami Herald reporter who shadows Hart to the back alley stoop of his lair in Georgetown. Sara Paxton is the hapless Donna Rice who bears the brunt of Hart's shame.  An old Johnny Carson TV clip shows how pundits at the time linked Hart's demise to the Miami pleasure boat from which the scandalous photos of Hart and his paramour Donna Rice, emerged. It was appropriately named Monkey Business. Jackman is sure to get another Oscar nod for his blistering portrayal of the petulant politician. There's only one small quibble. Jackman is almost too tall, handsome and debonair to play the sanctimonious Hart, who in real life is quite short and somewhat swarthy. Hart would lose the 1988 nomination to Michael Dukakis who, ironically is derided for his unusual name by Hart's campaign staff early in the film. The senior Bush, the Republican incumbent, would go on to win the Presidency. The Front Runner is a cautionary tale that raises the specter of the role of moral turpitude in presidential politics. That slate has apparently been wiped clean with the current antics of the Trump White House, but, public opinion, like the wind, could change direction in a moment's notice. Its ironic that the Festival has also screened a weighty tome on another doomed, erasable politician, Richard Nixon, in Charles Ferguson's exceptional Watergate. The Front Runner, from Columbia Pictures and Stage 6.  In limited engagement in theaters Nov. 7.

56TH NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL IN HISTORIC MAIN SLATE EVENT-JAMES BALDWIN'S IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

For The First Time NYFF Holds A Premiere in Harlem, James Baldwin's Home

 Oscar winning Director Barry Jenkins

 A scene from If Beale Street Could Talk

Dwight Casimere outside the Apollo Theatre

Black Love Matters on Beale Street

Barry Jenkins, who created the expressively beautiful “Moonlight,” that was awarded the 2016 Oscar for Best Picture, has done it again! “If Beale Street Could Talk,” set in early 1970s Harlem, is telling a bigger story conceived by an iconic writer, James Baldwin, whose novel of the same name this film is adapted. Jenkins cinematically captures Baldwin’s lilting prose and biting commentary about race and the American criminal justice system.  The racial despair of this story still resonates today and were the actors not coiffed in Afros and the men wearing side burns and vintage Italian knit shirts, it would have been easy to believe the film depicts the “Black Lives Matter” reality of today.

The take away from this film is that Black Love Matters.  This is a reality we seldom see depicted cinematically -- romantic love between a black woman and a black man coupled with a loyal and loving, in-tact black family that includes a working father in the home in an obviously close relationship with his wife and children.  The story is told through the lens of 19-year-old Tish Rivers (screen newcomer KiKi Layne) newly pregnant who struggles to free her 22-year-old childhood friend/now boyfriend Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James who played Jesse Owens in “Race”) from jail after being accused of a rape he didn't commit. The love between this couple is so visually intense and gorgeously stunning that it takes your breath away. The unapologetically full faced close up shots that dance between the two in cadence with the stunning score  by Nicholas Britell of carefully selected classic jazz and classical string quartets helps validate that black people can and really do love intensely contrary to what most films try and make us believe. The unexpected tenderness Tish’s father (Colman Domingo)  shows as he comforts his very pregnant daughter, laying her head on his chest and whispering words of comfort and encouragement as he rocks her to sleep, to get her through a nausea episode is special. In American film only mothers do this, but in real life fathers do it too.

There are some stellar performances in this film that just might be Oscar contenders.  First, let’s talk about veteran actor Regina King who plays Sharon, Tish’s mother. She nails it as the no nonsense take no prisoners mother who defends Fonny’s innocence.  It is hoped that her strong performance will not be overlooked by the Oscar nominating committee like it was in “Jerry McGuire.”  Next do not underestimate KiKi Layne whose refreshing innocence as Tish is mesmerizing and makes you want to believe that love conquers all. And then there is film writer/director Jenkins, who should be lauded for his use of close ups and the palettes of reds, golds and browns that are used as filters through which Tish and Fonny’s relationship is seen.  

Alas, the halcyon days of love is in the end marred by false arrest and incarceration, plea dealing and finally prison.  A surprise ending suggests perhaps life for this family has not ended as a statistic.  Beale Street, where blues was popularized, is actually in Memphis. For Baldwin Beale Street is a condition of black life in America, and the story it would tell “if it could talk” is the one presented in Jenkins’ film.  It had its US premiere at the New York Film Festival in Harlem at the Apollo and will open in theaters around the country on November 30.

56th NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL ORSON WELLE'S THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND

NEVER BEFORE COMPLETED NETFLIX  FILM IS DEBUTED AT NYFF AFTER 50 YEARS

 JOHN HUSTON (L) ORSON WELLES (C) AND PETER BOGDANOVICH (R) ENJOY A LIGHT MOMENT ON THE SET OF THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND

PETER BOGDANOVICH AND JOHN HUSTON IN THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND

The air was full of great expectation at the 56^th Annual New York Film Festival, and every time Orson Welles’ name was mentioned or his credit rolled across the screen he received a thunderous applause as if Jesus himself had come down off the cross.  Unfortunately “The Other Side of the Wind,” was none of that.  Ten minutes into the film that was cut so fast, with the camera darting in and out of scenes so that one could not keep up, one knew it was substantially less than the hype.  And, for about two more hours it kept on disappointing.

The film is noteworthy only that it is the last film that Welles wrote and directed. Hardly ground breaking “Citizen Kane,” this unfinished film was pieced together after four decades by following Welles’ notes.  The final product was more like a mishmash of inconsistent themes, plots and sub plots with the Who’s Who of American actors deserving better in which to ply their trade.  A satire of Hollywood, this film focuses on the last days of a famous film director named Jake Hannaford (played by John Huston) who emerges from semi-exile to make a comeback while simultaneously being filmed for a documentary on his life.  That’s the problem…this so-called masterpiece was trying to do too much at the same time.  It was also dated with 1970s clichés and conceits that are so not PC today. It was offensive to watch such homophobic, misogynistic sexism, and racist drivel that had no reason for being other than its shock value.  Hannaford, (read Welles), drank too much and was obviously on the edge, which Huston succeeded in conveying.

In addition to Huston, it was great to see acting legends Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Random, Lilli Palmer, Edmond O’Brien, Cameron Mitchell, Mercedes McCambridge, Susan Strasberg, Norman Foster and Paul Stewart.  Even though Dennis Hopper was listed, he was not recognizable.  And then there was visually striking Oja Kodar, who as the Native American representative in the film appeared naked and speechless most of the time.  The most enjoyable experience was Michel Legrand’s musical score.  There was a line in the film that pretty much sums it all up.  They are watching the rushes of Hannaford’s masterpiece when the projectionist says that some sections were out of sync.  Hannaford replies, “It doesn’t matter.” And it doesn’t matter that “The Other Side of the Wind” is out of sync with what we expect of film today.  This film, which is distributed by Netflix, opens in theaters on November 2 for a limited engagement with simultaneous worldwide release dates.

56TH NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL-COEN BROS. THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS IN NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Bleak Comedy Affirms Life

Main Slate Screenings Thurs. Oct. 4, Tuesday, Oct. 9

promotional photos: CBS Interactive Inc.

NYFF news conference photos by Dwight Casimere

 TIM BLAKE NELSON AS "SINGING COWBOY" AND GUNSLINGER BUSTER SCRUGGS

Dwight Casimere at  the Empire Rooftop high above Lincoln Center, site of the 56th NYFF 

 THE COEN BROS WITH THE CAST OF THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS AT NYFF

(L TO R)  BILL HECK, TIM BLAKE NELSON AND ZOE KAZAN, CAST MEMBERS OF THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS

THE COEN BROS ANSWER QUESTIONS AT NYFF PRESS SCREENING AND NEWS CONFERENCE

by Dwight Casimere

The Coen Brothers have used their creative genius to give a new twist to a long-neglected genre, the Western Anthology. Only this time, their new film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which had its North American Premiere at the 56th New York Film Festival, gives it a unique twist. The film, featuring vignettes from a fictional book of western tales, is a bleak comedy of sorts that combines oddball characters with quirk storylines that somehow weave of cohesive fabric that explores the shadows of the human spirit and its tenuous hold on mortality.

Tim Blake Nelson stars as a macabre Gene Autry-styled singing cowboy who combines a twisted sense of humor and tongue-in-cheek sarcasm with a blood-thirsty edge. James Franco is a bank robber who hasn't quite figured out that the whole point of a heist is to get away with the loot by initiating as few complications as possible. Tom Waits is a gold prospector in the high Sierra who gives a would-be hijacker a taste of his own medicine. Liam Neeson is the owner of a traveling medicine show, who decides to cut his losses by betraying a helpless thespian in his employ, Zoe Kazan and Bill Heck nearly connect as two hesitant lovers on a wagon train wheeling its way into certain disaster and Tyne Daly stars in an ensemble cast of four strangers on a stagecoach heading to oblivion. 

An Annapura production headed for Netflix release. Opening in theaters November 16 and on the streaming service Netflix.