I wish I had all week to take in the films at the Independent Film Festival Boston, which Wesley and Ty so kindly laid out for us. I’ll just point to a pair of movies I’m taking in, one that I’ve seen – and loved enough to see again – and another I’m eager to catch for the first time. (Disclosure: Our film played IFFB last year.)

“Windfall,” at the Brattle on Saturday at 4:45 p.m., is the documentary that Wesley called simply the best in the festival. I have to confess, the whole Cape Wind thing with the Kennedys and Walter Cronkite, etc. had me kind of, er, winded-out. Then I saw Laura Israel’s film and got sucked into Meredith, the town in upstate New York that is thrown into turmoil when a wind developer comes courting. This is the first film Israel has directed, but she’s a talented editor, not only on documentaries but for videos of Lou Reed, Sonic Youth and David Byrne, among others. Beyond the characters, this film is beautiful and visually-arresting. Stylistically, “Windfall” reminded me more of a narrative film, David Lynch’s “The Straight Story,” than any issues-doc I could think of.

Friday night, I’ll be with the masses at the Somerville Theatre for “Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story.” I confess that I fear this film will do what Mark Sandman never did: Bore me. It promises to get into the Sandman life story, which seems centered in Newton, which strikes me as a lot less interesting of a place than the weird, cosmic universe that Sandman created. That said, I’ve never seen “Cure for Pain” and it wouldn’t be fair to judge it from a 171-second clip.

I have one Mark Sandman story. It’s 1992. My friend, Jeremy, is at Tufts and gets really into the first Morphine record, which is on a tiny local label. He calls the number inside the CD jacket and hires them to play the Crafts House. Sandman arrives with Dana Colley and I’m guessing Jerome Dupree, though it could have been Billy Conway. Strangely enough, the man so famous for playing the two-string, slide bass brought an old keyboard. You know, one of those loungy-sounding things. He sat for the entire performance. I heard his back was bothering him but it might just have been because the room was so small or maybe he dug that sound. There were about 25 of us, and I remember feeling a bit awkward in such close quarters. The music, though, was stunning. Morphine would go on to release albums for Rykodisc and Dreamworks and get on MTV and play big tours. That night, I remember snatches of future records, as Sandman crooned on. Sharks patrol these waters. Get in your go-kart and go little sister. Then, the gig was done and Sandman, cigarette lit, headed into the night, loading his keyboard in the trunk of what looked like a Ford Fairline or something black and 1960sish.

I bought my ticket for tonight’s film and I’m hoping for the best. But please, don’t let me find out the dude went to my Hebrew School.

In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO.
19 Apr

That was Tim Hetherington's last tweet. The photojournalist died Wednesday in Misrata, Libya covering the conflict between the government and the rebels. We should also note that Getty photographer Chris Hondros, whose photos have run in the Globe, died in the same battle. Here's a piece on their deaths.

As a journalist, there are times you realize there are people like you and there are people like them. Like Hetherington. I had one of those moments last year, at the Full Frame Documentary Festival. We were there for our Kinks film. Hetherington was there to present "Restrepo," a film co-directed with Sebastian ("The Perfect Storm") Junger about a group of US soldiers in Afghanistan. It's funny. When you're at a film festival and you've got a movie to push, it's easy to get caught up in that very small pond of self-promotion. I confess, I spent the moments before "Restrepo" rubber-necking the audience to see which doc-world programmers had ignored our movie but were sitting there as attentively as school children. How could they! At the end, I watched the litany of names roll by in the credits and thought, 'boy, if we only had their budget.' And it was hard not to wonder where the direcing line split with Junger, all sucked-in-cheeks and blustery confidence. (He's always struck me as our generation's Norman Mailer, capable of great writing but also so self-confident he can sometimes be hard to take.)

And then this Tim Hetherington began to speak. He had come to Full Frame as part of the screening and to answer questions. He was soft-spoken and gracious and while there's no video from the event as far as I can tell, what I remember most is how pleased he seemed that some of the soldiers in the film were on hand. "Restrepo," for me, had been a frustrating film. Good but not great. There was tension and humor and sadness. I liked the fact that the filmmakers didn't use the movie to launch into a political argument, either for or against the war. They believed in the power of straight reporting. But my expectation for the documentary took root in its title. I expected the soldier who tragically died, Juan Sebastian Restrepo, to be more fully explored. Instead, through a few slo-mo shots of him to create drama and some very surface level comments from his fellow soldiers, we were given just the slightest hint of a character. Then a lot of time with a group of young soldiers in a confusing and dangerous place.

But when I heard Hetherington speak and saw the soldiers on hand - all of whom were applauded - I realized the ridiculous pettiness of amateur film criticism within the safe confines of a festival. I mean, these guys actually backed up their ambitious plans by going there. Hetherington didn't strap cameras to the soldiers. He went, into a war zone, and gathered his material. (As did Junger.) I certainly didn't.

That's because Hetherington was one of them. He documented war to show people like me the sadness, futility and disarray in a world so far from ours.

After his death, I saw this 19-minute video, "Diary," that Hetherington presented at Full Frame this year. I like it better than "Restrepo." It feels deeply personal, impressionistic and you get the feeling that, at 40, the photojournalist was both searching for a way to explain his life and also to help us understand what these flashes and geographic leaps must feel like.

Diary (2010) from Tim Hetherington on Vimeo.

"Madame White Snake," an Opera Boston premiere, has won the Pulitzer Prize for music. The opera, by Zhou Long with a libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs, made its premiere at the Cutler Majestic Theatre on Feb. 26, 2010.

Boston Globe music critic Jeremy Eichler, in his review, was not pleased with the libretto. That was a "shame, because so many other elements are more or less in place," Eichler wrote, before praising Zhou's score and the performance of the orchestra under music director Gil Rose.

Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff

The American Repertory Theater and ArtsEmerson are positioned for big wins May 23 when the Boston Theater Critics Association holds the 29th annual Elliot Norton Awards at the Paramount.

Those two companies garnered 12 and 10 nominations respectively for a list of productions that include “The Merchant of Venice,” “Johnny Baseball,” “The Blue Flower,” and “Petrushka.” Three other companies - Broadway Across America, the Huntington Theatre Company and Lyric Stage Company - earned six nominations each.

Diane Paulus, Will Pomerantz and Darko Tresnjak will vie for the outstanding director award for a large theater, with David R. Gammons, Spiro Veloudos and Courtney O’Connor and Paul Daigneault competing for the same prize in the medium-sized theater category. Among the best actor candidates are Stacy Fischer, Molly Schreiber, Will Lyman, and Estelle Parsons.

Theaters given nominations in the small/fringe categories include Publick Theatre Boston, Tir Na Theatre, Company One, Whistler in the Dark, Zeitgeist Stage Company and The Gold Dust Orphans.

Scott Edmiston (above), the director of the Office of the Arts at Brandeis University, will receive the Norton prize for sustained excellence and the Wheelock Family Theatre will receive a special citation in honor of its 30th anniversary.

In the past, the Norton Awards has been attended by, among others, Julie Harris, Elaine Stritch, Irene Worth, and Al Pacino. The committee is waiting to hear back from potential celebrity attendees, according to spokesperson Joanne Barrett.

The Norton Awards, named after the longtime Boston theater critic, are selected by a committee that includes former Boston Phoenix critic Carolyn Clay, WGBH arts reporter Jared Bowen, Boston Globe critic Don Aucoin and longtime Boston arts television reporter Joyce Kulhawik.

For a full list of nominations, go to: www.nortonawardsboston.com

Sometimes, you just get lucky. That happened yesterday when I was in an editor’s office, let my eyes wander over the bookshelves and spotted volume 3 of the “Jazz Icons” box set. It features live performances from European TV shows in the ’50s and ‘60s of Roland Rahsaan Kirk, Sonny Rollins, Lionel Hampton, Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Peterson and Nina Simone. I didn’t get a chance to watch all the DVDs, but did show our daughter Rahsaan at his peak because, well, she needs to know. There he is, blowing three horns at once, tossing in the nose flute, proving to be the master of circular breathing that should have landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records. My wife, never much of a Rahsaan fan, could marvel at Sonny’s incredible command during a 1959 performance from Sweden. Just imagine, he was not yet 30. Then, there’s the bearded Sonny in 1968, juking through “St. Thomas.” I love Nina Simone. And watching her explain her anger to the Scandinavian host before a searing version of “Mississippi Goddam” is priceless. Tonight, on to Cannonball.

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes has had to cancel tonight's performance at Jordan Hall because of illness and the Celebrity Series and Andsnes couldn't agree on another date to hold the concert.

If you had tickets, you will get a refund.

This comes only days after Sony announced it had signed Andsnes, 40, to record all five of Beethoven's concertos over the next three years. The first cycle should be out in 2012.

A feud between a local theater blogger and some prominent players in the local theater scene has erupted online.

File this under what happens when Thomas Garvey, a self-described “smart, unfettered critic who's not interested in tossing softballs to the suburbs (or the academy),” tussles with Harvard’s esteemed American Repertory Theater.

You can follow the fight at Garvey’s blog, The Hub Review, where the former Globe freelancer explained his split from the Independent Reviewers of New England and named names.

(Disclosure: There’s nothing particularly shocking about Garvey naming names. In fact, virtually everyone in the Boston Globe arts department – me included – has been the target of his, er, constructive criticism.)

Make sure to read the comments section, where the ART’s longtime media rep., Kati Mitchell, responds to Garvey’s digs and confirms her role in his IRNE divorce. Also read performer Ian Thal’s take on his own blog. He argues that the bigger issue, beyond the spat, is why “no one in the local theatre press is covering this story either in print or online.” All right, Ian. We give. Does this count?

Nine days before he was set to return to the pit, James Levine has pulled out of a series of performances at the Metropolitan Opera. This comes after Levine withdrew from the remainder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra season and resigned his position as the BSO's music director. Levine elected to stay at the Met, where he is also music director, but today comes word that he'll cut down on his schedule to deal with back problems.

Levine will not lead the March 30 and April performances of "Das Rheingold" or the April 20, 23, 27, or 30 performances of "Il Trovatore." A Met release does state that Levine will conduct "Wozzeck" on April 6, 9, 13, and 16 and "Die Walkure" on April 22, 25, 28, May 2, 5, 9, and 14 along with two MET Orchestra concerts on April 10 and May 15.

There's a new curator at the Museum of Fine Arts and his name is Benjamin Weiss.

The position, curator of visual culture, is new and being funded by Leonard A. Lauder, the cosmetics scion whose American Art Foundation has already offered much support to the MFA. You'll remember, Lauder's postcard collection, which was given to the museum, was featured in a past exhibition.

And Weiss, you might remember, was responsible for the thousands of wall labels created as part of the MFA's recently opened expansion.

Here is the official release:

BSO MANAGING DIRECTOR MARK VOLPE ANNOUNCES THAT JAMES LEVINE WILL STEP DOWN AS BOSTON SYMPHONY MUSIC DIRECTOR AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
DISCUSSIONS ARE UNDERWAY TO DEFINE A NEW ARTISTIC ROLE FOR MAESTRO LEVINE

BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe announced today that as of September 1, 2011, James Levine will step down from his current role as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2004. Discussions between the BSO and Maestro Levine are underway to define an ongoing new role for Mr. Levine. Mr. Volpe has also announced that the BSO will immediately form a search committee to begin the process of appointing the next Boston Symphony Music Director.

"The BSO has been incredibly fortunate to have had one of the greatest conductors of our time at its helm since 2004," said BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe. "That being said, given Maestro Levine's health issues, this has been a challenging time for all of us in the Boston Symphony Orchestra family, especially our beloved orchestra and devoted audiences.

"We wish Maestro Levine the absolute best as he steps down from his role as BSO Music Director to tend to the health issues that have forced him to be away from the music-making he so profoundly loves," continues Mr. Volpe. "We look forward to continuing our conversation with Jim about defining a new role where he can focus solely on the music and defining artistically stimulating projects that would be meaningful to him and the orchestra, building upon his BSO legacy thus far. As we begin the search to appoint the next BSO Music Director, it is imperative that we take this time to express our deepest gratitude to Jim for the extraordinary performances that have inspired his loyal listeners in Boston and around the world."

"Given the challenges regarding my health and the ensuing absences they have forced me to take from my work with the BSO, I believe it is best for everyone, but especially the orchestra and our wonderful audiences, for me to step down as music director," said James Levine. "I make this decision knowing that I need to focus more of my attention on getting back to better health, so when I do return to the BSO podium I can continue the important work the orchestra and I have done together during the period of my music directorship. As the BSO and I define a new relationship that I hope will benefit all involved, I wish the orchestra the very best in the search for the next Boston Symphony Music Director. It has been an honor and a privilege to have served in that role these past seven years."

"With his many accomplishments during his seven years as BSO Music Director, there is no doubt that James Levine will join the ranks of the greatest conductors in the BSO's 130-year history," said Stephen B. Kay and Robert P. O'Block, co-chairmen of the BSO Board of Trustees. "On behalf of the BSO's Board of Trustees and Overseers, we want to express our enormous gratitude and deep respect to Maestro Levine for sharing his brilliant musicianship with our orchestra and all of us who cherish the music of the Boston Symphony. We wish him the very best in his continued recovery and look forward to his return to the BSO in a new role that is beneficial to all involved."

"We've experienced some of the most meaningful and endearing musical work of our lives under the leadership of James Levine," said BSO concertmaster Malcolm Lowe. "On behalf of all the musicians of the BSO, our heartfelt best wishes go out to Maestro Levine as he continues to focus on recovering from the health issues that have forced him to take time away from his BSO schedule. We look forward to continuing our very important work and influential collaboration with Maestro Levine when he is able to return to the BSO podium."

(Michael J. Lutch)

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced who will conduct the March dates music director James Levine has had to withdraw from due to his continuing back problems. Starting Thursday, BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger leads the BSO premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s violin concerto with violinist Christian Tetzlaff. The program covers four concerts at Symphony Hall and a March 15 date at Carnegie Hall.

Roberto Abbado, the veteran Italian conductor, will lead March 10, 11 and 12 Symphony Hall concerts with Peter Serkin and a March 16 performance with Joshua Bell. Serkin and Bell are actually filling in for Maurizio Pollini, who has the flu, according to the BSO.

Abbato will also lead the BSO with Serkin on March 18 and 19 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Kennedy Center.

And Andris Nelsons, music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, will make his BSO debute on March 17 for Mahler’s Ninth Symphony at Carnegie Hall.

(Michele McDonald/Globe Staff File)
Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine has withdrawn from the remainder of this season due to his lingering back problems, meaning the orchestra will now have to find conductors to lead it during an upcoming tour of the East Coast.

Levine, whose tenure has been marked by artistic highs but physical ailments that have kept him on the sideline for extended periods, was not available for comment, the BSO said. There was also no word of Levine’s plans for the summer season at Tanglewood.

An email from the BSO's Bernadette Horgan said: "James Levine has had to withdraw from his remaining scheduled concerts of the BSO's 2010-11 season, March 3-19, including Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Kennedy Center appearances, though all concerts will take place as scheduled. We will be sending updated program information at some point tomorrow morning."

A spokesman for the New York Metropolitan Opera said Levine has not canceled his appearances there. His season at the Boston Symphony was slated to end March 19, while his Met season was supposed to start there March 30.

Late last week, The Globe first reported Levine's latest ailments that forced him to cancel his appearances this past weekend and this week. That story is here:

More to come.

He stares into home plate, working the ball, with that penetrating look that once struck fear in even the most jacked-up, steroid-soaked sluggers. That is pre-“Who’s Your Daddy” Pedro Martinez, the Yankee-killer who won three Cy Young Awards and dazzled the Fenway faithful until his 2004 exit. Today, we learned that the oil painting entitled “El Orgullo y la Determinacion (Pride and Determination)” will join another work featuring a famous Sox hero, Carlton Fisk, in the National Portrait Gallery.

Cambridge’s Susan Miller-Havens, author of the Fisk and the Pedro, sold “El Orgullo” for $35,000 a few years ago to legendary Boston-born baseball scribe Peter Gammons and his wife, Gloria Trowbridge Gammons. The couple have given the 57” by 21” work to the Smithsonian’s museum.

“What first interested me in painting Pedro was the fact that he had been told that because he was so small he was never going to last and he was never going to be a power pitcher,” Miller-Havens said today in an interview. “Hence, the title.”

The National Portrait Gallery didn’t want to release the image of the Pedro painting until it opens its “Recent Acquisitions” show on March 25, but Miller-Havens confirmed the work after we found the image on her web site. We also found works depicting former Sox heroes Dennis Eckersley and Luis Tiant. Of more concern was the image of Don Zimmer in pinstripes. Didn’t she remember Pedro’s altercation with the pudgy coach in 2003?
“I painted that way before the incident,” she said. “I thought Zimmer was a very funny looking character. Look at him. I just thought it was hysterical. I’m no fan of Zimmer.”

Over the years, Miller-Havens said she has grown to be friends with Pedro. In November, he visited her gallery to sign prints. She asked if he would pitch again, but he wouldn’t say.

“He just gave me this great big smile,” said Miller-Havens. “He’s a sweetie pie.”

How about a Red Sox uniform for one final trip to the mound?

“It might be nice,” said Miller-Havens. “But he’s proud, remember. He doesn’t want to come back unless it was right.”

They've played the Super Bowl. Now, the Boston Pops will play AutoZone Park. Today, the Pops announced they'll do a minor league ballpark tour, heading to 10 cities with Mr. Footloose himself, Kenny Loggins.

Just don't look for any local dates.

The Pops are heading south, where they'll open August 16 at Durham Bulls Athletic in North Carolina before heading to Charlotte, Gwinnett, Nashville, Memphis and Birmingham. The head north for an August 26 show in Buffalo before hitting Rochester, Syracuse, and finally New Britain.

Watch out for this guy, Keith. He's Wool E. Bull.

After six years, Stuart Chase is stepping down as executive director of the Berkshire Museum. A press release talks of the museum's successful $10.3 million capital campaign, the creation of an acquisitions fund and the building of the Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation during Chase's tenure. The Berkshire Eagle notes that attendance last summer was down, from 25,228 in 2009 to 16,385 in 2010. The Berkshire Museum's staff has also been shrinking, from 28 staffers in 2008 to 21 now.

For now, Maria Mingalone, the museum's director of interpretation, will serve as interim director. A national search has been launched for Chase's replacement.

Are there two ICAs? Boston Magazine’s “Best Of New England” listing states that “you’ll love” the Institute of Contemporary Art before praising the art as “well paced and accessible, and hits every medium,” etc. etc. Rachel Levitt Slade, the magazine’s home design editor, apparently didn’t write that entry.

In an essay headlined as “The Exhibitionists” – hey, that’s my title! - in its February issue, Slade slags on everything from the ICA’s gift shop to its building (“rising self-importantly from its asphalt field much like an Applebee’s”) to its Dr Lakra and Shepard Fairey exhibitions.

“The ICA is stuck in a field of chainlink-bordered parking lots, and that’s just the beginning of its isolation,” Slade writes. “With its new concept space and infusion of cash, the museum could have ushered in Boston’s next art renaissance. It simply hasn’t. And whether we blame the business-minded board; the curators who have gone after attention-grabbing but lightweight shows; or Boston’s inclination to settle for safe art, the result is painfully clear: The ICA has not done nearly enough to push new concepts onto our intellectual map.”

Guess who doesn’t agree? That would be the ICA.

“We believe presenting artists such as Anish Kapoor, Tara Donovan, Charles LeDray, Bill T. Jones, Gabriel Kuri, Krystof Wodiczko - and yes, Rebecca Myers and Dr Lakra - offer exciting and diverse ways of experiencing the art of today,” a spokesperson said. “But don't take our word for it - or Boston magazine’s - ask the 1 million people who have been to the ICA in the last four years.”

(Michele McDonald/Globe Staff File)

Boston Symphony Orchestra maestro James Levine, whose health problems have been well-documented, has had to cancel this Sunday's concert with The MET's Chamber Ensemble. Earlier this week, Levine had to miss a performance at The Metropolitan Opera due to a viral infection, according to a press release. But Levine should be able to conduct tonight at the Met. Why cancel Sunday? Because of his illness, Levine couldn't rehearse the chamber program, which was to include works by Leon Kirchner, George Perle, Lukas Foss, and Johannes Brahms.

Levine is scheduled to return to Boston for a series of concerts in late February. A BSO
spokesperson said she expects him to lead the orchestra.

(Elizabeth Leitzell © 2010.)

Lisa Corrin, the director of the Williams College Museum of Art since 2005, will leave on June 30 to teach, serve as a Clark Fellow at the Clark Art Institute and a visiting scholar at New York University.

In announcing Corrin's exit, Williams president Adam Falk praised her work overseeing more than 75 exhibitions over her tenure and also helping the school acquire a pair of public artworks. Later this spring, a sculpture commissioned from Jenny Holzer goes on display in the school's science quad.

"Exhibitions developed under her leadership have gained international recognition for creatively prodding, education, and challenging viewers," Falk said in a release. "At the same time, she has entrepreneurially drawn new resources to the museum from foundations and other supporters."

Corrin served as deputy director of the Seattle Art Museum before taking over at Williams.

It may not be the Mega Millions jackpot, but Boston Lyric Opera announced Tuesday it hit the grant lottery with a pair of gifts hooked to its Opera Annex program.

The largest grant, for $1 million, is contingent on BLO raising another $3 million by 2014. The grant was made by an anonymous family foundation. The National Endowment for the Arts provided the second matching grant, for $20,000.

The larger grant will support the company’s Opera Annex, a program launched last year to offer work in a non-traditional space at a fraction of the cost of a standard BLO production. Last year, BLO presented Benjamin Britten’s psychological thriller “The Turn of the Screw’’ (above) at the Park Plaza Castle.

The grant will subsidize the Opera Annex program, allowing BLO to keep ticket prices lower than its mainstage productions at the Shubert Theater.

“That’s what excited this funder, that it opens the door to the nontraditional opera-goer and a younger audience,” said Esther Nelson, BLO’s general and artistic director.

The NEA grant will go specifically to this year’s Opera Annex production of Viktor Ullmann’s “The Emperor of Atlantis,” or “Death Quits.” The production, which opens February 1 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, is the first of this work by a major American company in New England. The opera was written in a concentration camp in 1943.

(Photo by Jeffrey Dunn.)

(Globe file photo/Dominic Chavez)
Michael Rush thought, at one point, he would be leading the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University through an expansion. Then, the administration struck. Now it looks like Rush, who lost his job during the drama at the Rose, will finally get his chance to build. Rush heads to Michigan State University to become the founding director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, which is opening in 2012.

There should be plenty of resources for Rush to work with. The Broad are giving $28 million to the new venture. They also have a little art on hand. (Twenty-one million of the Broad contribution will go to the construction, with the remaining $7 million for acquisitions.) The building, designed by Zaha Hadid, will cost $40 million in total.

I asked Rush what he might take from the Rose to his new job.

"I will always carry so many good things: Most especially a deep affection for the people I worked with, including the great students and the enormous joy of working with art closely. Regarding the "troubles." My enduring lesson is "keep your eye on the prize," no matter what."