L.A. Times - Entertainment — The only film directed by Charles Laughton gets the deluxe Criterion treatment.In 1955, when "The Night of the Hunter" opened to mixed reviews and poor box office, the film was already a throwback: steeped in the luxuriant gloom of German Expressioni... more info

Guardian Music — Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonBeethoven last year, Bartók next. But there are no themes or cycles for the Takács's London visits this season. Instead, their Southbank concerts simply pick plums from the string quartet repertoire. Haydn's Op 71 quarte... more info

Topix — A particular delight of the New York classical music season at its teeming height is the way seemingly unrelated events intersect to produce a spontaneous minifestival, or at least a theme. more info

Guardian Music — Varnay/Resnik/Hotter/Windgassen/Vinay/Krauss/Bayreuther Festspiele(Orfeo, 13 CDs)Yet another Ring cycle from the golden age that was Bayreuth in the 1950s, this time from the 1953 festival. Conductor Clemens Krauss was making his debut there, brought... more info

Guardian Music — Garage, LondonNick Cave is having organ trouble. "This song is supposed to go 'dan-nang-nang-nang, na'," seethes the suave insectoid singer, grappling furiously with a faulty keyboard. A key has broken off and "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)", from Gr... more info

AOL Music — (Sept. 22) -- The parting of the Red Sea (or Reed Sea, depending on how the ancient Hebrew is translated) is one of the Old Testament's most spectacular episodes. After being led out of Egyptian slavery by Moses, the Israelites find themselves trappe... more info

Guardian Music — Linbury studio; Royal Opera House; Peacock theatre; Kings Place, all LondonA string quintet, two singers, one actor plus a wooden table to suggest an apparatus for torture: you can shape an opera out of anything. These were the sparse elements, tight... more info

Metalsucks — MS photographic wiz Jacqueline Cheng has done it again. Her latest batch of mesmerizing photos capture Slayer, Megadeth and Testament on their American Carnage run when it stopped in New Jersey on August 12th. Check out her collection of shots from t... more info

Stereogum — Julian Lynch’s warping, wobbling Mare offers an enjoyable trip down memory lane for folks who used to view Forced Exposure and Chemical Imbalance as druggier versions of the New Testament. Even if you didn’t — or have no idea what I’m going o... more info

Guardian Music — When composer Michael Berkeley lost his hearing, he finally understood Beethoven's torment. But could deafness help him write better music?The increasing deafness that Beethoven suffered during the closing years of his life gives the masterpieces tha... more info