2,374 stories by "Terry Teachout"
Bobby Short and Mabel Mercer perform on PBS in 1972: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
"The most violent revolutions in an individual's beliefs leave most of his old order standing." William James, "What Pragmatism Means"
From 2003: I try not to fly at night, but this time I decided to give it a go, and at the end of 45 anxious minutes spent pushing through a cold front, our smaller-than-usual jet popped out …
"There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision." William James, The Principles of Psychology
As those of you who follow me in the social media may already know, Mrs. T spent Saturday night in the emergency room of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, her transplant center. Our original p…
Because of Mrs. T's illness, I didn't post quite as much in this space in 2019 as I have in previous years. Nevertheless, I've been a reasonably active blogger, and I thought you might be in…
Julie Andrews sings "I Could Have Danced All Night," from My Fair Lady, on an episode of The Dinah Shore Chevy Show originally telecast by NBC on January 12, 1958. Andrews was then app…
"Pretend what we may, the whole man within us is at work when we form our philosophical opinions. Intellect, will, taste, and passion co-operate just as they do in practical affairs; and …
Buddy Rich and the Tonight Show orchestra play Horace Silver's "Nutville" in 1974, introduced by Johnny Carson. The members of the band include Conte Candoli on trumpet, Lew Tabackin on teno…
"I have in my head a whole army of people pleading to be let out and awaiting my commands." Anton Chekhov, letter to A.S. Suvorin (October 27, 1888)
"People who lead a solitary existence always have something in their hearts which they are eager to talk about." Anton Chekhov, "About Love"
Bruno Walter leads the Concertgebouw Orchestra in a 1946 rehearsal of Mahler's Fourth Symphony:Â (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this sp…
"There is nothing more awful, insulting, and depressing than banality." Anton Chekhov, "The Teacher of Literature"
In today's Wall Street Journal I write about the best theater of 2019: On Broadway and across America, it's the same old story: Large-scale musicals are in a long-term slump. I saw onl…
From 2010: Apropos of the front cover of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, James Breig, a reader of this blog, writes with a query: "Impertinent question: Is the cover photo reversed (Arms…
"I saw all of my mother's people, her sisters and brothers and their children that are left, that live here, crowding into the living room around Aunt Inez and her boys…and I thought of al…
Richard Burton and John Gielgud in a scene from Hamlet. This production, staged by Gielgud, was filmed in 1964 at a Broadway performance: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and hist…
"First of all, dismiss ideas, and social background, and train the freshman to shiver, to get drunk on the poetry of Hamlet or Lear, to read with his spine and not with his skull." Vladimir …
In today's Wall Street Journal I review the Broadway transfer of Jagged Little Pill. Here's an excerpt. *Â Â *Â Â * How good can a jukebox musical hope to be? Only modestly, in my ex…
In an excerpt from Stravinsky, a 1965 documentary by Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroitor, Igor Stravinsky and Nicholas Nabokov have a drink together in Hamburg in 1965, then attend a recording …
"Let the credulous and the vulgar continue to believe that all mental woes can be cured by a daily application of old Greek myths to their private parts." Vladimir Nabokov, Strong Opinions
In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column I take note of the death of John Simon. Here's an excerpt. *Â Â *Â Â * The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, who had various kinds of …
"No free man needs a God; but was I free?" Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire
In today's Wall Street Journal I review the Broadway premiere of a new stage version of A Christmas Carol and an off-Broadway revival of A Bright Room Called Day. Here's an excerpt. * Â�…
Ralph Ellison talks about his never-completed second novel in an interview originally telecast on public TV in 1966: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that …
