Can art ever go 19-0?
With the Patriots on the verge of going undefeated, we wondered if the arts ever achieve perfection. We asked eight local artists if they had ever seen a perfect concert, play, art exhibit or painting? And then we asked them how close they got to achieving perfection themselves.
Al Kooper
Musician, composer, producer
Pick: Prince concert
"The first Prince concert I saw was perfection. The performance, the music, everything. And I only knew one song when I went to see it. He was touring his first album. It was at the Roxy in New York. I went with Daryl Hall. After the second song I said to him, 'Am I crazy or is this the best thing I've ever seen in my life?' And he said, 'You're not crazy.'"
Closest to Creating Perfection: Recording [Bob Dylan's] "Blonde on Blonde"
"It was the best chemistry I've ever seen in any project I've ever been involved with. The musicians and the material and the location - it was in Nashville. It was the first time I'd ever recorded outside of New York studios. There were great [Nashville] musicians on it. Some would say that there also were on "Highway 61 Revisited," the album before it. I had more control on "Blonde on Blonde." I was sort of the musical director. A lot of those [songs] were my arrangements. I think it's one of the greatest albums of all time."
Spiro Veloudos
Artistic Director, Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Pick: "August: Osage County" (now playing in New York)
"That was about as perfect a production as I have seen in years. The company was fabulous, the sets were beautiful, and the play was terrific. It was a story all about family relationships. It was three hours of theater that just went by so quickly.
"As for musicals, I'd say the production of (Stephen Sondheim's) "Company" that I saw recently in New York. The direction was so fabulous that I came back to Boston thinking, "Well, now I've got to become a plumber."
Closest to Creating Perfection: Directing "Glengarry Glen Ross," Lyric Stage Company
"Everything came together, starting with the cast. It was a wonderful experience, onstage and off. As we were rehearsing, it seemed we had the makings of something perfect. But perfection is a relative word. There's always something else to fix or achieve."
Keith Lockhart Music Director, Boston Pops