BEST BETS: MAY 19th – MAY 25th

Best Bets: May 19th – May 25th relies heavily on the classics. Both classical music and a classic play.

BROOKLYN RIDER PLAYS PHILIP GLASS’S COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS – The Met Cloisters – New York, NY – May 21^st – May 23^rd

Composer Philip Glass composed his first String Quartet in 1966. Over the course of his half-century career, he has composed a dozen major works for string quartet. 

Brooklyn Rider celebrates their 20^th anniversary, in part, with three concerts this week where they will perform all fourteen of these works. (They have some truly special coming out Friday that will be part of New In Music This Week.)

Wednesday May 21^st they will perform Quartet Satz and String Quartets 6-9. Thursday, May 22^nd they will perform the Saxophone Quartet arranged by Brooklyn Rider for string quartet along with quartets 1, 4 and 5. Friday, May 23^rd, they will perform String Quartets 2 & 3 along with the Suite from Bent for String Quartet, Concert Suite from Dracula and Mad Rush arranged by Johnny Gandelsman.

Brooklyn Rider is comprised of Nicholas Cords on viola; Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen on violin and Michael Nicolas on cello.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

HENRY MANCINI AT 100 – Scott Dunn Orchestra – The Wallis – Beverly Hills, CA – May 22^nd

Scott Dunn and his orchestra had their debut postponed due to the fires in Southern California earlier this year. That was to be the first of two concerts this season.

Thankfully Dunn and his newly formed orchestra will present the second planned concert: Henry Mancini at 100. While this perforamnce is certain to include certain staples you’d expect to hear, the music being listed as part of the programming will including scores and/or songs from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses, Hatari!, Mr. Lucky, Peter Gunn, The Pink Panther, Touch of Evil, Two for the Road and Victor/Victoria.

Joining the Scott Dunn Orchestra will be guest singers from Tonality.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

DUDAMEL CONDCUTS STRAVINSKY, GLASS & SOPER – New York Philharmonic – New York, NY – May 22^nd – May 27^th

Future Music Director Gustavo Dudamel (cue the tears from Los Angeles) returns to his soon-to-be home to conduct Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony In Three Movements and Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 11.

The highlight on the program is the world premiere of Kate Soper’s Orpheus Orchestra Opus Onus. As has been the norm for centuries, the mythological Orpheus serves as inspiration for this new work. Soper is a truly inventive composer. I hope this is just the first of many performances of this composition.

The concert on May 27^th is sold out. For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

CELEBRATING ESA-PEKKA SALONEN – San Francisco Symphony – San Francisco, CA – My 23^rd – June 14^th

Music director Salonen is not leaving the San Francisco Symphony on the best of terms, but that isn’t stopping anyone from celebrating his very impressive tenure there. In fact, four different programs will draw down the curtain on their partnership in concerts that will highlight many of the works that Salonen loves and knows best.

Salonen Conducts The Firebird runs May 23^rd – May 25^th. It features Stravinsky’s The Firebird and also Chorale by Magnus Lindberg and Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust as soloist.

Esa-Pekka Salonen & Hilary Hahn runs May 29^th – June 1^st. This is an all-Beethoven program featuring the Symphony No. 4 and the Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn as soloist.

Salonen Conducts Sibelius 7 runs June 6^th – June 8^th.  In addition to Jean Sibeliu’s Symphony No. 7, the program includes Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks by Richard Strauss. There will also be the world premiere of Gabriella Smith’s Rewilding. 

Salonen Conducts Mahler 2 runs June 12^th – June 14^th. Mahler’s second symphony is the only thing on this program. But what a wonderful way to conclude his time. Soprano Heidi Stober and Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke are soloists. The San Francisco Symphony Chorus, led by Jenny Wong, join the performances.

For tickets and more information, click on the name of each program above.

LEAR REDUX: A QUANTUM FANTASIA – Odyssey Theatre Ensemble – May 24^th – July 13^th

Shakespeare’s King Lear has been presented and performed in countless ways. Some are more successful than others. (Did you see Glenda Jackson as Lear on Broadway?)

John Farmanesh-Bocca continues his Redux series with his own take on King Lear. That series has offered well-received productions of Titus Redux and Tempest Redux. As the adapter, director and choreographer of these shows, Farmanesh-Bocca brings a truly fresh approach to these plays.

Don’t expect this to be a heavy-handed approach. In fact, a sense of whimsy and humor is a key ingredient in the Redux series. In Henry IV, Part 2 the line, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”  Certainly, Lear’s story is not without unease. But remember that “Many a true word hath been spoken in jest.”

Jack Stehlin, who starred in the two previous productions, takes on the role of Lear. The King’s daughters are played by Eve Danzeisen, Jade Sealy and Emily Yetter.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

That’s all for Best Bets: May 19th – May 25th. Enjoy your week. Go see a show!

Main Photo: Esa-Pekka Salonen (Photo ©Andrew Eccles/Courtesy San Francisco Symphony)