Reverbiage: Stories from NPR tagged 'masterpieces'

Missing A Masterpiece... Call FBI's Art Crime Team

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:57:00 EST

The FBI used to treat cases of art theft just like any other case involving stolen property. But today a team of special agents at the FBI is devoted to tracking down priceless cultural artifacts. Dina Temple-Raston explores the world of real-life art heists.

A Shakespeare Rarity: Verdi's 'Otello'

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Giuseppe Verdi finished his masterpiece Otello at age 73, after a 12-year hiatus, basing the opera on the great tragedy by Shakespeare. Tenor Johan Botha and soprano Nuccia Focile star in a production from Cologne.

The Story of 'The Coronation of Poppea'

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:14:00 EST

In Monteverdi's masterpiece, the most noble and virtuous characters wind up dead or deported, while the lustful and villainous are rewarded with wealth, power and passion.

Vengeance Reversed: Verdi's 'Rigoletto'

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:04:00 EST

Verdi's tightly wound masterpiece swirls heartfelt sentiment together with appalling violence and genuine tragedy, along with some of the most familiar tunes he ever composed. From the Washington National Opera.

Brian Wilson Sings A Love Letter To California

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:36:00 EDT

Four years after reviving and releasing his abandoned masterpiece, Smile, Wilson is back with a new album, That Lucky Old Sun. Between performances of songs from the new disc, the former Beach Boys singer shares what it was like to return to his old recording home at Capitol Records.

'Rachel Getting Married': Demme's Masterpiece

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:03:00 EDT

It's not often you hear the word "masterpiece" coming from a film critic. But David Edelstein says it applies to Jonathan Demme's newest film, a marvelously textured thing at once focused and bursting at the seams.

Rushdie On Calvino's Absurd, Charming Masterpiece

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:12:00 EDT

The 12 short stories that make up Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics mix scientific erudition and wild fantasy to tell a wonderfully unique story of creation. Salman Rushdie calls it "possibly the most enjoyable story collection ever written."

Lost Funk Masterpieces Of Ethiopia

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:23:00 EDT

Record collectors entranced by the otherworldly sounds of Ethiopian funk and jazz of the 1960s and 70s had only rare 45s to slake their thirst until the Ethiopiques series of albums hit US shores in the late 90s. Those albums feature some of the best music to come out of the scene, but still more albums await re-release.

Rodriguez's 'Cold Fact' Returns

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:42:00 EDT

Folksinger "Sixto" Diaz Rodriguez became a success in the '70s after releasing the hit Cold Fact, which was hailed a psychedelic folk masterpiece. Hear two songs from the newly reissued Cold Fact on WXPN's World Cafe, with host David Dye.

Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville'

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT

The Barber of Seville may be the perfect, operatic comedy. On World of Opera it comes to us from the jewel-like theater at Glimmerglass Opera, a perfect venue for the crystalline musical textures and intimate vocal detail of Rossini's masterpiece.

Top Five Neglected Classic Jazz Records

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:48:00 EDT

For all the jazz albums which are universally hailed as classics, there are more records out there which should be recognized as such. Arranger and Grammy-winning record producer Bob Belden picks the top five slept-on masterpiece jazz LPs.

Mingus' Magnum Opus: 'Epitaph' In Concert

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:10:00 EDT

Charles Mingus' monumental masterpiece "Epitaph" never saw the light of day during his lifetime. But the tempestuous jazz legend left his ambitious score to be discovered by new generations. Hear the full piece, a 2 1/2-hour affair for 31 musicians.

Revisting Carole King's 'Tapestry'

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT

When Carole King's album Tapestry came out in 1971, it became one of the best-selling albums of all time and marked her as one of pop's most talented songwriters. King's masterpiece has been reissued as a 2-disc Legacy Edition by Sony. Music historian Milo Miles takes a look at the landmark work.

Love and Ruin: Saint-Saens' 'Samson and Dalila'

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Camille Saint-Saens lived from the waning years of music's classical era, all the way into the early decades of 20th-century modernism. The tumultuous, romantic opera, Samson and Dalila is one of his many masterpieces.

John Coltrane: Saxophone Icon, Pt. 1

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:22:00 EDT

The most influential jazz musician after bebop, the tenor saxophonist nurtured a career marked by rapid growth in improvisational technique and ideas. By the late 1950s, he had already produced his first masterpieces.

Gnarls Barkley Craft An 'Odd' Masterpiece

Tue, 27 May 2008 14:40:00 EDT

Gnarls Barkley is best known for its massive 2006 summer hit "Crazy" from their debut album St. Elsewhere. The duo's follow-up The Odd Couple meshes classic R&B with infectious hip-hop grooves and cinematic production. Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse speak with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about crafting their new album.

In Paris, a 'Red Balloon' with an Eastern Air

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:42:00 EDT

Fresh Air's film critic says Hou Hsiao-hsien's homage to the 1956 Alan Lamorisse film is as much a masterpiece as the original but on its own singular terms.

Garifuna Women Preserve Culture in Song

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:01:00 EDT

At the top of the UN's list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" are the people known as the Garifuna, bearers of a unique brand of Afro-Caribbean music and dance. A new CD by the Garifuna Women's Project helps preserve the legacy of the stories and music of the Garifuna people.

Stolen Masterpieces Recovered in Car

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST

Two Impressionist paintings stolen form a Zurich museum on Feb. 10 have been recovered from an abandoned car.

Museum of Masterpieces Made for a Coffee Table

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:29:00 EST

The ambitious new work 30,000 Years of Art celebrates human creativity from 28,000 B.C. to the present day. From primitive carvings to masterpieces by Velazquez and others, the tome presents 1,000 works in chronological order.

'Father's Law' a Reflection of Wright's Masterpieces

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:37:00 EST

In 1940, Chicago-based author Richard Wright published Native Son, sparking a 20-year run of trailblazing for other African-American writers. Wright died of a heart attack in Paris in the autumn of 1960, leaving behind an unfinished novel, which his daughter is now publishing.

'The Science of Leonardo'

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 17:18:00 EST

Leonardo da Vinci is known for the "Mona Lisa" and other art masterpieces. But the Renaissance man also invented fluid dynamics and, perhaps, the scientific method. Fritjof Capra writes about Leonardo's investigations of the natural world in his new book.

Classical Masterpieces Turn Up in Cartoons

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:02:00 EST

Music historian Robert Greenberg talks about classical music in cartoons, from Elmer Fudd in a spoof on Wagner and Tom and Jerry playing Liszt to Disney's Fantasia.

Italian Village Demands Return of Ancient Chariot

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:12:00 EDT

The 2,600-year-old golden chariot is a star attraction at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, but residents of the mountain town where it was discovered more than a century ago say the masterpiece is rightfully theirs.

iPhone: A Compact Device with a Very Bulky Bill

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:00:00 EDT

The iPhone is widely acclaimed as a masterpiece of design -- all those digital functions packed into one device. But some iPhone users are receiving huge bills -- as in lots and lots of paper. Justine Ezarik, a Web designer and video blogger in Pittsburgh, received a 300-page bill.