The end result will be six different programs (one for each suite). Which of the new works by these composers are included in each performance of Fragments will only be revealed to the public after the performance. The project is directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer.

The world premiere of Fragments 1 and 2 took place in Toronto in January. Weilerstein gives the US premiere of Fragments 1 at UC Santa Barbara on Friday, March 10th. On Sunday, March 12th she will also perform Fragments 1 at Irvine Barclay Theatre. She follows that with a performance on Tuesday, March 14th at The Baker-Baum Concert Hall in La Jolla. The New York premiere will take place on April 1st at Carnegie Hall.

Weilerstein’s 2020 recording of the Bach Cello Suites received great reviews. It was also her first recording of this essential work for cellists.

But for now, she’s focused on Fragments.

I spoke with Weilerstein last week. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

The concept of Fragments allows you as an artist to keep a centuries old work old alive. By combining it with newer composers you get to introduce, perhaps, a whole new audience to both something old and something new simultaneously. Was that part of the impetus for this? 

Juxtaposing the familiar with the new, for sure it was part of it. But the way in which we’re doing it is a bit different. All six of Bach’s suites are integrated into the project and 27 new pieces are integrated into the complete project. I didn’t want this to feel like a plus project. There’s actually far more new music than there is Bach – even in terms of timing. So I asked each composer to write 10 minutes of music and two or three fragments that could stand alone.

I was very upfront with every composer saying that this is not going to be used in a conventional way. These are not going to be played in order. They’re going to be interspersed with other works of music as well as the movements of the Bach. There’s not a single new piece that’s played in the order that it was written and there’s not a single Bach suite in this project that is played in its written order. There are six programs I’ve constructed to make musical sense as an entirely original work of art. 

That seems a bit like a Tetris game. You had 27 composers and they each had three fragments, you’re looking at up to 81 different pieces of music that you could place anywhere you wanted. What was the process of figuring out the right match? It seems like at any different time you might have put a different set of pieces together. 

There are certain rules, let’s say, to the game if we’re going to use the Tetris analogy. I knew I was going to construct six programs. The timing was very strict that each one was going to be one hour. Each one had to have a complete Bach Suite in it. Some composers wrote two fragments actually and the timing worked out just fine. Some wrote three. There are a few who wrote one and it was just a longer fragment, but it still worked out just fine.

There’s no Bach movement that’s going to be next to another Bach movement. It’s all going to be interspersed with other music – even though the complete thing will be there. These are my parameters also in constructing the programs. I did a lot of singing and juxtaposing different harmonic languages with another. Sometimes I really wanted to completely contrast the program.

I also had to take myself outside of it. What would I want as an audience member? Has it been too much kind of reflective music? Is it time now for complete shock? Is it time for something to be a continuation of something else or here’s a kind of a mirror image of something that came before it. It was really fun to play with all of that. 

Did you do this from looking at scores or did you have recorded samples so that you could hear what each piece sounded like?

I had to learn the pieces first and internalize them and then I could put the programs together. I couldn’t do it without that. I needed to hear them and kind of feel them in my fingers as well. 

Were these fragments meant to be inspired by the cello suites or could they be completely disassociated?

Several the composers asked me that actually. So it’s a very astute question. My answer always was the only absolute parameter are the timings. If the spirit moves you to be inspired by a Bach suite, by all means go for it. I got back a very wide variety of pieces; some were very obvious direct responses to something that they had heard. Some had absolutely zero to do with Bach at all. And everything in between.

Is there a dialog that you are creating not just with the Bach, but amongst these contemporary composers? 

I think so. There are certain pieces that support others, I think, or that are continuations of what other pieces say. Sometimes I’m creating a real break and a real contrast. Like the way you would hear a like a familiar piece that has a very kind of slash and burn movement followed by something very ethereal. 

I asked everybody to do the same thing and they’re all contemporary classical composers. I wasn’t interested in fusion or in any sort of crossover. I wanted to really celebrate what our art form does really well. Yet within that framework there’s so much variety. Every piece is so different. There’s not a single piece that’s remotely like another one.

That’s another reason for the no programs rule. I just wanted people to experience this music in a primal and hypnotic way. Kind of going back to what made us fall in love with music in the first place; how it how it reaches you without all this kind of context around it. 

In Toronto you played Fragments One and Two. Right now those are the only two on your schedule. What is the plan to roll out the remaining Fragments? 

One, two, three and four will be available next season. Then five and six will be added to that for the 24/25 [season]. So the whole thing will be out for the world to see by that point.

How has your relationship with Bach’s Cello Suites evolved over time as you’ve matured as a person and as a performer?

I’ve been playing the Bach suites for as long as I can remember. The first Bach Prelude, I could play the notes before I could really properly play the cello. As I got older I would kind of play one suite in public. But I thought this was something I was going to do when I was much, much older. I thought I was going to be 75 and have all of this, quote unquote, wisdom, which I couldn’t possibly have as a young, more middle-aged person. 

I started playing them in public in the five years leading up to the recording. I also started doing the Bach marathons – the complete suites in public. I realized that I was never going to be satisfied with the way I was playing them. This was something I had to accept or just not play them at all. I was 37 when I recorded them. It was a snapshot in time. When I’m 50, I’m going to do it again. It’s going to be different and that’s a good thing. 

There’s something about the power of this music that compels audiences to listen to it regularly and attend the marathons you’ve talked about. What is it about Bach’s Cello Suites? 

That’s the mystery, isn’t it? It’s also one of the reasons why they are such a challenge and joy at the same time to play. There is something that is untouchable about the music in the sense that it is very hard to describe. People describe being just viscerally touched by the music. They can’t necessarily tell you why in words, but it’s just something that is so perfect intellectually and yet so naked emotionally. You don’t have to come to the Bach suites with any prior knowledge to be moved by them and that’s just really remarkable. 

What’s remarkable about being on the performance side of it and being the musician who’s getting to express all of that beautiful music? 

This is one of the most amazing experiences. I feel very lucky because I’ve been able to play the complete Bach suites so many times now in concert. The experience of going through that music, which take me about two and a half hours, I just feel completely wrung out intellectually, emotionally, physically by all of it. It’s deeply satisfying to go to all of those places with the suites.

You want the audience to listen and be present with their hearts, their minds and their ears when they experience Fragments. That’s the antithesis of the way we live our very distracted lives right now. What are the challenges that you see, or maybe saw in Toronto, in getting an audience instantly on board with this concept? When were you aware that true listening had taken them over? 

I felt that people were there right away. I’m sure people walked in skeptical. It’s a new concept. I felt that kind of the fantastic tension when a performance is really reaching a kind of universal place. I felt that immediately. In speaking to some people who were very experienced classical listeners, they said it took them about 15 minutes to let go of the desire to want to know exactly who they were hearing. Once they consciously let go they had a totally different experience.

Talking to people who are not experienced classical music listeners, they had absolutely zero issue with this at all. Which gives me a lot of hope. The audience was quite young. Younger than usual. There was a 19-year-old guy who brought his friends with him. They’re not accustomed to classical music concerts at all, but they somehow found themselves there. They were very positive about the concert. They said the staging was super interesting and they were saying some nice things about it. And they said, “But where do they hide the microphones?” This was my favorite comment of the evening. Yes, a cello really can make all of those sounds. It was a completely sincere, well-meaning question. That made my night.

The composers who have contributed new works to FRAGMENTS are: Andy Akiho, Courtney Bryan, Chen Yi, Alan Fletcher, Gabriela Lena Frank, Osvaldo Golijov, Joseph Hallman, Gabriel Kahane, Daniel Kidane, Thomas Larcher, Tania Leon, Allison Loggins-Hull, Missy Mazzoli, Gerard McBurney, Jessie Montgomery, Reinaldo Moya, Jeffrey Mumford, Matthias Pintscher, Gity Razaz, Gili Schwarzman, Caroline Shaw, Carlos Simon, Gabriela Smith, Ana Sokolović, Joan Tower, Mathilde Wantenaar and Paul Wiancko

To see when Alisa Weilerstein and Fragments might be in your city, please go here.

Main Photo: Alisa Weilerstein in the world premiere performance of Fragments in Toronto in January 2023 (Photo by Lisa Sakulensky/Courtesy 21C Media Group)

The post Cellist Alisa Weilerstein Juxtaposes Bach… appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Our top pick, previewed yesterday, is a reading of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart on Saturday. We also have some great jazz music for you (both traditional vocals and a very contemporary performance), a London production of Chekhov that earned rave reviews, a tribute to two of Broadway’s best songwriters, chamber music and a contortionist. After all, it’s Mother’s Day weekend. Don’t all mothers just love contortionists?

Here are the Top 10 Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th

*TOP PICK* PLAY READING: The Normal Heart – ONE Archives Foundation – May 8th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

We previewed this event yesterday as out Top Pick, but here are the pertinent details:

Director Paris Barclay has assembled Sterling K. Brown, Laverne Cox, Jeremy Pope, Vincent Rodriguez III, Guillermo Díaz, Jake Borelli, Ryan O’Connell, Daniel Newman, Jay Hayden and Danielle Savre for a virtual reading of Larry Kramer’s play.

The reading will be introduced by Martin Sheen.

There will be just this one live performance of The Normal Heart. It will not be available for viewing afterwards. There will be a Q&A with the cast and Barclay following the reading. Tickets begin at $10 for students, $20 for general admission.

PLAY READING: Rachel – Roundabout Theatre Company’s Refocus Project – Now – May 7th

Angelina Weld Grimké’s 1916 play Rachel, is the second play in the Refocus Project from Roundabout Theatre Company. Their project puts emphasis on plays by Black playwrights from the 20th century that didn’t get enough attention or faded into footnotes of history in an effort to bring greater awareness to these works.

Rachel tells the story of a Black woman who, upon learning some long-ago buried secrets about her family, has to rethink being a Black parent and bringing children into the world.

Miranda Haymon directs Sekai Abení, Alexander Bello, E. Faye Butler, Stephanie Everett, Paige Gilbert, Brandon Gill, Toney Goins, Abigail Jean-Baptiste and Zani Jones Mbayise.

The reading is free, but registration is required.

JAZZ: Joel Ross & Immanuel Wilkins – Village Vanguard – May 7th – May 9th

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more compelling pairing of jazz musicians than vibraphonist Joel Ross and alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.

The two have been collaborating for quite some time. Wilkins is a member of Ross’ Good Vibes quintet.

Nate Chinen, in a report for NPR, described a 2018 concert in which Ross performed with drummer Makaya McCraven this way. “Ross took one solo that provoked the sort of raucous hollers you’d sooner expect in a basketball arena. Again, this was a vibraphone solo.“

Wilkins album, Omega, was declared the Best Jazz Album of 2020 by Giovanni Russonello of the New York Times.

I spoke to Wilkins last year about the album and his music. You can read that interview here. And if you’re a fan, Jason Moran, who produced the album, told me that this music was “just the tip of the iceberg.”

Tickets for this concert are $10.

PLAY: Uncle Vanya – PBS Great Performances – May 7th check local listings

Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya is performed by a cast headed by Richard Armitrage and Toby Jones. Conor McPherson adapted the play for this production which played at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London and was directed by Ian Rickson.

Arifa Akbar, writing in her five-star review for The Guardian, said of the production:

“Ian Rickson’s exquisite production is full of energy despite the play’s prevailing ennui. It does not radically reinvent or revolutionise Chekov’s 19th-century story. It returns us to the great, mournful spirit of Chekhov’s tale about unrequited love, ageing and disappointment in middle-age, while giving it a sleeker, modern beat.

“McPherson’s script has a stripped, vivid simplicity which quickens the pace of the drama, and despite its contemporary language – Vanya swears and uses such terms as “wanging on” – it does not grate or take away from the melancholic poetry.”

CHAMBER MUSIC: Beyond the Horizon – LA Chamber Orchestra – Premieres May 7th – 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT

This is the 12th episode in LACO’s Close Quarters series and definitely one of its most intriguing. Jessie Montgomery, the composer who curated the previous episode, curates this episode as well. She is joined by her fellow alums from Juilliard, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (who directs) and music producer Nadia Sirota.

The program features Alvin Singleton’s Be Natural (a pun any music major will understand); Mazz Swift’s The End of All That Is Holy, The Beginning of All That is Good and Montgomery’s Break Away.

The performance portion of Beyond the Horizon is conducted by Christopher Rountree of Wild Up! Visual artist Yee Eun Nam contributes to the film as does art director James Darrah.

There is no charge to watch Beyond the Horizon.

CHAMBER MUSIC: MusiKaravan: A Classical Road Trip with Delerium Musicum – The Wallis Sorting Room Sessions – May 7th – May 9th

Music by Johannes Brahms, Charlie Chaplin, Frederic Chopin, Vittorio Monti, Sergei Prokofiev, Giacomo Puccini and Dmitri Shostakovich will be performed by Delerium Musicum founding violinists Étienne Gara and YuEun Kim. They will be joined for two pieces by bassist Ryan Baird.

The full ensemble of musicians that make up Delerium Musicum will join for one of these pieces? Which one will it be? There is only one way to find out.

This concert is part of The Sorting Room Sessions at The Wallis.

Tickets are $20 and will allow for streaming for 48 hours

MOTHER’S DAY OFFERINGS: MOMentum Place and A Catalina Tribute to Mothers – May 8th

Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum is celebrating Mother’s Day with MOMentum Place, a show featuring aerial artists, circus performers, dancers and musicians. The line-up includes circus artist Elena Brocade; contortionist and acrobat Georgia Bryan, aerialist and stilt dancer Jena Carpenter of Dream World Cirque, ventriloquist Karl Herlinger, hand balancer Tyler Jacobson, stilt walker and acrobat Aaron Lyon, aerialist Kate Minwegen, cyr wheeler Sarah Moser and Cirque du Soleil alum Eric Newton, plus Dance Dimensions Kids and Focus Fish Kids. The show was curated by aerlist/dancer Lexi Pearl. Tickets are $35.

Catalina Jazz Club is holding A Catalina Tribute to Mothers at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. Headlining the concert are singers Jack Jones, Freda Payne and Tierney Sutton. Vocalist Barbara Morrison is a special guest. Also performing are  Kristina Aglinz, Suren Arustamyan, Lynne Fiddmont, Andy Langham, Annie Reiner, Dayren Santamaria, Tyrone Mr. Superfantastic and more. Dave Damiani is the host. The show is free, however donations to help keep the doors open at Catalina Jazz Club are welcomed and encouraged.

JAZZ: Love in Exile – The Phillips Collection – May 9th – 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

There is no set program for this performance by pianist/composer Vijay Iyer, vocalist Arooj Aftab and bassist Shazad Ismaily. The website says Love in Exile performs as one continuous hour-long set.

Having long been a fan of Iyer, spending an hour wherever he and his fellow musicians wants to go sounds like pure heaven to me.

Iyer’s most recent album, Uneasy, was released in April on ECM Records and finds him performing with double bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. It’s a great album. You should definitely check it out.

There is no charge to watch this concert, but registration is required. Once Love in Exile debuts, you’ll have 7 days to watch the performance as often as you’d like.

DANCE: Past, Present, Future – ALL ARTS – May 9th – May 11th

ALL ARTS, part of New York’s PBS stations, is holding an three-night on-line dance festival beginning on Sunday.

If We Were a Love Song is first up at 8:00 PM ET on Sunday. Nina Simone’s music accompanies this work conceived by choreographer Kyle Abraham who is collaborating with filmmaker Dehanza Rogers.

Dancers (Slightly Out of Shape) airs on Monday at 8:00 PM ET. This is part documentary/part dance featuring choreographer Pam Tanowitz as she and her company resume rehearsals last year during the Covid crisis. It leads to excerpts from Every Moment Alters which is set to the music of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw.

One + One Make Three closes out the festival on Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET. This film showcases the work of Kinetic Light, an ensemble featuring disabled performers. This is also part documentary/part dance made by director Katherine Helen Fisher.

All three films will be accompanied by ASL and Open Captions for the hearing impaired.

BROADWAY: Broadway Close Up: Kander and Ebb – Kaufman Music Center – May 10th – 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT

You know the work of John Kander and Fred Ebb: Cabaret, Chicago, Flora the Red Menace, Kiss of the Spider Woman, New York New York, The Scottsboro Boys and Woman of the Year.

Their work will be explored, discussed and performed with host Sean Hartley.

He’s joined by Tony Award-winner Karen Ziemba (Contact) who appeared in two musicals by the duo: Curtains and Steel Pier. The latter was written specifically for her.

Any fan of Kander and Ebb will want to purchase a ticket for this show. Tickets are $15

Those are our Top Ten Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th (even if we cheated a little bit by having two options listed together). But there are a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera has their own view of mothers with their theme of Happy Mother’s Day featuring Berg’s Wozzeck on Friday; Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Saturday and Handel’s Agrippina on Sunday.

Puccini returns for the start of National Council Auditions Alumni Week with a 1981-1982 season production of La Bohème. We’ll have all the details for you on Monday.

LA Opera’s Signature Recital Series continues with the addition of a recital by the brilliant soprano Christine Goerke.

One rumor to pass along to you: word has it Alan Cumming will be Jim Caruso’s guest on Monday’s Pajama Cast Party.

That completes all our selections of Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th. I hope all of you who are mothers have a terrific weekend. For those of you celebrating with your moms, I hope we’ve given you plenty of options to consider.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the culture!

Photo: Larry Kramer (Photo by David Shankbone/Courtesy David Shankbone)

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My top pick this week celebrates International Jazz Day. Another significant jazz event this weekend is a concert by Christian Sands. SFJAZZ offers a 2019 concert by Orquesta Akokán on Friday with a re-stream on Saturday.

If jazz isn’t your thing, we’ve got plenty of other options. There are several play readings, a very ambitious new film from the Colburn School in Los Angeles, a couple cabaret performances and a very unique fundraiser that realizes the first three letters in that word are FUN.

Here are my Best Bets: April 30th – May 3rd:

*TOP PICK* JAZZ: 2021 Global All-Star Concert for International Jazz Day – April 30th – 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT

Yesterday we started revealing our Top Pick for the weekend in a sneak peek of the weekend’s Best Bets. So I won’t rehash everything from that column. You can read the full preview here.

Simply put, there aren’t many places where you’ll find performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cyrus Chestnut, Gerald Clayton, Herbie Hancock, Stefon Harris, Angélique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, Antonio Sánchez, Ben Williams and many more from around the world.

The concert is free and can be found on the event’s website, their YouTube channel, Facebook page and more. International Jazz Day’s concert will remain available for viewing for 30 days.

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/DANCE: The Way Forward – Colburn School – Now – May 13th

Few projects would offer the opportunity to see and hear music and performances by Kris Bowers, Johannes Brahms, Aaron Copland, Gabriel Fauré, George Frideric Handel, Thelonious Monk, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Christoph Waltz, Eric Whitacre and thousands of singers, dancers and musicians.

The pandemic-era project was filmed in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Spain and at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

This one-of-a-kind film and it will be available for free streaming. You do have to register on the Colburn School website. The Way Forward will only be available for two weeks.

For those in Los Angeles, there will be one in-person screening of the one-hour film. That screening will take place on Saturday, May 1st at 8:00 PM PT at Thayer Hall at Colburn. Capacity will be limited to 25%. Tickets for this screening are $25 and can be purchased here.

PLAY READING: The Baltimore Waltz – Spotlight on Plays on Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – May 3rd

When playwright Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz opened off-Broadway in 1992, it was immediately acclaimed as a unique way of addressing the AIDS crisis. The play went on to win three Obie Awards for Best New American Play, Best Director and Best Performance (Cherry Jones).

Vogel’s play depicts a real-life situation between a school teacher and her brother.

How the sister chooses to address that he is dying of a terminal disease is at the heart of The Baltimore Waltz. Vogel uses fantasy to take her characters on a journey that is both fanciful and heartbreaking in its inevitable return to reality.

For this reading the cast features Mary-Louise Parker, Eric McCormack and Brandon Burton. Lileana Blain-Cruz directs.

Tickets are $15 with proceeds going to The Actors Fund.

VIRTUAL MUSICAL: Working: A Musical – CATCO – Now – May 9th

When I was a much younger man I remember seeing Working on the PBS series American Playhouse. I was immediately taken in by this collage of interviews and songs. Based on Studs Terkel’s 1974 book  Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, the musical features songs by Stephen Schwartz, Mary Rodgers, James Taylor and more.

The musical received six Tony Award nominations when it opened on Broadway in 1978. It’s run, however, was short. There were only 12 previews and 24 performances.

CATCO in Columbus, OH is presenting a streaming version of the updated 2012 version of the musical that includes contributions from Lin-Manuel Miranda.

This is a perfect musical for the virtual format. I will be interested to see how the show holds up and how Miranda’s revisions help the show.

Working streams only Thursday – Sunday through May 9th. Tickets are $20.

PLAY READING: The Line – Public Theater – Now – June 21st

Great timing for this encore presentation of the Public Theater’s Zoom reading of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s The Line. Their play was constructed by doing interviews with frontline medical workers in New York at the outset of the pandemic.

As restrictions start to loosen around the country, this is a great reminder of the heroism that was required (and still is) to get us through this crisis.

The Line also reflects the personal toll their actions took on their lives. This should be a wake-up call that there is still work to be done by all of us.

Thankfully The Line is thoroughly engrossing. Assisting the storytelling is music by Aimee Mann and Jonathan Coulter (which was produced by Michael Penn).

If you’ve ever experienced The Exonerated by Blank and Jensen you know what powerful storytellers they are.

There is no charge to stream The Line, but registration is required.

PLAY READING: Home – The Refocus Project at Roundabout Theatre Company – April 30th – May 3rd

New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company debuts the first of five readings of little-known plays from the twentieth century by Black playwrights. The first to be streamed is Samm-Art Williams’ Home.

The Negro Ensemble Company first performed the work in 1979. It was critically-acclaimed and it transferred to Broadway in 1980 and earned two Tony Award nominations including Best Play.

The central character, Cephus, tells two women stories from his life. He loves the idea of just staying…home. But circumstances require he travel from his country home to the big city.

The play is a fable that dabbles in elements of realism – like war and racism. Though there are only three actors (Rob Demery, Brittany Inge and Tony nominee Joaquina Kalukango), Williams has his cast perform dozens of characters.

Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon directs.

Mel Gussow, writing for the New York Times, raved about Williams’ writing:

“The play itself is a freshet of good will, a celebration of the indomitability of man, a call to return to the earth. In all respects — writing, direction and performance — this is one of the happiest theatrical events of the, season.”

He went on to say, “More often, with his gift for local language, Mr. Williams seems closer to the spirit of Mark Twain. If Twain were black and from North Carolina, he might have written like Samm‐Art Williams.”

There is no charge to stream Home, but RSVP/registration is required.

CUBAN JAZZ: Orquesta Akokán – SFJAZZ – April 30th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Orquesta Akokán began as a one-time-only recording band to become a touring and live celebration of mambo. So for those who do not want to go gentle into their weekends, this show is for you.

Their performance at SFJAZZ is from June 2019. This big band will have you shaking your groove thing and burning down the house.

Pianist and arranger Michael Ekroth, vocalist José “Pepito” Gómez are joined by members of legendary Cuban bands Irakere and Los Van Van and more as they take to the stage for this show.

Tickets are $5 which allows for a one-month digital membership. If you’re unable to see the show on Friday, there will be an encore streaming on Saturday, May 1st at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. The show will then be available on demand from May 1st – June 30th.

JAZZ: The Christian Sands Trio – Just Jazz – April 30th – 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

LeRoy Downs, host of Just Jazz on KCRW in Los Angeles, is celebrating International Jazz Day with an intimate concert by pianist Christian Sands, drummer Jonathan Pinson and bassist Ben Williams. The concert will be streaming live from Mr. MusicHead Gallery in Los Angeles.

The trio will be joined by special guest trumpeter Theo Croker.

Sands is one of the most exciting young musicians on the jazz scene. This is a concert you won’t want to miss.

If you’d like more information on Downs and his take on jazz in 2021, check out my interview with him here.

Tickets are $20.

CABARET: Chester Gregory: Celebrating the Motown Era – The Wallis Sorting Room Sessions – April 30th – May 2nd

Chester Gregory has been seen on Broadway in the musicals Hairspray!, Tarzan, Cry-Baby, Sister Act and Motown: The Musical where he portrayed Berry Gordy.

That last credit no doubt awakened Gregory’s appreciation for all things that Gordoy accomplished.

He’ll be Celebrating the Motown Era in this weekend’s first of The Wallis Sorting Room Sessions.

The show becomes available at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT and will remain available through Sunday, May 2nd. Tickets are $20 and allow for 48 hours of streaming.

PLAY: The Importance of Being Earnest – L.A. Theatre Works – May 1st – May 31st

Residents of Los Angeles know that in addition to their fine radio play performances, LATW coordinates with HD Live to offer in person viewings of filmed productions from theater companies from around the world.

For the month of May they are making the 2011 Broadway revival of Oscar Wilde’s throughly delightful play available for streaming.

Certainly you know this very funny play about identity and marriage. And why a man would play a woman in it – as is done here.

This production was directed by and starred Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell. Dana Ivey, Paxton Whitehead and Santino Fontana are also in this production which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

Tickets are $15 and allow for viewing anytime within two weeks of purchase.

PLAY READING: We Have to Hurry – Broadway on Demand – May 1st – May 2nd

Elliot Gould and Kathleen Chalfant will perform this new play by Dorothy Lyman. We Have to Hurry is set in a retirement complex in Florida. Gil and Margaret cannot see each other because they and all the residents at the complex are forced to quarantine. They only communicate with each other from their respective balconies.

Gil has fallen in love with Margaret and realizes time is not on their side. Will they have a chance to get together and take a walk on the beach? Unsure of what the future holds for them, time is of the essence.

There are two ways to watch this show. The first is with a general ticket priced at $15. For $25 they have created a virtual stage door where ticket holders can submit questions in advance for Chalfant, Gould and Lyman. Those who purchase that ticket will get a separate Zoom link.

There is one performance on May 1st 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. A second performance takes place on May 2nd at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT. The link above in the title takes you to purchase tickets for the May 1st performance. For tickets to the May 2nd performance, please go here.

PLAY: Shoot Me When… – San Francisco Playhouse – May 1st – May 22nd

I love the premise of Ruben Grijalva’s play. As the two daughters of a woman suffering from dementia, what do you do when you want to honor your mother’s wishes for end of life plans, but she forgets what she agreed to because of her condition?

Susi Damilano directs cast members Blythe de Oliviera Foster, Dan Hiatt, Lorri Holt and Melissa Ortiz.

Tickets are $15 – $100 based on your ability to pay and contribute to the San Francisco Playhouse.

OPERA: Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie – Nationaltheater Mannheim on OperaVision – May 1st – July 31st

Conducted by Bernhard Force; starring Amelia Scicolone, Sophie Rennert, Marie-Belle Sandis, Estelle Kruger and Charles Sy. This Lorenzo Fioroni production was filmed on April 21st and 24th of this year.

Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera had its world premiere in Paris in 1733. The libretto is by Simon-Joseph Pellegrin and is based on Jean Racine’s Phèdre.

Gods and humans are involved in this story of Hippolyte, son of Thésée, the King of Athens and Hippolyte (not Thésée’s wife, that’s Phèdre). Hippolyte falls in love with the wrong woman, Aricie, who is the daughter of his father’s enemy, Pallas. You just know this isn’t going to end well.

I’ve included this production because I do not believe it has previously been available in other productions so far. Frankly it also looks quite interesting!

CABARET: Julian Ovenden: Can’t Help Singing – May 2nd – May 9th

Fans of Bridgerton will want to check out Sir Henry Granville singing. Okay, well it won’t actually be Granville, but it will be actor Julian Ovenden who plays him on the smash series. (Of course if you’re more of a Downton Abbey fan he played Charles Blake. And if you like The Crown, he played Bobby Kennedy in one episode.)

This concert will find Ovenden singing songs by composers and artists he loves including George Gershwin, Michel Legrand and Tom Waits.

Tickets are £12 which at press time equals approximately $17.

CABARET: Andrea McArdle – Seth Concert Series – May 2nd – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

Seth Rudetsky’s guest on this weekend’s Concert Series is the actress who originated the roles of Ashley in the US production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Starlight Express and Margy Frake in the 1993 musical State Fair. She’s also appeared in Les Misérables and Beauty and the Beast.

Of course, she’s best known for introducing the song Tomorrow to us through her Tony-nominated performance as the title character in the musical Annie. Her nomination made her the youngest nominee for Lead Actress in a Musical. (She lost to co-star Dorothy Loudon.)

Tickets are $25 for either this live stream or the replay at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet – The Phillips Collection – May 2nd – 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw teams up with the Attacca Quartet for this performance from The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Their collaboration on the album Orange led to a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Recording.

This concert will feature the world premiere of Imago by composer inti figgis-vizueta. The work was commissioned by The Phillips Collection.

A selection of Shaw’s own compositions (both songs and works for quartet) will also be performed.

There’s no charge for this concert, but you do have to register to be able to see it. The event will remain available for seven days.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Calidore Quartet – Shriver Hall Concert Series – May 2nd – May 9th

Violist Jeremy Berry, cellist Estelle Choi and violinists Ryan Meehan and Jeffrey Myers make up Calidore Quartet. They were founded in 2010 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

For this concert from Baltimore’s Shriver Hall, they will be performing the world premiere performance of Hannah Lash’s new quartet.

Also on the program is Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 15 in G Major and Antonin Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, nicknamed the American Quartet.

Tickets are $15. There is a Q&A after the performance.

BROADWAY FUNDRAISER: Broadway Acts for Women – A Is For – May 2nd – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

This fundraiser puts the fun front and center. This is the realization of a karaoke fantasy for all fans of Broadway.

Ticket holders get to bid on the songs the performers will sing. Martha Plimpton serves as the host.

Who are the performers in this year’s event?

Sara Bareilles, Elizabeth Banks, Annette Bening, Reed Birney, Ashley Nicole Black, Kathryn Brody, Danny Burstein, Ever Carradine, Ariana DeBose, Garret Dillahunt, Eden Espinosa, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Montego Glover, Kelli O’Hara, Josh Hamilton, Michelle Hurd, Jason Isaacs, Amy Landecker, Jenn Lyon, Lesli Margherita, Howard McGillin, Patton Oswalt, Mandy Patinkin, Harold Perrineau, Carrie Preston, Judy Reyes, Annabella Sciorra, Cecily Strong, Jessica Vosk, Steven Weber, Shannon Woodward, BD Wong and Karen Ziemba.

And if you’ve got deep pockets you can also bid on unique auction items that include a voice lesson with O’Hara, cooking class with Ferguson and a private zoom concert with Bareilles.

Broadway Acts for Women will be live streamed from 54 Below in New York. Tickets start at $75 and go up to $300 with different perks along the way.

A is For is a non-profit working to eliminate the stigma of abortion.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Taiwan Philharmonic – Los Angeles County Museum of Art – May 2nd – 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

Works of four Taiwanese composers will be performed in this free streaming concert on Sunday. They are Tyson Hsiao, Yu-Shian Deng, Ching-Mei Lin and I-Uen Wang Hwang.

The concert will be performed by the Taiwan Philharmonic.

Within Taiwan they are as the National Symphony Orchestra. Music Director Shao-Chia Lü will lead the orchestra in this performance.

How often do you get to hear this music? There’s no charge to watch the concert, but you do need to RSVP on the website.

CABARET: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – Cast Party Network – May 3rd – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

This week’s Pajama Cast Party guest list features Anjali Bhimani (Bombay Dreams); James Gish (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical); Alyssa May Gold (the upcoming revival of How I Learned to Drive); singer/bandleader John Malino (with family) and cabaret singer Sue Matsuki.

There is no charge to watch this always delightful show.

However, should you be so inclined, Jim Caruso and Pajama Cast Party accepts donations and makes weekly donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund.

That’s the official list of Best Bets: April 30th – May 3rd, but there are a few reminders:

Covenant by York Walker concludes its run this weekend as part of South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival. For details on the show and the full schedule of plays, please go here.

Two-time Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster’s Bring Me to Light continues from New York City Center. Amongst her guests are Raúl Esparza and Kelli O’Hara. For full details, please go here.

Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope Festival officially ends on Friday, April 30th, but many of the programs will be available for viewing through May 31st. Take a look at my recommendations to see if something might appeal to you.

Sound/Stage from the Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts a new episode on April 30th. The orchestra will perform Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony with Gustavo Dudamel conducting.

This weekend’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera are the 1980-1981 season production of Verdi’s La Traviata on Friday; the 2018-2019 season production of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur on Saturday and the 2008-2009 season production of Puccini’s La Rondine on Sunday.

Next week’s theme at the Met is Happy Mother’s Day and will start with the 2015-2016 production of Strauss’ Elektra. Not my idea of a happy mother, but this production is staggering. Do not miss it!

Do you have enough options for your weekend? Hopefully you have more choices than you have time to watch everything on this week’s Best Bets: April 30th – May 3rd.

Enjoy your weekend!

Photo: Gerald Clayton, who is performing at the 2021 Global All-Star Concert for International Jazz Day (courtesy GeraldClayton.com)

The post Best Bets: April 30th – May 3rd appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

I have to admit, we did sneak in one event that does actually take place live in a parking lot for those in the Los Angeles area. The other 23 are available for streaming from your home. And there’s great stuff, too.

Our two top picks are both holiday-themed, but couldn’t be more different. Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol is an imaginative re-telling of Charles Dickens’ story that is suitable for the entire family. Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! is truly for adults. (And you might want to have your favorite holiday sauce at your side.)

I also have Shakespeare, jazz, dance, opera, Broadway stars and more for you. So let’s get started.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th:

PLAY: Stratford Festival’s Romeo and Juliet – Center Theatre Group – Now – March 7th

If you were unable to catch any of the streaming productions Canada’s Stratford Festival made available ealirer this year, Center Theatre Group is making a few of them available through their Digital Stage+ program (events that are free to donors/subscribers and $10 for non-subscribers).

The first of five Shakespeare plays being made available is Romeo and Juliet.

Antoine Yared and Sara Farb play the star-crossed lovers in Scott Wentworth’s production from 2017.

The Toronto Star said of this production, “At the production’s heart is the freshness and credibility of the relationship between Sara Farb and Antoine Yared as the title characters. They play them as youthful, impulsive, and vivacious, but far from a perfect hero and heroine. There are tantrums, shrieks, and teenage mood swings aplenty, many of which play as welcome moments of comedy. The usually central scenes of their meeting, marriage, and morning-after-consummation are handled swiftly, as pivot points in the driving forward action.”

PLAY: Who’s Holiday! – Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – December 11th – December 15th

The insanely talented Lesli Margherita stars in this one-person show that looks at the Dr. Seuss character Cindy Lou Who forty years after she first met The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The play was written by Matthew Lombardo (Looped) and was written in rhyme to mirror the original story.

Parents should note this is an adult Cindy Lou Who – expect raunchiness and double-entendres.

Margherita won an Olivier Award for her role as Inez in Zorro the Musical. She originated the role of Mrs. Wormwood in Tim Minchin‘s Matilda the Musical. She also appeared in Dame at Sea.

Who’s Holiday! was performed off-Broadway in 2017 and garnered Margherita a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, writing in the New York Times, said of her performance, “More happens, but it is almost besides this hourlong production’s point, which is to watch the brassy, very funny Ms. Margherita strut her stuff in the designer Jess Goldstein’s festive holiday get-up.

She expertly milks the many double entendres and profane limerick-like rhymes, but this cabaret regular is equally comfortable ad-libbing. (After breaking into a rap at the Sunday matinee, she rasped “I’m out of breath” and reached for a cigarette). She also belts a mean ‘Blue Christmas.'”

There is no charge to watch the show. Donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are encouraged.

OPERA: The Five Moons of Lorca – Los Angeles Opera – December 11th – December 25th

Los Angeles Opera launches their digital shorts programs with this new work by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and playwright Nilo Cruz.

The Five Moons of Lorca was inspired by the poet Federico García Lorca’s assassination in the early days of the Spanish Civil War. The short was filmed on the stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Choreography and dancing by Irene Rodríguez.

Frank is a Grammy Award-wining pianist and composer who has been commissioned by such artists as the Kronos Quartet, Yo Yo Ma and Dawn Upshaw. Cruz is the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Anna in the Tropics.

Frank and Cruz have collaborated several times previously including La centinela y la paloma (The Keeper and the Dove), The Saint Maker, Journey of the Shadow and the Conquest Requiem. Their opera, The Last Dream of Frida, was scheduled for its world premiere by the San Diego Opera earlier this year, but that was postponed due to the pandemic.

There is no charge to watch The Five Moons of Lorca. Of course, donations are encouraged.

MUSICAL: Meet Me in St. Louis – Irish Repertory Theatre – December 11th – January 2nd

Vincente Minnelli’s 1944 film, Meet Me in St. Louis, serves as the inspiration for this musical adaptation by Hugh Martin (High Spirits), Ralph Blane (Best Foot Forward) and Hugh Wheeler (Sweeney Todd). The musical made its debut on Broadway in 1989.

Meet Me in St. Louis follows the Smith family in 1903 and follows them through the seasons leading up to the opening of the World’s Fair in 1904.

In addition to the title song, the musical includes The Boy Next Door, The Trolley Song and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Irish Rep in New York has filmed a version of the musical that was adapted and directed by Charlotte Moore who appeared in the Broadway production. She’s assembled a terrific cast that includes Melissa Errico (Amour), Ali Ewoldt (Phantom of the Opera), Jay Aubrey Jones (Porgy and Bess) and Max von Essen (An American in Paris).

There are 31 opportunities to stream Meet Me In St. Louis. The price is listed as “Pay what you can” with a suggested donation of $25.

PLAY: Breathe. – YouTube and Twitch – December 11th – December 13th and December 18th

This one-person show by Philicia Saunders follows her increasing participation in civil rights issues. She was inspired by her mentor, Sweet Alice Harris, a legendary community organizer in the Watts area of Los Angeles and a civil rights tour in Alabama.

In Breathe. Saunders depicts 20 different characters within a show that combines film, live performance, performance art and artistic swimming.

Saunders may be best-known to Star Wars fans for her role as Tabala Zo in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker.

Departing from a lot of programming available now, Saunders will perform Breathe. live on December 11th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST and on December 12th at 6:30 PM EST/3:30 PM PST. Both performances will be on YouTube.

Encore presentations are taking place on December 13th at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST on Twitch. This will also feature a TalkBack with Sweet Alice. A second encore takes place on December 18th on YouTube at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST.

Tickets are available from $5-$50 with proceeds going to Sweet Alice’s Parents of Watts and Community Coalition.

PLAY: Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol – The Soraya – December 11th – December 13th TOP PICK

We are all familiar with Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol and its bitter character, Scrooge. But I can assure you you haven’t seen A Christmas Carol like the one Manual Cinema has put together.

Each live performance (and they are live) combines acting, music, puppets and film to create a one-of-a-kind experience with a twist on the story that will surprise you!

There are six performances available over the weekend. Tickets are $20. I strongly recommend Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol.

PAGEANT PLAY – La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin – Latino Theater Company – December 11th – December 20th

For 18 years, Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company has performed La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin in Los Angeles. The pageant play depicts the story of Juan Diego, a peasant in 1531, who has a vision of the Virgin Mary. Diego’s vision took place in Spanish colonial territory that is now known as Mexico.

Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán (Hopscotch, Carmen) stars in this 2009 filmed performance at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles. She is joined by over 100 actors, singers, Aztec dancers and members of the Los Angeles community. This is performed in English and Spanish.

Evelina Fernández adapted The Nican Mopohua (a mid-16th century text) for La Virgen de Guadalupe. José Louis Valenzuela directed. The director first created the work as a thank you to the community after it supported him during a sleep-in he lead protesting the potential closing of the Los Angeles Theater Center in downtown Los Angeles.

There’s no charge to watch the streaming production and it will be available through December 20th.

CABARET: Merry Christmas Darling: Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter – Laguna Playhouse – December 11th – December 28th

On October 13, 1978 – when the soundtrack to the film version of Grease and albums by The Rolling Stones, Donna Summer and The Who were topping the Billboard charts, A&M records released A Christmas Portrait, an album of holiday songs by The Carpenters.

That was followed by a television special. The record became very popular and ultimately went Platinum. A second album, using outtakes from that recording session, was released two years after Karen’s death in 1983.

The darling of Downey, California is being celebrated in Merry Christmas Darling: Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter. The show is being streamed via the Laguna Playhouse.

Kettenring appeared as Nessarose in the Chicago company of Wicked. She’s toured as Belle in Beauty and the Beast; Anna in The King and I and Penny in Hairspray.

Karen Carpenter had a one-of-a-kind voice. Kettenring sounds terrific even if she’s not Karen. But that doesn’t take away from the pure joy of hearing these songs sung well and remembering everything that made the Carpenters so beloved.

Tickets are $35 can be purchased through December 25th. The show will be available for streaming through December 28th.  

JAZZ: The Klezmatics: Happy Joyous Hanukkah – SFJazz – December 11th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Hanukkah has started and what better way to celebrate than with the Grammy Award-winning ensemble The Klezmatics. Their music is so infectious it is impossible not to be filled with joy – particularly in this concert at SFJAZZ from 2015.

This is part of SFJAZZ’s Fridays at Five series. The concert will only stream once at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST. You’ll need either a one-month membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to stream the concert. That will give you access to additional concerts for the length of your membership.

JAZZ: Dave Holland – Village Vanguard – December 11th – December 12th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Since his start at London’s Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, bassist Dave Holland has made a name for himself in the jazz world. From collaborations with Miles Davis (including Bitches’ Brew), Joe Henderson, Kenny Wheeler through to his work as a bandleader (including the 2005 Grammy Award winner Overtime), Holland is considered one of the best.

His most recent release is this year’s Without Deception which finds him performing with pianist Kenny Barron and drummer Johnathan Blake.

For these two concerts from New York’s Village Vanguard he’ll be joined by Jaleel Shaw on saxophone; Steve Nelson on vibraphone and Obed Calvaire on drums.

Tickets are $10.

CLASSICAL: Stephen Hough Recital – Philharmonic Society of Orange County – December 11th – December 18th

Easily one of the finest classical pianists in the world, Stephen Hough will perform a live recital for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. Critics long ago ran out of superlatives to describe his playing.

The scheduled program finds Hough performing: Bach/Busoni: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004; Schumann: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17; Liszt: Funérailles and Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 51 and Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, mvt. 7, “Träumerei.”

The recital debuts at 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST and will remain available for streaming for one week. Tickets are $20.

DANCE/THEATRE: Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – Center Theatre Group – December 11th – December 13th

Hector Berlioz’s opera Carmen serves as the inspiration for this ballet from Matthew Bourne (all-male swan version of Swan Lake.) Another source of inspiration for Bourne was the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain and its subsequent film versions.

The ballet had its world premiere 20 years ago in Plymouth, England. The Car Man played the Ahmanson Theatre one year later.

Lewis Segal, in his Los Angeles Times review, said of Bourne’s choreography, “Whether he’s evoking the heat, insects and lust of a night when nothing is happening or the surreal frenzy of social dances that barely contain the characters’ primal urges, this is daring, accomplished, uncompromisingly lurid movement theater.

Center Theatre Group and Matthew Bourne have teamed up to make his film of The Car Man available for viewing with five opportunities to see it this weekend. The film of the ballet will stream on Friday at 8:00 PM PST; Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM PST and on Sunday at 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM PST.

Tickets are $10 (whether you are a donor/subscriber or not).

Can you believe we’re halfway through Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th? Let’s keep going.

PLAY: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk – The Wallis – December 11th – December 18th

England’s Kneehigh Theatre originally brought The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk to the Wallis in 2018. Now Kneehigh Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Wise Children bring a film of the show to The Wallis for one week of streaming.

This highly theatrical show portrays the life of painter Marc Chagall and his wife Bella. Through the use of color and imagery mirroring the master painter’s work and music from the Russian Jewish history, this show offers many of the same delights found in other Kneehigh projects such as their Brief Encounter and Tristan and Yseult. Marc Antolin plays Marc Chagall and Audrey Brisson plays Bella. The show was written by Daniel Jamieson and directed by Emma Rice.

When The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk played The Wallis I spoke to Antolin about the show and his role. You can read that interview here.

This is a wonderful show. I strongly recommend seeing it. Tickets are $21.38 (the current exchange rate with the English pound. But it doesn’t not include any additional credit card fees).

PLAY/DANCE/MUSIC/POETRY: KICKBACK – About Face Theatre – December 12th – January 12th

A collection of short plays, dance, music, and poetry make up this online festival from Chicago’s About Face Theatre. The work centers around Blackness and queerness and where those two worlds meet.

For KICKBACK, About Face reached out to numerous artists to create work. The end result features contributions from Dionne Addai, Ky Baity, Keyonna Jackson, Robert Cornelius, Ben Locke, ShaZa (a collaboration between Zahra Baker and Shanta Nurullah), About Face Artistic Associate Paul Oakley Stovall, Michael Turrentine, Cori Wash, Vic Wynter and Rebuild Foundation resident artists Jenn Freeman and avery r. young.

Rebuild Foundation and their collections were made available to the artists who were asked to use their archives as inspiration for their work.

During our turbulent times, it will be fascinating to see what these artists have to say about where we’ve been, where we are and most importantly, where we might be going.

OPERA: La Bohème – San Francisco Opera – December 12th – December 13th Starting 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

Conducted by Giuseppe Finzi; starring Michael Fabiano, Alexia Voulgaridou, Nadine Sierra, Alexey Markov and Christian Van Horn. This John Caird production is from the 2014-2015 season.

Easily one of the most popular operas in the world, Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème had its world premiere in Turin, Italy in 1896. The libretto is by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The opera is based on Henri Murger’s 1851 novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

The story centers on four friends who are unable to pay their rent. Successfully getting out of a potentially bad situation with their landlord, all but one go out on the town. Rodolfo stays home and meets a young woman named Mimi. They fall in love, but Mimi’s weakness may be a sign of something far more life-threatening than they know. (If this sounds like the musical Rent, it is because La Bohème served as Jonathan Larson’s inspiration for that musical.)

San Francisco Opera had two casts performing La Bohème. Joshua Kosman, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, said one performance in this production stood out.

“If one singer left a particularly outsize impression from the weekend’s openings, it was Fabiano, whose performance as Rodolfo made good on the promise of his fine 2011 company debut in Lucrezia Borgia and hinted at even more impressive things to come. This was a full-throated, almost heroic depiction of the moonstruck poet, with muscular sound, impeccably placed high notes and an air of romantic ardor that lent weight and power to everything he sang.”

CLASSICAL: Reaching Dreams Through Music – Lang Lang International Music Foundation – December 12th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST

Classical pianist Lang Lang and his foundation have assembled an illustrious cast for Reaching Dreams Through Music. Joining Lang Lang and his wife will be Stay Human’s Jon Batiste, ballet dancer Misty Copeland, opera singer Renée Fleming, actor/director Ron Howard, musician Wyclef Jean, jazz pianist/vocalist Diana Krall and pop singer Sam Smith.

The purpose of this streaming event is to celebrate the role music plays in our lives and how it has shaped these artists lives since their childhood. In short, if reading is fundamental, music is instrumental in our lives.

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City will also be making an appearance, along with the LLIMF Young Scholars and Junior Music Camp Music Ambassadors.

There is no fee to watch Reaching Dreams Through Music. There was no information available as to how long this program will be available for viewing at press time.

OPERA: Bryn Terfel in Wales – Met Stars Live in Concert – December 12th – 12:00 PM EST/9:00 AM PST

Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is what you’d call a cross-over artist. He’s performed in countless opera productions (you should see him in Don Giovanni if you get the chance), he’s portrayed the title character in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd and he has released albums of songs from his native Wales.

That’s exactly where you’ll find him in this Met Stars Live in Concert performance – specifically Brecon Cathedral.

Joining Terfel are harpist Hannah Stone, pianist Jeff Howard, the Welsh traditional folk group Calan plus soprano Natalya Romaniw and tenor Trystan Llyr Griffiths – two rising young Welsh singers.

The announced program finds a combination of holiday-appropriate songs, music by Gustav Holst, Richard Wagner, Lerner and Loewe and traditional songs.

The show takes place live on Saturday, but will remain available for streaming afterwards. Tickets are $20.

DANCE: Pam Tanowitz Dance – The Joyce Theatre – December 12th – December 26th

Acclaimed choreographer Pam Tanowitz debuts new work live from New York’s The Joyce Theatre on Saturday at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST. You may recall she is the choreographer of Four Quartets in which she collaborated with Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho and American painter Brice Marden on a presentation of T.S. Eliot’s monumental work.

Finally Unfinished: Part 1 was created during the pandemic (with obvious precautions in place) and is set to new music by composer Ted Hearne. It is a site-specific work that utilizes The Joyce Theatre in all its emptiness.

Gustave Le Gray, No. 2 has its New York premiere in this program. Composer Caroline Shaw‘s music for solo piano serves not just as the score for the dance, but also its inspiration.

The dancers are Jason Collins, Brittany Engel-Adams, Christine Flores, Zachary Gonder, Lindsey Jones, Victor Lozano, Melissa Toogood.

Tickets are $13 (including service charges).

OPERA: La Bohème aka The Hipsters – Pacific Opera Project – December 12th – December 13th

Josh Shaw and Pacific Opera Project are back with another drive-in opera for you: their version of Puccini’s La Bohème (I guess it’s La Bohème week). Only their version, as you would expect, is not going to be traditional.

Several years ago Shaw updated Puccini’s opera to present-day and gave the opera a subtitle, The Hipsters. He’s been reworking it again so that the opera takes place between Christmas Eve 2019 and November 2020. I wonder what significant events might inspire him since Act 3 is in April of 2020 and Act 4 appears timed to the elections.

No longer will you find the bohemian characters Puccini introduced to the world. These hipsters are a graphic designer, a screenwriter, an English major, an indie-rocker and a fashion designer.

The cast includes Arnold Livingston Geis as Rodolfo, Oriona Falla as Mimi, Ben Lowe as Marcello, Maria Dominique Lopez as Musetta, E. Scott Levin as Schaunard, Keith Colclough as Colline, and Luvi Avendano in the roles of Benoit, Alcindoro and Parpignol.

The socially-distanced performances take place in the parking lot of the Camarillo United Methodist Church at 5:30 PM. Tickets are $65-$175 per car (there are sections just as there would be in an opera house).

CABARET: Shoshana Bean – Sing Your Hallelujah – For the Record Live at the Apollo Theatre – 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST

Singer/actress Shoshana Bean sold out New York’s Apollo Theatre the last two years in a row. The pandemic made a trifecta impossible, so what’s a girl to do? Film a special there. That’s exactly what Bean has done with Sing Your Hallelujah which is being streamed on Saturday night.

The show was inspired by the holiday television specials some of us grew up with (or maybe you experienced A Holly Dolly Christmas earlier this week).

Joining Bean for the show are Gavin Creel (Tony Award-winner for Hello, Dolly!), tap dancer Jared Grimes, Jeremy Jordan (The Last Five Years), singer Shayna Steele, Connie Talbot (Britain’s Got Talent Finalest) and Daniel J. Watts (Tony Award-nominee for his performance as Ike in Tina – The Tina Turner Musical). David Cook serves as Music Director.

Tickets start at $30 with various VIP packages also available that will include a Q&A hosted by Sara Bareilles.

PERFORMANCE: Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! – CAP UCLA – December 12th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST TOP PICK

Two years ago, after rocking my world with A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Taylor Mac returned to Los Angeles to perform Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce. Mac, who prefers judy as the preferred pronoun, brought to CAP UCLA at Royce Hall a holiday concert like no other.

judy is back in a pandemic version of this holiday show which has been safely produced to skewer our world this holiday season. Fans of Mac will know to expect wildly imaginative costumes (by designer Machine Dazzle), uniquely arranged songs (with the assistance of Music Director Matt Ray) and definitely an adult take on everything. This is NOT family friendly material. Unless, of course, you’re “family.”

Mac was the named a MacArthur Fellow and this year became the first American to win the International Ibsen Award. American Theatre Magazine says the award is considered “the Nobel Prize for theatre.”

Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic will only stream once. Tickets require a minimum of $25 with proceeds going to CAP UCLA.

CLASSICAL: Jeremy Denk Recital – 92nd Street Y – December 13th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST

If you didn’t get a chance to see pianist Jeremy Denk‘s recital from Caramoor in October, he’s performing the same program from New York’s 92nd Street Y on Sunday.

The program is scheduled to include: Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Minor, K 457; Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins’s The Battle of Manassas; Joplin/Chauvin’s Heliotrope Bouquet; Tania León’s Ritual; Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 32 in C Minor, Op. 111.

You’ll get two classical period compositions, ragtime, the work of a young Black man during The Civil War and the work of two contemporary composers. How’s that for diverse?

Tickets are $15.

OPERA: Pasión Latina – Lyric Opera of Chicago – December 13th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Music from Argentina, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain is on tap in this concert starring soprano Ana María Martínez that will premiere on Sunday on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Martínez has appeared at LA Opera in the title role of Carmen and in the title role of Madama Butterfly with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Those are just two of her many roles she’s performed around the world.

Joining Martínez in Pasión Latina are Mexican-American tenors René Barbera and David Portillo; Mexican tenor Mario Rojas, Mexican-American bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba; Mexican soprano Denis Vélez and Puerto Rican baritone Ricardo José Rivera.

The singers will be accompanied on piano by Ryan Opera Center music director Craig Terry and Ensemble pianist Chris Reynolds. The show concludes with a concert segment in which the singers are joined by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

This concert is free.

CHORAL: Broadway Inspirational Voices: A Season of Hope and Inspiration – December 13th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

What began as the Broadway Gospel Choir in 1994 has become an acclaimed ensemble that has captured the hearts of all those who hear them sing. Broadway Inspiration Voices is a music group that has members of Broadway and off-Broadway shows – whether singers or musicians – as their members.

Last year BIV was awarded a Special Tony for Excellence in Theatre.

This Sunday they are live streaming A Season of Hope and Inspiration. As it is a live stream, this will only be shown live as scheduled.

You won’t want to miss this concert. Take a look at who’s joining them: guest appearances by Debbie Allen, Gavin Creel, Montego Glover, Celia Rose Gooding, Angela Grovey, Marva Hicks, LaChanze, Telly Leung, Lisa Lynne Mathis, Audra McDonald, Michael McElroy, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Karen Olivo, John Eric Parker, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Robinson, Jeanine Tesori, Leslie Uggams, Schele Williams and Vanessa Williams.

There will also be performances featuring Shoshana Bean, Crystal Monee Hall, Marcus Paul James, Patti LuPone, Leslie Odom Jr., Billy Porter, Daniel J. Watts, and hundreds of guest artists from Broadway, U.S. National tours, London’s West End, and Australia.

You can watch the concert for free, but you do need to register for it. you can also make donations to Broadway’s Inspiration Voices and also purchase a VIP experience that allows for some pre-show fun.

We’ve come to the end of Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th. With so many options from which to choose, I’m not going to add any reminders. If you are curious, check out our This Week in Culture section on the main page or the Now Playing section.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Have a great weekend and enjoy these Best Bets at Home: December 11th -December 13th.

Photo: Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past from Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol (Courtesy of The Soraya)

The post Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Niv Ashkenazi: Violins of Hope – The Soraya Facebook Page – April 17th – 7 PM EDT/4PM PDT

Violins of Hope is a program celebrating the recovery and restoration of over 60 stringed instruments from the Holocaust. They were restored by Amnon Weinstein, and his son, Avshalom, in Tel Aviv.

The Soraya had scheduled several events around the Violins of Hope, but those have been postponed due to the pandemic. While they have been rescheduled for early 2021, Niv Ashkenazi will give a concert on one of those violins on Friday.

Ashkenazi is the only musician in North America who has been loaned one of these precious instruments. He recently released an album entitled, appropriately enough, Niv Ashkenazi: The Violins of Hope.

For this live streaming event, Ashkenazi will perform the “Theme from Schindler’s List” by John Williams, “The Chassid” by Julius Chajes, an improvisation on Ernest Bloch’s “Baal Shem, II. Nigun” and George Perlman’s “Dance of the Rebbitzen.”

Prior to the performance, The Soraya’s Executive Director Thor Steingraber will conduct a conversation with Ashkenazi about Violins of Hope and his recording.

Celebrating 25 Magical Years of Disney on Broadway – BroadwayWorld – April 17th – 7 PM EDT/4 PM PDT

Last November, Disney celebrated a quarter century of musicals on Broadway with a concert at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York. The event was a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

That concert, which featured veteran cast members from Disney’s many shows, is being streamed as an additional fundraiser for BC/EFA, but this time for their Covid-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. There is no charge to watch the show, but they are asking for donations.

As you probably know, Disney has had many a blockbuster musical on Broadway. Their shows include Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, AIDA and Frozen.

Amongst the performers at this concert are Sierra Boggess, Norm Lewis and Sherie Renee Scott from The Little Mermaid, Christian Borle and Ashley Brown from Mary Poppins, Kerry Butler and Susan Egan from Beauty and the Beast, Merle Dandrige, Mandy Gonzalez and Adam Pascal from AIDA, James Monroe Iglehart, Adam Jacobs and Michael James Scott from Aladdin plus a reunion of cast members from Newsies.

Additional participants include Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Whoopi Goldberg (the original film version of The Lion King), Ashley Park (Mean Girls) and more.

Soft Power Listening Party – Public Theater NY YouTube Channel – April 17th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT

When Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s musical-within-a-play Soft Power played the Ahmanson Theatre in 2018 it proved to be a wholly unique way of telling a story through both a play and a musical. I loved it.

The show was reworked and opened at The Public Theater in New York and that cast recored the show. Soft Power was just made available on Ghostlight Records in the digital and streaming formats.

To celebrate the release, some of the cast and the creators of the show are holding a listening party on The Public Theater’s YouTube channel. They are also raising funds for both The Public Theater and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Phantom of the Opera – The Show Must Go On YouTube Page – April 17th – beginning at 2 PM EDT/11 AM PDT for 48 hours

Andrew Lloyd Webber continues to make performances of his musicals available for 48 hours with this version of his blockbuster musical The Phantom of the Opera.

This production stars Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Cristine Daaé and Hadley Fraser Raoul. Nick Morris and Laurence Connor directed this 25th Anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

Attaca Quartet performs Caroline Shaw’s Orange – The Greene Space YouTube Page

If you aren’t familiar with composer Caroline Shaw, this is a great opportunity to get introduced to her work. Orange, performed here by the Attaca Quartet, is one of Shaw’s highly-acclaimed works. Their recording of Orange won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Musical/Small Ensemble Performance.

Shaw is the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Partita for 8 Voices.

This performance comes from a 2019 performance at WNYC/WQXR’s The Greene Space.

TCM Classic Film Festival: Special Home Edition – Turner Classic Movies – Now – April 20th

The annual TCM Classic Film Festival had to be canceled due to the ongoing crisis. However, they have moved the festival from Hollywood to your living room. For fans of theatre and jazz there are a few options worth checking out (whether you have never seen them or want a chance to revisit them!) Note that some are not showing at convenient times (unless you are an insomniac) so set your DVR.

Grey Gardens – April 18th 1:30 AM EDT/April 17th 10:30 PM PDT

This is the documentary that inspired the Tony Award-winning musical. The Maysles Brothers (Albert and David) made an utterly compelling film about Jackie Kennedy’s aunt, Edith Bouvier Beale (79) and cousin, Edith ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier Beale (56). They live in a completely rundown mansion on Long Island with no running water that is filled with multiple animals including numbers cats and raccoons in the attic.

The Man with the Golden Arm – April 18th 6:00 AM EDT/3:00 AM PDT

This 1955 film by Otto Preminger makes our list because Elmer Bernstein’s score is so driven by jazz. Not the first film to use jazz as the style of a film score, but certainly one of the best.

Frank Sinatra stars as an ex-junkie who returns home after half-a-year in prison. While in prison he not only got clean, but learned to play drums. Upon his return he has to face the real world and whether or not he has fully recovered from his heroin addiction.

Both Sinatra and Bernstein were Oscar-nominated for their work on this film. Another reason to check out the film is Saul Bass’s amazing title sequence.

Mame – April 19th 3:30 PM EDT/12:30 PM PDT

This is the classic Rosalind Russell film from 1958 that is truly essential viewing. Mame tells the same story as Jerry Herman’s musical (and the subsequent disaster of a film of that musical with Lucille Ball), but Russell’s performance here is superb. Fans of the musical will want to check out this film. In our troubled times perhaps we can all take some sage advice from our dear Auntie Mame.

Singin’ in the Rain – April 19th 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

One of Hollywood’s best musicals ever and recently on the list of best films to watch during the pandemic. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds star. Watch this film and you’ll be singing “Good Morning” on Monday.

Victor, Victoria – April 20th 3:30 AM EDT/12:30 AM PDT

Blake Edwards’s 1982 film musical was, of course, the basis for the Broadway musical. Julie Andrews stars as a woman, pretending to be a man, pretending to be a woman, who becomes a singing sensation in Paris. But she has to maintain the disguise just as she falls in love with a gangster played by James Garner.

The film also stars a phenomenal Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren and Alex Karras.

The songs were written by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse.

The Verdi Chorus: The Force of Destiny – The Verdi Chorus Website and Facebook Page – April 18th – 10:30 PM EDT/ 7:30 PM PDT

Forced to cancel their planned April 18th concert, The Verdi Chorus is going to stream their first online concert: The Force of Destiny. This was their 2018 concert that featured selections from Verdi’s La forza del destino, Nabucco and La Traviata. It also included music from Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.

Joining the Verdi Chorus are Shana Blake Hill, soprano, Karin Mushegain, mezzo-soprano, Alex Boyer, tenor and baritone Ben Lowe.

Treasure Island – National Theatre Live’s YouTube Page – Now – April 23rd

Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel has been given a couple twists for this 2014 stage version. First of all, Jim, is played by actress Patsy Ferran. There is music and songs by Dan Jones with additional songs by John Tams.

But the reviews were extraordinary. Arthur Darvill (of Dr. Who) plays Long John Silver. Polly Findlay directed the play. Tim van Someren directed the film. Treasure Island runs 1 hour 50 minutes.

Buyer and Cellar – Broadway.Com – April 19th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT

Actor Michael Urie has performed Jonathan Tolin’s Buyer and Cellar countless times. It’s a perfect role for him as the man who attends to Barbra Streisand’s personal shopping mall in her Malibu home. Of course, this isn’t a true story, but what if it was?

On Sunday Urie will perform the show from his own home as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Covid-19 Emergency Assitance Fund. The performance will stream on Broadway.Com.

This is a thoroughly entertaining show and well worth your time.

***Don’t forget there is also Madama Butterfly on April 17th, Adriana Lecouvreur on April 18th and Der Rosenkavalier on April 19th – each available for 23 hours beginning at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT at the Metropolitan Opera’s website.

Another reminder that WNET is making five different Great Performances available. For details you can go here.

Photo: The company of Treasure Island (Photo by Johan Persson/Courtesy of National Theatre Live)

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: April 17th – 19th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Camerata Pacifica is making many of these videos easy to watch at home. So for all you chamber music fans wondering how to pass time at home during our present crisis, these offerings are the cultural equivalent of a fine dining menu. You’ve got Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart. But you also get Golijov, Ives, Reich, Shaw and more from which to choose.

Take a look and have a listen. And don’t blame us if you find that hours have passed once you get started exploring.

Auerbach: F Major and D minor Preludes for Cello and Piano (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaXA_j65yXY&feature=youtu.be)

Bach: Fugue from BWV 1001, Ji Hye at SpeakEasy
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIbiTwS1cTg&feature=youtu.be)

Bach: Goldberg Variations for String Trio, arr. Sitkovetsky
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb3UbxdLvfk&feature=youtu.be)

Barber: Molto Adagio, from String Quartet, Op. 11
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuKxdBD05z8&feature=youtu.be)

Bax: Quintet for Oboe and Strings
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3unP7LDOpI&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: “Archduke” Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezRNLXBbB8Q&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: “Archduke” Trio, Op. 97 (Excerpt)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xfFlPRgIU&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Clarinet Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1QU3rOR4ek&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Quintet for Piano & Winds, Op. 16, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IKEhUpR9X0&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRMn03R-Q1E&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-M8TrkXFyc&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: String Trio, Op. 9, No. 3, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcpev0cvIgE&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvzBD5JaRy0&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Violin Sonata in G Major, Op. 96, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjsvXPDxwLo&feature=youtu.be)

Bennett: After Syrinx II
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgTNje8Fmio&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Cello Sonata in E minor, Op. 38, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACrT2qsrFZs&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115, Adagio
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJwVbkBeAjk&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 26 (excerpt)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfhlFJel5NU&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8, 3rd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBxRosvVsOk&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8, 4th Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPxa8_O3svc&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: String Quintet No. 3 in G Major, Op. 111, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8-MpbX7aX8&feature=youtu.be)

Britten: Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 6
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlxmyPzrYe8&feature=youtu.be)

Bruce: The Consolation of Rain
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to0tDlSIgHo&feature=youtu.be)

Bruce: Steampunk
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVowWXGXqrE&feature=youtu.be)

Caplet: Conte fantastique
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9XidhQ8r0&feature=youtu.be)

Clarke: Viola sonata, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_vWlCsV0eg&feature=youtu.be)

Deane: Mourning Dove Sonnet
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O74R5Qe65QE&feature=youtu.be)

Debussy, Bennet, Xenakis, Takemitsu
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiZjrUXgFE8&feature=youtu.be)

Debussy: Violin Sonata
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rfnXyyJxgM&feature=youtu.be)

Destenay: Trio in B minor for Piano, Oboe, and Clarinet, Op. 27
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEguxmzEBGo&feature=youtu.be)

Dring: Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Piano, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAgu-E-jDnE&feature=youtu.be)

D’Rivera: Bandoneon
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3vYTo-Dxxk&feature=youtu.be)

Dvořák: F Minor Piano Trio, Op. 65, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A46GxwPu8Ho&feature=youtu.be)

Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRwoatWsrdM&feature=youtu.be)

Ginastera: Sonata para Piano No. 1, Op. 22
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5awsOew-RZg&feature=youtu.be)

Golijov: “Mariel”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0tLcieXiH4&feature=youtu.be)

Gounod: Petite Symphonie
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFLaYc2_wKc&feature=youtu.be)

Grieg: Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 45, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cO4oK3fFx4&feature=youtu.be)

Haas: Suite for Oboe and Piano, Op. 17
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9L79GJE4jk&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: Songs America Loves to Sing
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icd047CxPak&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: String Trio, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItX_ks3lyiA&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: String Trio, World Premiere
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnNnhlSSQ0w&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: Wind Quintet, Movements 2 & 3
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB0-Y5LlXAY&feature=youtu.be)

Haydn: G Major Trio, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJczu0kWakg&feature=youtu.be)

Howell: Oboe Sonata
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzexHEVus7k&feature=youtu.be)

Ives: Piano Sonata No.2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgMSSktwnEg&feature=youtu.be)

Janacek: Violin Sonata, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB7YTH2VQlo&feature=youtu.be)

Kraft: Encounters V, “In the Morning of the Winter Sea”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7aIPSNGBwA&feature=youtu.be)

Liszt: Transcendental Etude No. 1
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dNQ7I3yfZM&feature=youtu.be)

Liszt: Transcendental Etudes
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykmURwwchy8&feature=youtu.be)

Loeffler: 2 Rhapsodies
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJCSle5UyQ&feature=youtu.be)

Loeffler: 4 Poems for Voice, Viola, and Piano
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yQ00n2rthw&feature=youtu.be)

Loeffler: Rhapsody, “L’Etang”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxBHoblKsCs&feature=youtu.be)

Louys: “Bilitis”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo89ELziZ38&feature=youtu.be)

Messiaen: Appel Interstellaire
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN8lZpBrIQ8&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Adagio for Cor Anglais and Strings, K 580a
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5L-cydVU50&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Divertimento in E-flat Major, K 563, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TlDd3j5RJc&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Divertimento in E-flat Major, K 563, 4th Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvJp2n9GVSI&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Duo for Violin and Viola in G Major, K. 423
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JdVBULKACg)

Mozart: “Kegelstatt” Trio
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvMwYKyo5IM&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Oboe Quartet
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAg_wJGqCZQ&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Serenade in C minor, K 388
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6iSGBNdqSw&feature=youtu.be(

Mozart: Violin Sonata in A, K. 526, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nz11qNjzPQ&feature=youtu.be)

Novacek: Four Rags for Two Jons
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJ0PXgLUOY&feature=youtu.be)

Puts: And Legions Will Rise
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S72yr47IaRM&feature=youtu.be)

Rabl: Four Songs, Op. 5
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t7vXfEoSjw&feature=youtu.be)

Reich: Sextet
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zKgf3H5-Bo&feature=youtu.be)

Reinecke: Flute Sonata, “Undine”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TtJHBWtsLg&feature=youtu.be)

Richards: de Stamparare
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrbC0ou_8mI&feature=youtu.be)

Rubinstein: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 49, 2nd Movement, Andante
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sZC-SXBM38&feature=youtu.be)

Ruo: To the 4 Corners, Scene 1
()

Ruo: To the 4 Corners, Scene 2 Pt. 1
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d_p7b84f08&feature=youtu.be)

Ruo: To the 4 Corners, Scene 2 Pt. 2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc5XLEM21tI&feature=youtu.be)

Saint-Saens: Fantasie for Violin and Harp, Op. 124
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JdVBULKACg&feature=youtu.be)

Sarasate: Romanza Andaluza
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJXrpjlC-Qo&feature=youtu.be)

Schubert: Divertimento
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZO5wCp4eAc&feature=youtu.be)

Schubert: E-flat Major Piano Trio, D929, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqxzhRTCnJA&feature=youtu.be)

Shaw: “Boris Kerner”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iicAvn6oVls&feature=youtu.be)

Sheng: “Hot Pepper”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y7Sp1G4IMk&feature=youtu.be)

Stanford: 3 Intermezzi, Op. 13
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE49Swkyt38&feature=youtu.be)

Turina: Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 67, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMeKVr6nXNg&feature=youtu.be)

Turina: Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 67, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_kuyoPBCYo&feature=youtu.be)

Turina: Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 67, 3rd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3jcdQjegj4&feature=youtu.be)

Vine: Inner World
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAO5nkNRvy8&feature=youtu.be)

Wiegold: “Earth, Receive an Honoured Guest”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVtN1SG8zHg&feature=youtu.be)

Wilson: Dreamgarden
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rheRF2zeQ4&feature=youtu.be)

Wilson: Spilliaert’s Beach
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6OXTfTEAEI&feature=youtu.be)

Wolfgang: Vine Street Express
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTv1_uZJDqI&feature=youtu.be)

Ysaÿe: Solo Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 27 “Georges Enescu”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJV__jdxI74&feature=youtu.be)

Zemlinksy: Lied for Cello and Piano
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13fcG8CH0_o&feature=youtu.be)

So what’s on your playlist?

Photo: Camerata Pacifica – Krisitin Lee, Jason Uyeyama, Ani Aznavoorian, Richard Yongjae O’Neill & Jose Franch-Ballester 3/9/18 MAW Hahn Hall (Courtesy of Camerata Pacifica)

The post Are You Missing Chamber Music? appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Yanga was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic. Ortiz is based in Mexico City and has written music for chamber orchestras, solo instruments, large orchestras, operas and also film scores.

It is interesting that the works of two female composers were chosen to have their world premieres prior to Beethoven’s 9th with the LA Philharmonic this year. Shaw didn’t know that Observatory would be paired with the symphony, but Ortiz was specifically told to compose something joyous because it was on a program with this work.

Gustavo Dudamel will lead the performance. Ortiz’s work will add the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble to the LA Philharmonic. For the Beethoven the soloists are Golda Schultz, soprano; Tamara Mumford, mezzo; Mario Chang, tenor and James Rutherford, bass-baritone. The orchestra will also be joined by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Is it possible to get tired of a work as beautifully composed with such a joyous expression of life in it as Beethoven’s 9th? I can’t imagine that possibility. No doubt this symphony will be the main attraction, but once again, I’m most excited about the world premiere.

Later this week we will have an interview with Ortiz about the work and its inspiration.

At press time, the website for the LA Philharmonic did not have a link to single tickets for this concert. Please contact the box office.

Bust of Beethoven by Hugo Hagen/Photo by W.J. Baker

The post The Beethoven Ninth with Dudamel appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Shaw is a composer, violinist, vocalist who became the youngest person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music when she was awarded the prize for Partita for 8 Voices 2013. She has also collaborated with Kanye West which brought her to the Hollywood Bowl for the first time.

Which such acclaim it was inevitable that a slew of commissions would follow.

A journalist for The Guardian was mistaken when she quoted Shaw as saying she had some “18 or 19 pieces to write.” At the time the composer was talking about commissions for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. But when we spoke by phone about Observatory, she clarified her present workload.

“The things in my folder to come around to is around fifteen,” she says. “They all exist in different states. I’m usually not actively writing something for more than one piece at a time. I’ll be thinking a year or two ahead and laying the groundwork for the concept of the piece. Then I dive in in a concentrated period of time.”

Her decision-making process is pretty straightforward. “My biggest priority is to keep a well-balanced diet. I know that this year I wrote two pieces for orchestra. That’s not normally what I do, nor does it come as easily as writing for voices and string quartet. I will balance that out by not doing as much [large orchestra pieces] in the next couple of years.”

One of those pieces was Observatory. At the time of the commission she had no idea she would be opening for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

“I sort of feel like I already wrote my composition to go with Beethoven’s 9th with a piece for choir and brass which was meant to be paired with the 9th. I’m not sure if I had any guidelines except length which was 15-20 minutes. This clocks in at 18. I’ve never written for a full orchestra. No double winds. No extensive percussion. This one I grew it out a bit more.”

In the program notes Shaw references cosmologist Kendrick Smith who feels that knowing our place in the universe is important for us to learn. In spite of, or because of that reference, Shaw effortlessly avoids attaching any specific description or philosophy construct to her work - Observatory included.

“I don’t want to call this piece something that defines what it means to be in the universe. We like to sometimes assign narratives to things that maybe are ambiguous. My own bulls** meter goes off pretty quickly if I sense I’m saying something that isn’t exactly true. Sometimes that narrative can be spun out and solidified. The truth is writing music is a very strange thing to do and I think life is too short not to think on a very large cosmic scale.”

In those same notes she talks about science fiction storytelling as a source of inspiration.

“Science fiction is all about telling the largest stories through the smallest parts or vice-versa. That was part of the construction of this piece in its larger scale form and its small motives. Maybe this piece, more than others, has some allegorical elements, but I’m very wary of revealing them or talking about them because it can make them too direct. I’d rather leave it for someone to write their own story.”

Like any composer, sitting in an audience when your work has its first performance is an utterly nerve-wracking experience for Shaw, which is where she first hears the stories others have created.

“Being in the audience for a premiere is pretty harrowing. I’m excited and scared. The hardest part is when audience members don’t know you are the composer and they talk about how they feel. It’s flattering when they like it and uncomfortable when they don’t. There’s something in an interview that Stephen Sondheim said that ‘on the night of a premiere, don’t say anything bad to my face.’ It’s so rare to get honest criticism and feedback. I really cherish that and it’s hard to find.”

Given the title of her piece, we concluded our conversation by talking about something Henry Ward Beecher wrote in Life Thoughts. “The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope.”

“That’s so beautiful,” she responds. “It makes me think when you are looking out and you are looking for something. You aren’t just looking for the dots in the sky or the data, you are looking at yourself. It’s the same kind of storytelling you tell about something else, but you are telling about yourself. Or sci-fi is talking about aliens, but is telling about the smallest details of human relationships.

“I like that quote. I don’t know if I agree or disagree with it. I believe very strongly in imagination. I think people are much more imaginative and creative than they think they are. As kids we are all making up stories and imagining things at the same time. At a certain point you start to believe that some people are creative and some people are not. I don’t think that’s true at all. I think you can develop a personal practice that celebrates one’s own imagination and I think that’s why I write music. It challenges me to keep working on that part of myself.”

For tickets for Tuesday night go here.

For tickets for Thursday night go here.

Photos by Kait Moreno/Courtesy of carolineshaw.com

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July 23rd: Dudamel Conducts Mahler’s 2nd

If there was any doubt that Gustavo Dudamel was a master of Gustav Mahler’s music, his final appearances of the 2018/2019 season at the Walt Disney Concert Hall erased all that. The performances of the composer’s Symphony of a Thousand in late May and early June were transcendent. Though he previously lead this massive work at the Shrine Auditorium with a much larger group of musicians, the smaller ensemble combined with the more intimate space (and significantly better acoustics) at Walt Disney Concert Hall made these concerts infinitely more emotional.

On Tuesday, July 23rd, Dudamel will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 – also know as Resurrection. Mahler wrote this symphony over a period of six years. It had its world premiere in 1895.  Like much of his work, this symphony examines afterlife and resurrection – thus the title.

The symphony typical runs about 85 minutes. Joining the LA philharmonic will be the Los Angeles Master Chorale and soloists Miah Persson and Anna Larsson. It should be noted that Larsson made her professional debut in 1997 with this work.

July 25th: Dudamel and Yuja Wang

You don’t have to wait very long for my second selection. This concert opens with Barber’s Adagio for Strings. If the name isn’t familiar, it’s the piece of music used by director Oliver Stone in Platoon. The concert concludes with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. But the main attraction here is the return of pianist Yuja Wang to play Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? This is the piano concerto by John Adams that had its world premiere at Walt Disney Concert Hall this season on March 7th. (In a rather ironic note, it was paired with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1)

Since the four performances in March, Wang and the LA Philharmonic have toured with this work. No doubt the multiple performances now completed will have created a greater familiarity with this very complicated work. Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? was amazing on first listen. I’m looking forward to hearing a more seasoned performance at the Bowl.

August 6th: Mozart Masterworks

In May of this year, the LA Philharmonic performed Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony (No. 41). Now conductor Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra have their turn with the piece. This was the last symphony Mozart completed.

What was uncompleted at the time of his death is the work that many consider to be his true masterwork: Requiem. There remain multiple questions about who ultimately commissioned this work and who completed it. But what isn’t in question is how absolutely powerful and moving it is. If you’ve seen the film Amadeus, it is the work Mozart is trying to finish on his deathbed.

Hearing the Requiem outdoors at the Hollywood Bowl, particularly on a warm night with no planes overhead (if we’re lucky), will be a transcendent experience.

August 20th: Peter and the Wolf

I know what you’re thinking – really? Peter and the Wolf? This all-Russian evening features two works by Tchaikovsky: Waltz from Sleeping Beauty  and Orchestral Suite No. 4 “Mozartiana.” Also on the program is Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia.

But the highlight is certain to be Prokofiev’s very familiar Peter and the Wolf. What makes this performance so appealing is the inclusion of Blind Summit Theatre, a London-based puppet-centric theatre.

Rather than paraphrase their approach to Peter and the Wolf, let me quote directly from their website. “A Socialist-Realist Puppet-Peter leads a cast of masked dancers in a semi-staging of one of the world’s most popular pieces of classical music. This simple, charming tale of a boy who captures a wolf, introduces young audiences to the instruments of the orchestra and teaches them how to be a good communist.”

In other words, this is not going to be Peter and the Wolf as you’ve known it. This will be a unique and challenging presentation of a work that is perhaps too familiar to us all.

Bramwell Tovey will be leading the LA Philharmonic in this concert.

August 27th and 29th: Beethoven’s Ninth

Now you’re probably asking yourself, why is he picking so many familiar works? As much as I love Beethoven’s majestic Symphony No. 9, that isn’t the reason I’ve picked this concert. Like Mozart’s Requiem, hearing this symphony outdoors at the Bowl should be a real treat.

However, I chose the concert because also on the program is the world premiere of a new work by composer Caroline Shaw.  In 2013 Shaw became the youngest person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music (for her work, Partita for 8 Voices). She recently appeared with composer Nico Muhly as part of his evening at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel.

Little information is available about this new composition except that it was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic. I don’t have a title, a run time, or any details. But it doesn’t matter. Shaw is so compelling a composer that I’d like to believe there are two performances of this program because of the overwhelming desire to hear her new work. But I know it’s the Beethoven. Though he never got to hear Shaw’s work, I’m sure he’d be thrilled to be her closing act.

Xian Zhang will conduct the LA Philharmonic. Soloists for the Beethoven include Anita Hartig – soprano; Jennifer Johnson Cano – mezzo-soprano; Toby Spencer – tenor and Michael Sumuel – bass. The LA Master Chorale will also join this performance.

For tickets to any of these concerts go here.

Main photograph: Gustavo Dudamel conducts at the Hollywood Bowl. (Photo by Adam Latham)

All images courtesy of the LA Philharmonic Association unless otherwise noted.

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Muhly has assembled a program that includes his collaboration with Thomas Bartlett on Peter Pears: Balinese Ceremonial Music. This album was released in 2018 by Nonesuch Records. It features nine songs the two wrote together and three transcriptions of traditional Gamelan music.

Philip Glass has long been an inspiration for Muhly. As part of this program he will offer his own interpretations of some of the composer’s lesser-known works. These will be performed with Nadia Sirota on the viola and Caroline Shaw on vocals and violin, Alex Sopp on flute, Lisa Kaplan on piano, Lisa Liu on violin, Patrick Belaga on cello and Wade Culbreath on percussion.

Rumors are circulating about some special guests who will be part of this concert. Since Muhly has worked with Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Benjamin Millepied and more, who could they be?

I’m hoping that one or more of his operas, Two Boys, Dark Sides or Marnie might be performed in Los Angeles sooner as opposed to later.  LA Opera? Beth Morrison Projects? REDCAT?

Until that happens, we’ll have Archives, Friends, Patterns which is our pick for Your Best Bet This Week in Culture.

For tickets go here.

Photo of Nico Muhly by Heidi Solander/Courtesy of Cap UCLA

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