Daily Magazine

Christoph Eschenbach leading Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand ," a season highlight, earlier this month.

By David Patrick Stearns, Inquirer Music Critic

Christoph Eschenbach's all-Schubert final subscription concert as Philadelphia Orchestra music director was neither daring nor fail-safe. But it was certainly a reminder of what an individualistic musical thinker the community is losing, and of how resourceful he can be - at least during this final run of concerts - at channeling the orchestra's best qualities into something well beyond the luxury of its sound.

Bodies doing stuff you'd think impossible

By Nancy G. Heller, For The Inquirer

They're back. On Thursday night, Pilobolus - those dancers who routinely transform their bodies into horses, cars and aquatic plants and whose extraordinary popularity has been annoying dance purists for nearly 40 years - started a three-day run at the Annenberg Center.

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Dave on Demand: 'Hills' hooey: These brats are icons of a generation? Like, whoa!

By David Hiltbrand , For the Inquirer

Wow, that was some thrilling season finale to The Hills, huh, kids? On MTV's zeitgeisty reality show, Lauren cried (or maybe her contacts were giving her trouble), and Heidi left her boss in the lurch to flee Las Vegas with Spencer. (Did you see Heidi skulking down the casino escalator? Who takes that much luggage on a day trip?)
Odd triple bill offers a full range of roots: By David Hiltbrand , Inquirer Staff Writer

It was a spectacularly strange triple bill on Thursday night at the Fire, the drinking establishment and music venue in Northern Liberties.
Sideshow: Wedding bells to peal for Ellen: By Tirdad Derakhshani , Inquirer Staff Writer

Just hours after the California Supreme Court struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage on Thursday, TV talker Ellen DeGeneres announced that she and actress Portia de Rossi plan to wed.
In 'Dead Guy,' reality gets unreal. Would you vote to kill?: An overdose of cleverness

By Wendy Rosenfield , For The Inquirer

Flashpoint Theatre's The Dead Guy asks if you would vote - on television, American Idol-style - to kill someone. It's a simple yet outlandish premise, right?
Uchida brings notes of grace to Messiaen: By Lesley Valdes , For The Inquirer

Everyone came, or so it felt Thursday night at the final concert of the Chamber Music Society's season, featuring pianist Mitsuko Uchida and the Borletti-Buitoni Ensemble, young players supported by an unusual noncompetitive trust that Uchida founded and to which she gives much time and thought.
TV Today: Horse racing (4:30-6:30 p.m., NBC10) - The second leg of the Triple Crown is run for the 133d time at the Preakness Stakes. Big Brown, who handily won the Kentucky Derby, is the favorite in this event, which drew more than 121,000 fans last year to Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course.
WYSP fires Kidd Chris over racist song parody: Broadcast on March 21, the lyrics included epithets slurring African Americans.

By Michael Klein , Inquirer Staff Writer

CBS yesterday announced the firing of WYSP (94.1) morning personality "Kidd Chris" Foley, an undetermined portion of his staff, and the station's program director, John Cook, over a racist song parody performed on the show on March 21.
$404,000 for letter by Einstein: LONDON - A letter in which Albert Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish" has sold at auction for more than $400,000.
Cumming to host 'Mystery!' on PBS: Scottish-born actor Alan Cumming (Tin Man, X-Men 2) has been tapped to host the forthcoming season of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery! according to an announcement made Thursday.
Lofty ideas: Tree houses to satisfy any childhood fantasy are popping up this spring at public gardens.

By Virginia A. Smith , Inquirer Staff Writer

This spring, it seems, everyone is celebrating trees. Three public gardens in the Philadelphia area are launching exhibits featuring tree houses and "canopy walks" - Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill, and Tyler Arboretum in Media.
Wood grains bring nature in: New species for the interior are brightening space with lighter hues.

By Elaine Markoutsas , For The Inquirer

Home interiors are lightening up, but it has less to do with spare spaces than it does with the hues of wood furnishings.
Sideshow: A memorial for Oprah's 2 late dogs: By Tirdad Derakhshani , Inquirer Staff Writer

Daniel Edwards has struck again. This time, the artist who created a shocking sculpture of Britney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug has struck at the very heart of American spirituality with a bust of the queen of the new age, Oprah Winfrey, reports E!Online reports.