Philip Glass didn’t premiere his first symphony until 1992, at age fifty-five. To prepare, he turned to David Bowie’s album Low to create his own Low Symphony. A few years later, he returned to another Bowie and Eno record, Heroes, in order to write 1996’s Heroes Symphony. Glass, like fellow minimalist Steve Reich, has long […]
Max Brzezinski
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Bob Dylan Won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Does He Deserve It?
BOB DYLAN AND HIS BAND Friday, Nov. 4, 8 p.m., $63–$93 Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham When something unexpected happens in the art world, critics have to catch up. They naturally turn to old methods, the very thing a new event calls into question. So when Bob Dylan was awarded 2016’s Nobel Prize in Literature, […]
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Blonde Redhead’s Masterpiece, Misery Is a Butterfly, Gets the String Quartet Treatment
BLONDE REDHEAD FEAT. AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE Friday, October 14, 8 p.m., $10–$42 Duke’s Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham www.dukeperformances.duke.edu If a band lasts long enough, it will eventually incorporate classical instruments into its music. Metal groups call in the orchestra to lend even more excess to their bombast. Pop songwriters use classical touches to value-add […]
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Half a Century into His Career, Aaron Neville Keeps the Faith
Aaron Neville claims he’s just a simple singer. When asked how he developed his signature falsetto, he says he never “tried to do anything special,” that he just expresses “his heart,” and that his voice has merely changed along with him over the years. But he’s clearly just being modest. Neville has one of the […]