About
I decided to start a blog for three reasons:
1) People felt that there should be a part of the Threepenny website that was available only online, not in the printed magazine.
2) Some of the things I wanted to write about seemed as if they would benefit from a slightly more timely response than our usual quarterly publication permitted.
3) I was seeing and hearing so much interesting art — especially in the areas of dance and music, though also in literature, theater, and the visual arts — that I couldn't fit everything I wanted to say into The Threepenny Review without taking over the whole publication. And if you are not Diderot or Karl Kraus (and I am certainly neither), it is never a good idea to write the whole magazine yourself. But I figured the rules of blogs would allow me to monopolize one of those.
I struggled to come up with a good title for the blog and at first resisted using my own name, feeling (as those named Lesser are bound to feel) that diminishment is not necessarily a selling point. But then I figured that if people named Grudge or Drudge can use their names on websites, I should certainly not be abashed at calling this The Lesser Blog. So here it is, and I hope you enjoy it.
Wendy Lesser
Editor, The Threepenny Review-
Recent Posts
Archives
- April 2024 (3)
- March 2024 (2)
- February 2024 (1)
- December 2023 (1)
- November 2023 (1)
- October 2023 (1)
- September 2023 (1)
- July 2023 (1)
- June 2023 (1)
- May 2023 (1)
- March 2023 (1)
- February 2023 (1)
- October 2022 (1)
- March 2022 (1)
- November 2021 (2)
- August 2021 (1)
- July 2021 (1)
- May 2021 (1)
- October 2020 (1)
- June 2020 (1)
- March 2020 (2)
- February 2020 (2)
- January 2020 (1)
- November 2019 (1)
- October 2019 (1)
- September 2019 (1)
- July 2019 (1)
- May 2019 (2)
- April 2019 (2)
- March 2019 (2)
- December 2018 (1)
- November 2018 (1)
- October 2018 (1)
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (1)
- July 2018 (2)
- May 2018 (1)
- April 2018 (1)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (1)
- January 2018 (2)
- December 2017 (1)
- November 2017 (1)
- October 2017 (2)
- September 2017 (1)
- July 2017 (1)
- May 2017 (1)
- April 2017 (1)
- March 2017 (2)
- February 2017 (2)
- January 2017 (1)
- December 2016 (1)
- November 2016 (1)
- October 2016 (2)
- September 2016 (2)
- July 2016 (1)
- June 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (1)
- April 2016 (1)
- March 2016 (2)
- February 2016 (2)
- January 2016 (1)
- December 2015 (1)
- November 2015 (3)
- October 2015 (1)
- September 2015 (1)
- August 2015 (1)
- July 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (2)
- January 2015 (2)
- November 2014 (1)
- October 2014 (2)
- September 2014 (2)
- August 2014 (2)
- June 2014 (3)
- May 2014 (1)
- April 2014 (4)
- February 2014 (2)
- January 2014 (1)
- December 2013 (2)
- November 2013 (4)
- October 2013 (1)
- September 2013 (2)
- August 2013 (3)
- July 2013 (3)
- January 2013 (1)
- May 2012 (1)
- March 2012 (1)
- October 2011 (1)
- April 2011 (1)
- January 2011 (1)
- December 2010 (1)
- August 2010 (1)
- May 2010 (1)
- March 2010 (1)
- February 2010 (2)
- December 2009 (1)
- November 2009 (2)
- September 2009 (1)
- April 2009 (1)
- December 2008 (1)
- October 2008 (1)
- May 2008 (1)
- March 2008 (1)
- February 2008 (1)
- November 2007 (1)
- June 2007 (1)
- March 2007 (1)
- January 2007 (1)
- October 2006 (1)
- September 2006 (1)
- July 2006 (1)
- June 2006 (1)
Tag Archives: carnegie hall
A Three-Rattle Week
Even in Berlin, where he has lived for more than a dozen years while conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, you would be hard put to hear Simon Rattle in three different venues in the course of a week. But last week … Continue reading
Filling Carnegie Hall
In the middle of April I heard three chamber-music concerts on the main stage of Carnegie Hall, and they were all, quite frankly, great. The first was the complete Brahms piano quartets, played by a dream ensemble that included Leif Ove … Continue reading
Bountiful Beethoven
Last week the Berlin Philharmoniker came to Carnegie Hall and played all nine Beethoven symphonies in the course of five nights. Two of the Times’s critics—Anthony Tommasini at the beginning of the cycle, and David Allen in his review at the … Continue reading
A Dreamlike Alcina
Ever since I saw an incredible production of Handel’s Alcina at the San Francisco Opera about a dozen years ago, it has been one of my very favorite operas. I listen to the CDs all the time (I have the … Continue reading
Simon’s Band
I first came to love music, I mean really love music, by listening to the Berlin Philharmonic during a semester spent in Berlin. I was an avid fan that whole fall, not only attending every concert I could get tickets … Continue reading
Three Carnegie Nights
And it would have been four, except that I couldn’t face going out to the same concert venue four nights in a row; even I have my limits. So I skipped the very tempting Ensemble ACJW performance that was scheduled for … Continue reading
The Pacificas (Again)
I’ve already had my say, at length, about how great the Pacifica Quartet is, so when I set off for their Zankel concert last night, my only intention was to listen for the pleasure of it. The performance was so … Continue reading
Arcangelo
Going to hear a musical group you’ve never heard before always entails a risk, but the risk tends to be less with Baroque music, which—if it is played at all—is usually played at a fairly high standard. The risks in … Continue reading
Highlights from October
I was so busy attending things in October that I didn’t get a chance to write about any of them at the time. Now that we’re well into November, I’ve had an opportunity to reflect on the best of what … Continue reading
Tetzlaff Times Three
In mid-March, as I was leaving the Carnegie Hall concert that Christian Tetzlaff had just given with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, I ran into a couple of friends. “Oh, we should have known we’d see you at this!” they said … Continue reading