Bruce Hodges
LightNews LightNews
banner
brucehodges.bsky.social
Bruce Hodges
@brucehodges.bsky.social
2.1K followers 1.4K following 1.5K posts
Writer | editor | more-than-decent cook. Where: The Strad (London), WRTI (Philadelphia). Music | architecture | art + design | photography | theater + film | journalism | science | climate change

Photo: Luis Barragán, Cuadra San Cristóbal, Mexico
Posts Replies Media Videos
brucehodges.bsky.social
Right now, live from the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center in New Orleans, the Shannon Powell Traditional Allstars

youtu.be/EH7d9pYeEBg
Onstage, drummer Shannon Powell and his band, performing live at the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center in New Orleans
November 22, 2025 at 2:27 AM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Today is the 125th birthday of The Philadelphia Orchestra (@philorch.bsky.social). This 1961 Ormandy recording was my intro to classical music. It still rocks, but thank goodness for brass, winds, percussion, voices, and electronics.

Bonus: living in the @nezetseguin.bsky.social era

#PhilOrch125
Album cover for "Serenade for Strings" (1961) by The Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy. The title and personnel are centered in a pink-orange oval, with a black horizontal band at the top with a quote and the album contents. The bottom 3/4 of the cover is a photo of pink wildflowers on a green background. Album contents: Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings Borodin: Nocturne for Strings Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves Barber: Adagio for Strings
November 16, 2025 at 5:38 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
After the final bars of Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Minnesota Orchestra (@minnesotaorchestra.org) and conductor Thomas Søndergård, soloist Benjamin Beilman transfixes with silence

One of the high points of a concert that began with Takemitsu and ended with Berlioz
Benjamin Beilman, violinist, after the final pause of Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, with members of the Minnesota Orchestra
November 15, 2025 at 4:33 AM
brucehodges.bsky.social
If you see this, post a byrd
Poster for Prince (with 3rd Eye Girl) at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, April 23 and 24, 2013. Designed by David Edward Byrd
November 15, 2025 at 12:28 AM
brucehodges.bsky.social
The Mowing-Devil (1678)
Woodcut

More on the image here:
publicdomainreview.org/collection/t...
A black-and-white woodcut from 1678 called "The Mowing-Devil." In the center, a small devil figure is cutting down oats with a scythe.
November 12, 2025 at 10:52 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
On Friday at 9 pm (ET), an enticing livestream from the Minnesota Orchestra (@minnesotaorchestra.org), with conductor Thomas Søndergård and violinist Benjamin Beilman

Takemitsu: Night Signal
Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No. 1
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

www.youtube.com/@minnorch/st...
Photograph of violinist Benjamin Beilman, shot from the side and wearing a long black coat, with his instrument in his right hand and a background of white water
November 12, 2025 at 6:30 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
A year ago I saw Le Samouraï (1967) for the first time, in 4K on the big screen — what a movie. Stunning visuals and sound, and of course, with Delon impossibly cool

(📷: classiq.me/style-in-fil...)
Screenshot from "Le Samourai" (1967), a close-up of Alain Delon talking on an old rotary wall phone, with his hat casting a shadow over his face
November 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Yesterday's Philadelphia ballot was hardly marquee material — dozens of judges, many up for term renewals. But if the last 10 years have taught us anything, our system is built on more than the headliners.

Proud to affirm the work of those judges, and to be able to vote for them in the first place
A voting sticker from Philadelphia, with a blue line drawing of the City Hall spire, and "I voted" in Spanish ("Yo voté") in red
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
This week — again thanks to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society — the Modigliani Quartet from Paris, in this excellent lineup:

Kurtág: Quartet, Op. 13, Microludes (Hommage à Mihály András)
Beethoven: Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1
Beethoven: Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3
Against a black background, the four members of the Modigliani Quartet from Paris, dressed in black with white shirts, sitting or standing near instrument shipping containers resting on the floor
November 3, 2025 at 1:37 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Juliano Mazzuchini (Brazilian, b. 1981)

Canto (2019)
Oil on canvas

julianomazzuchini.com
"Canto" (2019), a painting by Brazilian artist Julian Mazzuchini. A woman in a black skirt and tan jacket sits in a corner against a tan wall with her legs crossed. In her right hand is a a cigarette, in her left a glass of wine or coffee. Her face is blurred, as if scraped away with a quick swipe to the right.
November 2, 2025 at 10:51 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
It wouldn't be Halloween without Boris Karloff's guacamole recipe, including an ingredient not seen elsewhere. (No, not human blood.)

IIRC I first encountered this lovely shard of history via @bcdreyer.social, with continuing thanks
An old, yellowed newspaper clipping with the headline "Boris Karloff Mad About Mexican Food," featuring his recipe for guacamole, and at right, a black-and-white headshot of the actor
October 30, 2025 at 4:53 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Homemade black beans, andouille sausage, onions, peppers, carrots, celery, topped with sour cream and Crystal hot sauce, on basmati rice

A fave comfort food
Homemade black beans, andouille sausage, onions, peppers, carrots, celery, topped with sour cream and Crystal hot sauce, on basmati rice Served in a blue and white speckled bowl
October 26, 2025 at 12:01 AM
brucehodges.bsky.social
At age 14, I stumbled across this LP and bought it — partially for the Swingle Singers and the New York Philharmonic, but mostly for John Berg's striking cover art. "Sinfonia" totally altered my teenage brain, and ultimately was the rudder that steered me into contemporary music

#Berio100
Designed by John Berg, the cover of the 1968 recording of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia with the Swingle Singers and the New York Philharmonic. On a black-and-white mirrored surface are transparent cubes, with photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr., Berio, Leonard Bernstein, and others
October 24, 2025 at 12:22 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
"The reward of roguery - or the roasted cook"
from
"The World Turned Upside Down," Chapbooks of the Eighteenth Century

Anonymous, 18th century
Woodcut

University of Toronto Libraries (via @pdimagearchive.bsky.social)
Black-and-white woodcut from the 18th century, showing a man lying horizontally inside a box with flames in back, being roasted by a chicken wearing a crown (left) as a rabbit looks on (right)
October 22, 2025 at 10:01 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
From "Rosemary's Baby," a favorite moment: as Mia Farrow helps Ruth Gordon wash dishes, Farrow gazes back into the living room, where John Cassavetes and Sidney Blackmer are talking—with only a faint trail of smoke visible

Watch free on the invaluable Internet Archive:
archive.org/details/rose...?
From the film "Rosemary's Baby" a screenshot about 30 minutes in to the film, showing a tan living room with two lamps, and barely visible at right, faint trails of cigarette or cigar smoke
October 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
brucehodges.bsky.social
In their finale this afternoon, early music specialists The Sebastians — in sneakers! — blaze through Vivaldi's Sonata, Op. 1, No. 12, "La Folia." Earlier, soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon was splendid in short works by Montéclair and Handel.

The concert will be up for 72 hours

youtu.be/FWoqKYzbcX0
In Philadelphia, the four members of the Baroque group called The Sebastians — cello, harpsichord, and two violins — onstage in Benjamin Franklin Hall at the American Philosophical Society
October 19, 2025 at 8:58 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Shots from the finale of the Donaueschinger Festival, with the SWR Symphonieorchester on fire in Hanna Hartman's "Advanced Weather Information Processing System" for orchestra and electronics

Gorgeous

Hope they leave the link up for awhile, the whole concert is worth hearing: youtu.be/tUEYncik_go
Close-up of a percussionist's hand, moving kitchen knives inserted into a flower pot Close-up of a flutist, blowing through coiled plastic tubing Close-up of two horn players, their mouths completely surrounding the valves of the instruments (rather than touching their lips) Close-up of a violinist holding a bow vertically, pinging the strings with the screw at the end of the bow
October 19, 2025 at 5:17 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Watching the final Donaueschinger Festival concert, live in outstanding audio and video, with works by Mirela Ivičević, Naomi Pinnock, Laure M. Hiendl, and Hanna Hartman

A field day for the percussionists

SWR Experimentalstudio
SWR Symphonieorchester
Elena Schwarz, conductor

youtu.be/tUEYncik_go
Close-up of a percussionist rubbing sandpaper against a sandpaper block Close-up of a percussionist rubbing brushes against a drum head Close-up of a percussionist scraping the inside of a shell
October 19, 2025 at 4:06 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Something I drew in about 5 minutes last June, now in a semi-permanent place on my bathroom door, to be revived tomorrow

And because #EverythingIsMoreGlamorousInSpanish
Cardboard sign on a tan background with "Salon sin Reyes" (Lounge without Kings) in black letters with bits of blue, green, white and red
October 18, 2025 at 2:22 AM
brucehodges.bsky.social
*mood*

Kple kple mask
Côte d'Ivoire, c. late 1800s

The Cleveland Museum of Art (via @pdimagearchive.bsky.social)
Close-up photo of a kple kple mask from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Created in the late 1800s or early 1900s, the round mask is dark brown, with a pair of horns on top
October 13, 2025 at 2:44 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Well, dang.

Diane Keaton (1946-2025)

📷: Inez and Vinoodh / trunkarchive for Elle
Black and white photo of Diane Keaton, dressed in a billowy houndstooth dress, with black shoes, belt, gloves, and hat. Her left hand is raised in front of her mouth, as if she is calling to get someone's attention
October 12, 2025 at 3:39 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Ismail al-Jazarī’ (1136-1206)

From "The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices" (1206)

(Staatsbibliothek, Berlin via @pdimagearchive.bsky.social)
A drawing from the 13th century book by Ismail al-Jazarī, "The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices." This drawing is a device that appears to use water, delivered to cause a pinwheel of cups to rotate
October 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Charles Butler (British beekeeper, 1571-1647)

"Illustration concerning the arrangement of hives" from The Feminine Monarchie, or the History of Bees (1623)

(via @pdimagearchive.bsky.social)
Black-and-white illustration from 1623 by Charles Butler, showing 56 small beehives arranged in a grid, with Roman numerals in a row across the top. Starting at left: IV, III, II, I, then a break, I, II, III, IV. Separating the two halves is a vertical row of letters: D, C, B, A (center), B, C, D. Four additional letters at the center of each side indicate directions: S (top), W (right), N (bottom), and E (left)
October 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Welp, so much for downsizing. A friend gifted me this overwhelming, toaster-sized box of 120 early monaural recordings by Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra — each with the delightful original artwork, and almost all never released on CD

Contents here:
www.discogs.com/release/1927...
October 4, 2025 at 2:19 PM
brucehodges.bsky.social
Ooh, coming in November, a new Adès recording on @pentatonemusic.bsky.social, and the first release from the Minnesota Orchestra (@minnesotaorchestra.org) with its new music director, Thomas Søndergård

The Exterminating Angel Symphony (2020), plus the Violin Concerto (2005) with Leila Josefowicz
Cover of a new recording with two works by Thomas Adès, The Exterminating Angel Symphony and the Violin Concerto, the first release from the Minnesota Orchestra with its new music director, Thomas Søndergård. The cover layout, mostly in white, shows composer and works' names at the top in purple, blue, and green, and in the lower half, a quarter glimpse of a circular maze
September 29, 2025 at 8:05 PM