My top pick is:

JAZZ:  STAY – Julieta Eugenio – Self-Released

Argentinian saxophonist Julieta Eugenio is joined by drummer Jonathan Barber and bassist Matt Dwonszyk on this beautiful album that feels like it could have been recorded 60 years ago, yet feels of our time in equal measure. Leo Genovese plays piano on two tracks.

Nine of the ten tracks on this album are originals. The sole cover is of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady. (An amazing rendition of that song!) 

There are certain album that you listen to that help you tune out the world and allow you to enter the world of the musicians so thoroughly that their journey becomes your journey. Stay is that kind of album.

Not having heard her before, I also listened to her 2022 album, Jump, with the same musicians. It’s another album that is old school and new simultaneously. Eugenie is a major talent.

Here’s the rest of New In Music This Week: March 29th:

CLASSICAL: BACH: VIOLIN CONCERTOS – Leonidas Kavakos – Sony Classical

This is Kavakos’ second album of music by Bach (the first was Sei Solo which found him playing Bach’s partitas and sonatas for violin.) Here he performs the violin concerti in D Minor, A Minor, E Major, G Minor and the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major.

As one would expect from Kavakos, this playing is exquisite. He is joined by the Apollon Ensemble.

On the website for the album, Kavakos says of Bach’s slow movements that they, “carry us to the place where every human soul would love to be.” I wholeheartedly agree, particulary the way Kavakos plays this music.

CLASSICAL:  RACHMANINOFF FOR TWO – Daniil Trifonov/Sergei Babayan – Deutsche Grammophon

Readers of Cultural Attaché know how much I love Sergei Rachmaninoff’s music. So, it’s inevitable that this album of music arranged for two pianos and played by Trifonov and Babayan is going to register.

And it did. Strongly. The album opens with the third movement of the composer’s Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, a lushly romantic part of the symphony. That is followed by Suite No. 2 for 2 Pianos, Op. 17 and Suite No. 1 for 2 Pianos, Op. 5. Closing out this wonderful recording is the two-piano version of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.

85 minutes of music that speeds by in an instant. I guess I’ll just have to listen to it again.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL:  SYMPHONIES OF MOTHER AND CHILD – Nova Pon & Turning Point Ensemble – Redshift Records

This was my first introduction to Canadian composer Nova Pon’s work. The opening track, World Within, serves as a counterpoint to the five-movement title work. It’s filled with brass and a propulsive energy that is different than what follows.

Symphonies of Mother and Child is a 40-minute work for a 15-member chamber orchestra. It’s a fascinating work that seems to fully straddle the worlds of minimalism and romanticism at the same time. (It also has a clever reference to itsy Bitsy Spider built into the second movement.)

Owen Underhill leads the Turning Point Ensemble in this recording. After hearing this recording, I will be exploring more of Nova Pon’s work.

JAZZ:  MUSIC FOR YOUR SOUL – Giuseppe Cucchiara Quartet – Fresh Sound Records

Bassist/composer Cucchiara leads his quartet that includes Adam Arruda on drums, Chris McCarthy on piano and Ben Solomon on tenor sax. He’s also the composer of 7 of the  tracks on this album. (Drummer Arruda is the composer, as you would expect, on the track Drum Interlude).

This is an album that swings when it wants to. Gets melancholy when it needs to. Is joyful when you want it to. In other words, it covers all aspects of your soul.

This, his second album, means we have a very talented musician and composer carving out his place in the music scene. I, for one, am looking forward to what the future brings for Cucchiara.

JAZZ:  LÉ NO – Arnaud Dolmen & Léonardo Montana – Quai son Records & Samana Production

Though drummer Dolmen is an award-winning musician, this was the first time I’ve heard his work. He’s paired here with pianist Montana. Both men provide vocals to this surprising and wonderful album.

What they share, beyond an obvious passion for music, is the tiny island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. Montana was born in Bolivia, was adopted and as a teenager made his way 

to Guadeloupe.  He was immediately intrigued by a big drum called Gwoka.

The music these two men have created on this album sounds like it must involve more than just two musicians. The music is rich, layered, enjoyable, rhythmic and ultimately, magical. I fell immediately in love with Lé No.

JAZZ:  EVEN ODDS – Dan Weiss – Cygnus Recordings

Here’s an intriguing idea for an album. Half the songs are fully composed before recording. The other dozen tracks began their lives as “brief drum exercises or grooves” recorded by drummer Dan Weiss. Then his fellow musicians, pianist Matt Mitchell and saxophonist Miguel Zenón individually composed their own improvisations to accompany these grooves.

The end result is an album that surprises with each of the 18 tracks being really interesting. Amongst my favorites are the emotional The Children of Uvalde, Five to Nine and Peculiar Pathos of Self Importance.

MUSICALS:  WHITE GIRL IN DANGER: A NEW MUSICAL – Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording – Yellow Sound Label

Michael R. Jackson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner for A Strange Loop, followed up that show with White Girl in Danger last year.  The show takes place in the town of Allwhite. The “drama” of their lives is front and center. Whereas the Blackgrounds have their lives relegated to those of police brutality and slavery. 

Enter Keesha Gibbs who refused to remain in the Blackground and takes her place saying, “I will fight back.” But can she handle the heat (I don’t mean police, btw) that the spotlight inevitably comes with? 

The songs are catchy and well-performed. Though the show received mixed reviews, this recording makes a convincing argument for more exploration with White Girl in Danger. If the show is half as much fun as the recording, bring it on!

Just a side note, I listened to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter while writing New In Music This Week: March 29^th and thoroughly enjoyed it.

That’s it for New In Music This Week: March 29^th.

Enjoy the music!

Enjoy the weekend!

Main Photo: Part of the album cover for Julieta Eugenio’s Stay

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An Alpine Symphony with Salonen – October 27^th – October 29^th

Any concert that offers a world premiere of a new composition by Esa-Pekka Salonen (particularly one he conducts) is definitely one to see.

Salonen’s Tiu opens the concert. It is then followed by Nico Muhly’s Shrink which is a 2019 violin concerto written for Pekka Kuusisto who performs it at these three concerts.

The program closes with Richard Strauss’ tone poem from 1915. It’s a very large work employing close to 125 musicians and runs 45-50 minutes.

Photo of Esa-Pekka Salonen by Andrew Eccles (Courtesy SF Symphony)

Dudamel Leads Khachaturian – November 4^th – November 5^th

The music of Aram Khachaturian doesn’t often get performed in concert halls. So this concert that features both his piano concerto (performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet) and music from his ballet music for Spartacus is a welcome part of the season. 

The second half of the program includes Tower for Frank Gehry by Thomas Adés. (Much of the season is dedicated to Gehry.)

This will be the U.S. Premiere of Tower. The concert closes with Leos Janacek’s Sinfonietta.

Dudamel Leads Das Rheingold – January 18^th – January 21^st

Another program in this season’s celebration of Frank Gehry is this concert performance of the first opera in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. 

As with many concert performances of operas at the LA Phil, this will be more than just people standing up and singing. Gehry is the scenic designer for the concerts; Alberto Arvelo is the director and Cindy Figueroa is the costume designer.

The cast include Ryan Speedo Green as Wotan; Raehann Bryce-Davis as Fricka; Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Alberich; Simon O’Neill as Loge; Barry Banks as Mime and the always reliable and copelling Morris Robinson as Fasolt.

Last Days – February 6^th

The last days of Kurt Cobain, as loosely presented in Gus Van Sant’s 2005 film, are the focus of this opera by composer Oliver Leith and librettist Matt Copson (who co-directs and is the art director for this concert). 

Last Days received a 4-star review from Andrew Clements of The Guardian in October of 2022 upon its premiere at the Royal Opera House in London.

As with that production, Anna Morrisey is co-director here. Also cast members Agathe Rousselle, Mimi Doulton, Henry Jenkinson and Patricia Auchterlonie return to sing their roles of Blake, Delivery Driver and Housemate; Magician and Superfan, respectively.

Most excitingly, composer Thomas Adés conducts this one-night only performance.

Ravel and Adés – February 9^th – February 11^th

If you like Adés as much as I do, you will also want to attend one of these three concerts which finds the work of Maurice Ravel paired with two works by Adés.

The program opens with The Tempest Symphony which is a 22-minute piece he created based on music from his opera, The Tempest. The work had its world premiere in Dresden in June of 2022.

That is followed by Ravel’s Piano Concert for the Left Hand with Kirill Gerstein

The second half opens with the Concert for Piano and Orchestra by Ades also with Gerstein as the soloist. The concert closes with Ravel’s La valse. Best of all you get to hear Adés conduct his own music.

Mälkki Conducts Brahms – February 23^rd – February 25^th

Two of these three concerts will feature the U.S. Premiere of Fett by Enno Poppe (the “Casual Friday” concert does not include this work). Susanna Mälkki conducted the world premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic in May of 2019. It’s a 25-minute work and is at the podium for these concerts.

Each program opens with the Academic Festival Overture by Brahms and it closes with the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Daniil Trifonov at the piano. (Reason enough to see this program if you ask me!)

Philip Glass: The Complete Etudes, 1-20 – March 19^th

Four pianists team up to perform all 20 etudes by composer Glass. They are Timo Andres, Anton Batagov, Jenny Lin and Maki Namekawa. What else do you need to know? 

John Adams’ City Noir – March 22^nd – March 24^th

John Adams will be leading the LA Phil in this concert that opens with Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingaleand closes with Adams’ City Noir which was commissioned by the LA Phil. The 35-minute work had its world premiere with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil on October 8, 2009.

In between these two pieces is the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Timo Andres. It was composed specifically for pianist Aaron Diehl.

This is certain to be a fascinating performance.

Recitals – various dates

Okay, so this is probably cheating a little bit. But there are three recitals (even though they are all good this year) well-worth your time and money.

James McVinnie, an amazingly talented musician, has a solo recital playing the organ and piano on November 12^th. He’ll be performing works by Bach, inti Figgis-Vizueta, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Nico Muhly and Gabriella Smith.

On May 1^st Víkingur Ólafsson will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations. His long-anticipated recording of this work is being released on Deutsche Grammophon on Friday, October 6^th.

A solo recital by Yuja Wang is something I won’t miss and neither should you. She performs on May 12^th. The program hasn’t yet been announced.

Dudamel Leads Mozart and Strauss  – May 2^nd – May 5^th

These performances (except the Casual Friday date) begin with the world premiere of a new work by Andreia Pinto Correia. The concerts all feature pianist Maria João Pires performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, “Jeunehomme.” Pires doesn’t often perform in Los Angeles, so this is a great opportunity to see one of the world’s best.

The last composition on the program in Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote. It’s a 40-minute work inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ 17^th-century novel.

There’s plenty more to choose from throughout the season. These are my picks of the 10 LA Philharmonic concerts not to be miss during the 2023-2024 season.

Main Photo: Gustavo Dudamel (Photo ©Stephan Rabold/Courtesy Fidelio Arts)

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13: THE MUSICAL – Netflix – Starts August 12^th

Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Bridges of Madison County) had the world premiere of his musical 13 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 2006. The musical tells the story of a Evan Goldman who desperately wants the cool kids at his new school in Indiana to attend his Bar Mitzvah so he can avoid being forever labeled a geek.

Tamara Davis directed this film version that has a script by Robert Horn (Tootsie: The Musical). The cast includes Eli Golden, Gabriella Uhl, Debra Messing and Rhea Perlman.

I saw the musical in 2007 in Los Angeles and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

2:22 – A GHOST STORY – Ahmanson Theatre – Los Angeles – Now – December 4^th

We might as well start Halloween week with this supernatural thriller written by Danny Robins. It’s a simple premise: Jenny (Constance Wu) believes she hears footsteps coming from her baby’s room every morning at 2:22 AM. Her husband Sam (Finn Wittrock) doesn’t believe her. They invite Lauren (Anna Camp) and Ben (Adam Rothenberg) over for dinner and vow to wait up to see whether Jenny or Sam is correct.

Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a play if Sam is right, would it? 

2:22 – A Ghost Story earned rave reviews when it opened in London. This production is the first US production of the play. Matthew Dunster directs.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN  – Hudson Theatre – New York City – Now – January 15^th STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Arthur Miller’s classic play features an all-Black Loman family in this production from the Young Vic in London. Wendell Pierce (The Wire; Clemency) stars as Willy with Tony Award nominee Sharon D. Clarke (Caroline, or Change) as Linda. Khris Davis and McKinley Belcher III play sons Biff and Happy with Tony Award-winner André De Sheilds (Hadestown) as Willy’s brother Ben.

Miranda Cromwell, who co-directed the UK productions with Marianne Elliott, directs.

Ben Brantley, in his opening sentence of his New York Times review of the London production said, “The tired old man has had an unexpected transfusion. And he has seldom seemed more alive – or more doomed.” In other words, attention must be paid.

This is the most emotional production of Death of a Salesman we’ve ever seen.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

EVERYTHING FOR DAWN – All Arts – Now Available

Fifteen different composers and/or librettist have combined forces to create this 10-part opera mini-series. Dawn is a teenager dealing with the aftermath of her artist father’s suicide. Set in Detroit, the first three episodes take place in 1997 when Dawn her mother find a box of paintings. Episodes 4-7 go back two years prior and depict the father in a mental health facility. Episodes 8-10 take place in 2001 as Dawn’s father becomes widely acknowledge as a master of outsider art.

Clarice Assad, Jason Cady, Adrienne Danrich, Lauren D’Errico, Melissa Dunphy, Miguel Frasconi, Paul Kerekes, Pauline Kim Harris, Phil Kline, Krista Knight, Jerry Lieblich, Jerome A. Parker Kamala Sankaram, Aaron Siegel and Matthew Welch are the composers and lyricists.

Episodes 1-6 are already available. Episodes 7-8 get released on October 28^th and the final two episodes will be released on November 4^th.

There is no charge to watch Everything for Dawn which can be found on the ALL ARTS app or at AllArts.org. here.

INTO THE WOODS – St. James Theatre – New York City – Now – January 8^th STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

This often-produced musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine was such a hit at New York City Center’s Encores series that it was inevitable the show would transfer to Broadway…and it has and the reviews and ticket sales are proof that was a great idea.

If you don’t know the musical, multiple fairytales are all taking place in the same forest at the same time. We’re big fans of Act II where not everything is as happy as it first seems. Most people love the first act and don’t know what could happen in that second act. Ah…the surprise!

Lear deBessonet directs. The current cast includes Stephanie J. Block as the Baker’s Wife, Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s Price and the Wolf, Brian D’Arcy James as the Baker, Andy Karl as Rapunzel’s Prince (Joshua Henry returns to the role beginning November 24^th), Patina Miller as the Witch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with Montego Glover performing the role on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday and Krysta Rodriguez as Cinderella (Denée Benton takes over the role beginning on November 21^st.

Katy Geraghty practically steals the show as Little Red Riding Hood and Kennedy Kanagawa gives enormous life to the Milky White puppet.

Tony Award-winner Joaquina Kalukango (Paradise Square) will take over the role of The Witch beginning December 16th and remain with the show for the rest of the run.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO – The Booth Theatre – New York City – Opening November 10^th

When this musical by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori opened at the Atlantic Theater in December of last year, critics and audiences recognized immediately this was something special. 

Based on the play of the same name by Lindsay-Abaire, it tells the story of Kimberly Levaco  (Victoria Clark – Tony Award winner for The Light in the Piazzai) who is aging far faster than she is growing old. She seems to be north of sixty, but still is in high school.

As Jesse Green said in his New York Times review, “Kimberly Akimbo is realdy the rare example of a good play that has become an even better musical.”

Kimberly Akimbo will definitely be a priority on our next trip to New York City.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS – Westside Theatre Upstairs – New York City – Now running STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Howard Ashman and Alan Mencken’s delightful musical about a man-eating plant gets the perfect revival in this production directed by Michael Mayer.

Currently starring as Seymour is Tony Award-winner Matt Doyle (Company). He just replaced Rob McClure who finished his run on November 13th. Lena Hall, Tony Award-winner for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, stars as Audrey. Andrew Call is her abusive boyfriend Oren Scrivello; Brad Oscar is Mushnik and Aaron Arnell Harrington is the voice of Audrey II.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable production. As Audrey, Hall has created a woman who isn’t as fragile as is traditionally depicted. She’s a tough-as-nails survivor with a vulnerable streak that is heartbreaking. We saw McClure in the show and thought he was perfect. Doyle will certainly put his own spin on the nebbish young man who provides sweet understanding. After all, Seymour IS Audrey’s man. But don’t feed the plants!

For tickets and more information, please go here.

A STRANGE LOOP – Lyceum Theatre, New York – Now – January 15^th  STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

The 2022 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama went to Michael R. Jackson’s musical A Strange Loop. It’s an aptly named meta-musical about a gay Black man who’s writing a musical about a gay Black man who is writing a musical about…You get the picture.  

Stephen Brackett directs A Strange Loop. The ensemble features Antwayn Hopper, L Morgan Lee, John-Michael Lyles, James Jackson, Jr., John-Andrew Morrison, Jaquel Spivey and Jason Veasey.

This is a wholly original musical that challenges everything we imagine a Broadway musical to be. Jackson does it in all the best possible ways.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

DANIIL TRIFONOV RECITAL – Multiple Venues – November 10^th – December 7^th

Pianist Trifonov performs a solo piano recital featuring works by Tchaikovsky (Children’s Album); Robert Schumann (Fantasy in C Major); Mozart (Fantasia in C Minor), Ravel (Gaspard de la nuit) and Scriabin (Piano Sonata No. 5).

He’ll be at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto on December 2^nd; Shriver Hall in Baltimore on December 4^th  and Carnegie Hall in New York on December 7^th.

For tickets and more details, please click on each venue’s name.

Main Photo: Joshua Henry and Gavin Creel in Into the Woods (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

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My top pick is the world premiere of Death by Tyshawn Sorey. Los Angeles Opera is giving the work its debut through their digital shorts program. The work will begin streaming on Friday, February 19th at 11:00 AM.

Those interested in modern dance, ballet, jazz, classical music, plays and musicals will also have plenty to watch his weekend.

Here are my Best Bets: February 19th – February 21st:

DANCE: Evidence – Ronald K. Brown – The Joyce Theatre – Now – March 4th

In 1985 Ronald K. Brown formed a new company called Evidence. On the occasion of its 35 anniversary, the Joyce Theatre is streaming a program of six works for solo dancers and couples. Included in the program are For You, which served as a tribute to Stephanie Reinhart, the late co-creator of the American Dance Festival; Grace, a solo that put Brown on the map when it was performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre; March, a duet set to a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Mercy set to music by Meshell Ndegeocello; Palo y Machete, from One Shot, which was inspired by photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris and She is Here.

Tickets are $25 per household and allow for on-demand streaming through March 4th.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Soundwalk – Multiple Locations – Now Available

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid has created a musical landscape to accompany walks through many public parks and spaces in some of America’s cities. Her goal, as stated on the website, is to “inspire us and make us feel connected to something larger than ourselves. It is meant to serve as artistic nourishment – a place to recharge, reconnect, and re-energize.”

You download an app, put on your headphones and talk a walk through designated areas and listen to the music she’s created. Right now it is only available in Los Angeles and New York, but additional cities will be added throughout the year.

For Los Angeles, presented in association with CAP UCLA, The Kronos Quartet performs the music to accompany walks through Griffith Park as does the Soundwalk Ensemble. For New York, presented in association with the New York Philharmonic, musicians from the orchestra perform the music to accompany walks through Central Park. The Soundwalk Ensemble, members of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City and Poole and the Gang also perform.

There is no charge to download the app and the Soundwalk experience will remain active into 2023. Additional locations roll out beginning in April.

JAZZ: Kenny Barron – SFJAZZ – February 19th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

In this fall of 2018 concert, legendary jazz pianist Kenny Barron is joined by violinist Regina Carter, trumpeter Eddie Henderson and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Any one of them would be compelling, having them perform with Barron will offer great music.

Barron is an 11-time Grammy Award nominee (how is it possible he’s never won one?) whose career began as a member of Dizzy Gillespie’s quartet. His recording career began in 1967 and his most recent release was 2020’s Without Deception with bassist Dave Holland.

Tickets are $5 (which allows for a one-month digital subscription) or $60 (which allows for a 12-month digital subscription). There is only the one showing on Friday.

DANCE: Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet – Ahmanson Theatre – February 19th – February 21st

Ivo Váňa-Psota was the first choreographer of a ballet of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was set to the music by Sergei Prokofiev. The work had its world premiere in 1938.

In 2019 Matthew Bourne presented to the world his new Romeo and Juliet ballet, also set to Prokofiev’s music as interpreted by composer Terry Davies.

Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles is making the ballet available for rent this weekend only. Unlike other Bourne productions, Romeo and Juliet has never been performed in Los Angeles. Cordelia Braithwaite dances the role of Juliet and Paris Fitzpatrick dances the role of Romeo.

There are seven available performances this weekend. On Friday at 5:00 PM PST and 8:00 PM PST; Saturday at 2:00 PM PST, 5:00 PM PST and 8:00 PM PST and Sunday at 1:00 PM PST and 6:30 PM PST. Tickets are $10.

*TOP PICK* OPERA: Death – LA Opera – February 19th – May 4th

This is our third week in a row with Tyshawn Sorey on our list of best bets. This week his work Death will have its world premiere from LA Opera. Sorey sets the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar to music for solo voice and piano.

Dunbar is considered America’s first great Black poet. Sorey uses his poem of the same name from Dunbar’s 1903 collection Lyrics of Love and Laughter.

Performing Death are mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms and pianist Howard Watkins. Nadia Hallgren (Becoming) directed the film.

Sorey is obviously exploding with his inventive mix of jazz, classical and experimental music styles. With Save the Boys and Death, 2021 is clearly turning out to already be a remarkable year for the 40-year-old who was awarded a MacArthur “Genius Grant” in 2017.

There is no charge to watch Death, but you do need to register with LA Opera.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Michelle Cann plays Florence Price – Philadelphia Orchestra – February 19th – February 25th

June 15, 1933 was a pivotal day in the life of composer Florence Price. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her Symphony in E Minor. This marked the first time the work of a Black woman had her composition performed by a major orchestra in America.

The other important date happened well after Price had passed away. In 2009 a couple, while renovating a house they purchased in Illinois, came across manuscripts, books and other writings by Price. More than half of the works she composed were found. The rediscovery of Price had begun.

Pianist Michelle Cann, who has made Price’s Concerto in One Movement a regular part of her repertoire, joins The Philadelphia Orchestra and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, for a performance of the work in a film available through February 25th. They are using the original orchestration of the concerto. The website indicates this may be the first time since the 1930s that this orchestration has been performed.

Also on the program are Rossini’s Overture to La scala di seta and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 (“Tragic”).

Tickets are $17.

DANCE: New Bach – Dance Theatre of Harlem – February 20th – February 27th

The second half of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Winter 2021 Virtual Ballet Series takes place on Saturday with New Bach which will be posted on their YouTube channel on Saturday.

Robert Garland created New Bach which had its world premiere in 2001 just after the 9/11 tragedy. Anna Kisselgoff, in her New York Times review, said of the work upon its premiere (with specific names from that performance): “Mr. Garland has used the Balanchine model in the best sense in New Bach,’ and alludes to the jazzy syncopation of the Bach-Balanchine masterpiece Concerto Barocco. Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, (conducted here by Joseph E. Fields with Deborah Wong as the violin soloist), has impelled him into formal patterns studded with occasional pelvis swivels, limp arms descending from rotating shoulders and wiggles in plié. Nothing is overdone, however, as four couples are in frequent interplay with the leads — Donald Williams, wittily assertive in a noble style, and Tanya Wideman-Davis, eye-riveting in her robust but refined classical silhouette.”

There is no charge to watch New Bach.

OPERA: Puccini’s La Rondine – San Francisco Opera – February 20th – February 21st

Conducted by Ion Marin; starring Angela Gheorghiu, Gerard Powers, Anna Christy and Misha Didyk. This Nicolas Joël production is from the 2007-2008 season.

Puccini’s La Rondine had its world premiere in Monaco in 1917. The libretto, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert, was written by Giuseppe Adami.

Multiple people collide in this opera about love. Magda is Rombaldo’s kept mistress. While entertaining friends, including the poet Prunier, she realizes how much she misses being in love. Prunier is in love with Lisette, who is Magda’s maid. A young man enters their group, Ruggero, who falls in love with Magda. Could he possibly provide the true love she so desperately desires? Who will end with whom and will they all live happily ever after?

This production marked Gheorghiu’s debut with San Francisco Opera. Joshua Kosman, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, said, “Gheorghiu’s company debut is long overdue, but her performance in the signature role of Magda was worth the wait. Her tone was strong but tender, with an irresistible blend of earthiness and purity, and when she lofted the high notes of “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta,” her breath control and flawless intonation seemed to make time stand still.”

JAZZ: Jason Marsalis and the K Love Experience – Snug Harbor (on Stage it) – February 21st – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

You know Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, the late Ellis Marsalis and perhaps even Delfeayo Marsalis. But do you also know drummer/vibraphonist Jason Marsalis? If not, Sunday’s performance from New Orleans’ Snug Harbor will give you a great opportunity to hear the youngest of the Marsalis brothers.

This concert will feature music with Afro-Cuban, funk, samba, reggae coursing through its veins. This won’t just be music to sit and listen to, you’ll want to get up and dance.

Tickets are $15.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Daniil Trifonov Recital – Shriver Hall – February 21st – 5:30 PM EST/2:30 PM PST

Are you tired of me constantly having a recital by pianist Daniil Trifonov on my best bets? I hope not, because there’s a reason his performances regularly appear on my list, he’s that good.

This performance, filmed at New York’s 92nd Street Y, finds Trifonov performing Szymanowski’s Sonata No. 3, Op. 36 and Debussy’s Pour le piano.

He concludes with Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5.

Tickets are $15 and allow for on-demand streaming through February 28th.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon #5 – February 21st – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

Fans of contemporary classical music will not want to miss this Sunday’s Bang on a Can Marathon. All you have to do is look at the line-up:

Hour 1: Jakhongir Shukur’s Potter’s Wheel performed by Robert Black; Jennifer Walshe performing her Happiness Starts Right Now; Maria Huld Markan Sigfusdottir’s Pending, performed by Chi-chi Nwanoku and a new work by Amir Elsaffar performed by Ken Thomson

Hour 2: A new work by Gregory Spears performed by David Byrd-Marrow; a new work by Kristina Wolfe performed by Molly Barth; Gabriel Kahane’s Hollywood & Vine performed by Arlen Hlusko and a new work written and performed by Bora Yoon with video by R. Luke Dubois

Hour 3: Matthew Shipp performs his Spaceman’s Blues; Joel Thompson’s Supplication and Compensation performed by Anthony Roth Costanzo; Rohan Chander’s △ or The Tragedy of Hikkomori Loveless from FINAL//FANTASY performed by Vicky Chow and a new work written and performed by David Cossin.

HOUR 4: Eve Beglarian’s A Solemn Shyness performed by Lara Downes; a new work written and performed by Ingrid Laubrock; Molly Herron’s Canon No. 4 performed by Maya Stone and a new work by Alvin Lucier performed by Mark Stewart.

There is no charge to watch the marathon, but donations are encouraged.

OPERA: Sole e Amore – Lyric Opera of Chicago – Begins February 21st – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Fans of Italian opera will want to check out Sole e Amore which will feature arias by Bellini, Donizetti, Mascagni, Puccini, Rossini and Verdi. Members of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble will be performing.

They include baritones Leroy Davis and Ricardo José Rivera; bass Anthony Reed; bass-baritone David Weigel; mezzo-sopranos Katherine Beck, Katherine DeYoung, and Kathleen Felty; sopranos Maria Novella Malfatti and Denis Vélez; tenors Martin Luther Clark and Lunga Eric Hallam and pianist Chris Reynolds.

Enrique Mazzola, who will become the Lyric’s music director in the 2021-2022 season, curated the program and will also play piano for much of the recital.

The program is free and will be available on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s YouTube channel.

PLAYS/MUSICALS: TruSpeak…Hear Our Voices – February 21st – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) has assembled a very impressive line-up for their gala event, TruSpeak…Hear Our Voices on Sunday.

Maggie Baird, Brendan Bradley, Brenda Braxton (Smokey Joe’s Cafe), Jim Brochu (The Big Voice: God or Merman?), Nick Cearley (one half of The Skivvies), Robert Cuccioli (Irish Rep’s A Touch of the Poet), Andrew Lynn Green, Ann Harada (Avenue Q), Dickie Hearts (Grace and Frankie), Cady Huffman (Tony Award-winner The Producers), Crystal Kellogg (School of Rock), Will Mader, Lauren Molina (the other half of The Skivvies), Jill Paice (An American in Paris), Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change), Jana Robbins (Gypsy), Dominique Sharpton, Haley Swindal, Regina Taylor (I’ll Fly Away), Crystal Tigney and Tatiana Wechsler are all participated.

The gala will feature monologues, plays and an online musical.

TRU is a non-profit that helps in the development of new theatre companies and new works.

Tickets are $55 with VIP tickets also available (this is a fundraiser after all) that will include virtual meet-and-greet opportunities.

BROADWAY/CABARET: Santino Fontana with Seth Rudetsky – February 21st: 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

One of my favorite movies of all time is Tootsie. When the musical was announced Santino Fontana was cast in the role of Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels. (If you don’t know the movie, please do yourself a favor and watch it.) I purchased a ticket to see the show only to find out Fontana was out after the birth of his daughter. I held onto my ticket in hopes that I could see Fontana’s Tony Award-winning performance, but sadly the show closed before I had a chance to do so.

Luckily we can all see how talented he is when he joins Seth Rudetsky for this weekend’s concert. He’ll share music and stories from his career that has included being Prince Topher in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella and Tony in Billy Elliot. Filmgoers will recognize him as the voice of Prince Hans in Frozen.

If you are unable to watch the live performance on Sunday, there is an encore showing of the concert on Monday, February 22nd at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST.

That is my list of my Best Bets: February 19th – February 21st. But before I go, I have a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera’s weeklong look at the work of Franco Zeffirelli concludes with the first-ever streaming of his 1989-1990 season production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni on Friday; the first-ever streaming of his 1996-1997 season production of Bizet’s Carmen on Saturday and concludes with the 2009-2010 revival of his 1987 staging of Puccini’s Turandot on Sunday.

Irish Repertory Theatre’s @Home Winter Festival continues this weekend. There are five different productions available for viewing. You can find out details here.

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Icons on Inspiration with Julie Andrews, Common, Katy Perry, Yuja Wang and more is still available for free streaming (though donations are encouraged)

There you have it. The complete list of Best Bets: February 19th – February 21st. I hope you enjoy the culture, you enjoy the weekend and for those of you struggling with the aftermath of the winter storms this week, I’m sending you my best.

Main Photo: Tyshawn Sorey in a still from Death (Courtesy LA Opera)

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Each concert will take place at 7:30 PM on the East Coast (4:30 PM on the West Coast). All concerts will stream for one week from their debut.

Renowned musicians Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Gil Shaham and Daniil Trifonov are just some of the performers.

Tickets are $20 per concert or $130 for the Winter/Spring series (making the concerts $10 each). There are four guitar recitals as part of this season. If you only want to see and hear those recitals, you can purchase a four-pack of those performances for $50.

Each listing has a link towards that specific event.

Here is the Winter/Spring schedule:

February 1st: Pianist Emanuel Ax and the New York Philharmonic String Quartet (Filmed)

The program features Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 “Serioso” and Dvořáks Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major

February 3rd: Brentano String Quartet with violist Hsin-Yun Huang (Live)

This all-Mozart program will feature the composer’s String Quintet in C Minor K. 406, String Quintet in D Major, K. 593 and the String Quintet in G Minor, K. 516

February 13th: Pianist Richard Goode (Live)

The program features Bach’s Partita No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828 and select preludes by Debussy

February 18th: Guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas (Filmed)

Four composers are being showcased in this program:

Granados’ Danza Española (Danza Melancólica), Op. 37, No. 10 and Danza Española (Andaluza), Op. 37, No. 5; Rodrigo’s Invocación y Danza; Tárrega’s Capricho Árabe and Lágrima Adelita and Albéniz’s Torre Bermeja, from Piezas Características, Op. 92; Mallorca (Barcarola), Op. 202 and Asturias (Leyenda), from Suite Española, Op. 4

March 6th: Guitarist Ana Vidovic (Live)

Specific works have yet to be announced for this concert. However works of the following composers are expected to be performed: Bach, Torroba, Giuliani, Barrios and more.

March 11th: Violinist Gil Shaham with members of The Knights (Live)

This program will open and close with works by Beethoven. Scheduled to be performed are Beethoven’s Overture to “The Creatures of Prometheus (arranged by Hummel); a string quartet to be announced by Boulogne and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 (arranged by The Knights).

The Knights are Alex Sopp on flute; Colin Jacobsen on violin; Eric Jacobsen on cello and Steven Beck on piano.

Shaham and The Knights have a new record being released on March 12th called Beethoven and Brahms: Violin Concertos which marks the first time Shaham has recorded Beethoven’s violin concerto.

March 25th: Cellist Alisa Weilerstein with pianist Inon Barnatan (Filmed)

This concert will feature Falla’s Suite Populaire Espagnole and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano

April 13th: Pianist Daniil Trifonov (Filmed)

Trifonov’s recital will include Debussy’s Pour le Piano, Prokofiev’s Sarcasms and Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5

Sarcasms can be found on his 2020 recording Silver Age.

April 17th: Guitarist Jason Vieaux (Live)

Two New York premieres are part of this diverse program. It includes Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001 (arr. Vieaux); Brouwer’s El Decamerón Negro; Vieaux’s Home (NY Premiere); Scarlatti’s Sonata in A Major, K. 208 (arranged by Brouwer) and Pat Metheny’s Four Paths of Light (NY Premiere)

May 1st: Guitarist Manuel Barrueco (Filmed)

This program has not yet been announced. We will update this post as soon as we get details.

May 5th: Flautist Brandon Patrick George with pianist Bryan Wagorn (Live)

Scheduled to be performed at this concert will be William Grant Still’s Pastorela; Reinecke’s Undine Sonata; Valerie Coleman’s Wish Sonatine, L. Boulanger’s Nocturne and Schubert’s Introduction and Variations on “Trockne Blumen,” D. 802

May 11th: Soprano Susanna Phillips with clarinetist Anthony McGill and a pianist TBA (Live)

This program is centered on Schubert’s The Shepherd on the Rock (Der Hirt auf dem Felsen). Additional selections to be announced. We will update you when we receive those details.

May 26th: Pianist Stewart Goodyear (Live)

This is an all-Beethoven program with Sonata No 15 in D Major, Op. 28, “Pastorale;“ Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 and Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111

Which of the Winter/Spring concerts will you choose? Or will you see them all?

All photos courtesy 92nd Street Y unless otherwise noted.

Main Photo: Pablo Sáinz-Villegas (Photo ©Lisa Marie Mazzucco)

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The list begins with performances that have specific dates and start times. After those listings are performances you can discover at your leisure with their end dates included.

Here are my Classical Best Bets for the Holidays:

Bang on a Can Marathon 2020 – December 22nd – January 1st

For classical music fans who like very contemporary composition, you won’t want to miss this marathon streaming of all 90+ performances that were part of the four Bang on a Can Marathons this year.

Bang on a Can’s marathon presented 31 world premieres during their online festivals held in May, June, August and October of this year. If you didn’t catch the marathons as they happened, you ordinarily wouldn’t get a second chance to view them. Now you can.

You can also catch all of the other performances which include pianist/composer Vijay Iyer; works by John Adams, Philip Glass, Ted Hearne, Missy Mazzoli and Steve Reich; pianists Jeremy Denk and Conrad Tao; composer/musician Tyshawn Sorey and dozens more. The complete list is on the event’s website.

There is no charge to view these performances. However, Bang on a Can is encouraging donations.

New York String Orchestra – Carnegie Hall – December 24th – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST

A fifty-year traditions continues with this popular Christmas eve concert that finds the young musicians of the New York String Orchestra performing with established soloists. This year they are joined by pianist Emanuel Ax.

Jaime Loredo conducts. Not much is known about the program, but half-a-century of this tradition means they must be on to something. There’s no charge to watch this concert.

Peter and the Wolf – Teatro alla Scala – December 25th – 5:00 AM EST/2:00 AM PST

You’ll have to be up late or get up early if you want to experience this Christmas Day concert from Milan’s legendary Teatro alla Scala, but it will be worth it. And for those restless kids eager to see what Santa brought them, they’ll enjoy this, too.

Eun Sun Kim leads the La Scala Orchestra in a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Mozart’s Concerto in A Major K. 622 for clarinet and orchestra will also be played with Fabrizio Meloni on bass clarinet.

Illustrations are part of the presentation of Peter and the Wolf.

The concert will stream on Teatro alla Scala’s website and also on their Facebook and YouTube channels.

Salute to Vienna and Budapest New Year’s Concert – December 27th – January 3rd

In a newly-filmed concert in Europe, operettas and waltzes are on the program. This Salute to Vienna and Budapest has been annual tradition for 25 years.

The concert has three premiere performances on December 27th: 5:30 PM EST/2:30 PM PST; 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST and 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST.

Tickets are $20 and that allows for re-streaming the concert to your heart’s content through January 3rd.

United in Song: Celebrating the Resilience of America – PBS Great Performances – December 31st 

In this concert airing on PBS soprano Jamie Barton, violinist Joshua Bell, opera singers Renée Fleming and Denyce Graves, Josh Groban, Juanes, R&B legend Patti LaBelle, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, 6-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet perform. The theme is celebrating Americans and their strength that has been required of us all throughout 2020. 

The concert was filmed at Mount Vernon and the Kennedy Center and opens with LaBelle singing Lady Marmalade. She also closes the concert and everything in between is a total delight.

As with all PBS programming, check your local listings for exact broadcast times. 

The Carnival of the Animals & Eine kleine Nachtmusik – Teatro alla Scala – January 1st – 5:00 AM EST/2:00 AM PST

Once again, the early riser or night owl will be able to watch this concert from Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.

As with their Christmas Day concert, Eun Sun Kim leads the La Scala orchestra. On the program are Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals and Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik.

The concert will stream on Teatro alla Scala’s website and also on their Facebook and YouTube channels.

Live with Carnegie Hall at Home – Carnegie Hall – Available now

If you haven’t taken a look at Carnegie Hall’s Live with series, luckily it’s still available for streaming. Amongst their guests during the year have been The Kronos Quartet, a celebration of violinist Isaac Stern; pianist Daniil Trifonov; pianist Emanuel Ax; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; violinist Joshua Bell and more.

Each program runs approximately one hour. There are also sessions with opera singers, Broadway stars, folk singers, conductors, world music singers and cabaret stars.

While you’re there you might want to check out their 2020 Opening Night Gala which combines new interviews and performances with archival footage from the venerable hall’s long history.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Watch & Listen – LA Phil – Available now

In addition to their Sound/Stage performances (click on the link built into Sound/Stage to read details on that series), the Los Angeles Philharmonic has a lot more to discover on their website.

Amongst the highlights are pianist Yuja Wang performing the first movement of John Adams’ Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? from a November 2019 concert; Thomas Ades’ Darkness Visible performed by LA Phil pianist Joanna Pearce Martin; timpanist Joseph Pereria performing Magnificent Obsession, a piece he wrote inspired by Buzz Aldrin’s experience on the moon; violinist Gabriela Peña-Kim performing Eugène Ysaÿe’s Obsession and more.

There’s plenty to entertain you and there’s no charge to watch the videos. If you haven’t watched Sound/Stage, I strongly encourage you to do so.

Handel’s Messiah – Oratorio Society of New York – Now – January 10th

Every year since 1874 the Oratorio Society of New York has performed the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah for the holidays. In spite of the pandemic, they are presenting a virtual version to keep that tradition alive.

Kent Tritle conducts chorus, orchestra, and soloists Susanna Phillips, Heather Petrie, Joshua Blue, and Sidney Outlaw in a safely-performed and filmed concert.

Oratorio Society of New York received a Grammy nomination earlier this year for Best Choral Performance for their recording Sanctuary Road.

There is no charge to watch this performance.

Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus – The Philharmonia Orchestra of London – Available Now

In February of this year, the Los Angeles Philharmonic had one of their most exciting concerts when Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon McBurney and Gerard McBurney collaborated on The Weimar Republic: Salonen Conducts The Seven Deadly Sins.

Salonen and Gerard McBurney have once again collaborated on a concert. The Philharmonia Orchestra of London is performing Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus.

Most concertgoers are familiar with the work’s overture; far fewer are familiar with the complete score Beethoven composed for this ballet that had its world premiere in Vienna in 1801.

McBurney has written a new script for this concert. There will be animation by Hillary Leben whose work has been seen in performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Silk Road Ensemble and more.

When you add that the narration will be performed by Stephen Fry, what else do you need?

The link takes you directly to The Philharmonia Orchestra of London’s YouTube page where this performance can be seen for free.

Throughline: San Francisco Symphony From Hall to Home – San Francisco Symphony – Now available

This ambitious and exciting concert features performances of works by John Adams, Ludwig van Beethoven, Kev Choice, Ellen Reid and presents the world premiere of Throughline by Nico Muhly.

Joining Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen for this program are soprano Julia Bullock; composer/guitarist Bryce Dessner; Muhly on piano and conducting; bassist Esperanza Spalding and more.

Reid’s Fear/Release opens the nearly one-hour program. That is followed by Adams’ Shaking and Trembling from Shaker Loops; Movements by Choice; Beethoven’s Allegro con brio from String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Opus 95 and the concert concludes with Throughline.

There is no charge to watch this concert.

Jeremy Denk Recital – 92nd Street Y – Now available

If you didn’t get a chance to see pianist Jeremy Denk‘s recital from Caramoor in October, he’s performed the same program from New York’s 92nd Street Y earlier this month and it is still available for streaming.

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.

Those are my dozen recommendations for Classical Music Best Bets for the Holidays. I also have recommendations for Dance, Jazz and Musicals/Cabaret if you want even more choices.

Enjoy the music and the season.

Photo: Yosemite Trees (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)

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There’s also a terrific documentary about the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, In the Heights; 2017’s International Jazz Day Concert, a Baroque-era opera and some special live performances.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: August 7th – 9th:

Matthew Aucoin and Friends Living Room Recital – LA Opera – August 7th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

You might have seen the world premiere of Eurydice at LA Opera in February of this year. Or perhaps you attended Crossing at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2018. Both were composed by Matthew Aucoin.

On Friday Aucoin is assembling some of his friends for a living room recital of music he’s written and compositions by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Olivier Messiaen.

Joining him are soprano Erica Petrocelli (Musetta in LA Opera’s 2019 production La Bohème), countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (star of Metropolitan Opera’s Akhnaten), tenors Paul Appleby (appearing in Metropolitan Opera 2016-2017 production of Don Giovanni that streams on Sunday) and Barry Banks (seen in Metropolitan Opera’s production of Rossini’s Armida), baritones Davóne Tines (star of Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terence Blanchard) and Rod Gilfry (star of Crossing) and cellist Coleman Itzkoff

If you can’t watch it as it happens, this concert will be archived for viewing on LA Opera’s website.

Play Your Part – Los Angeles Philharmonic – August 7th – August 14th

If the Hollywood Bowl season had gone on as planned, Grammy Award-wining singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile was going to open this summer’s programming. The first official concert is always a fundraiser for the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA). Obviously that wasn’t possible, but that doesn’t mean the show won’t go on.

Play Your Part is both a concert and workshop that finds Carlile performing with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and members of YOLA in a concert that was filmed with social distance guidelines. Gustavo Dudamel and fellow conductor Thomas Wilkins both appear in the program.

This concert, which is free but still serves as a fundraiser for YOLA, will be available for one week.

My suggestion is you make a picnic outside, bring whatever you’d like to eat and drink and watch the concert under the stars and imagine being in the Cahuenga Pass. And don’t forget your credit card. YOLA is an important part of the cultural fabric of Los Angeles and deserves all the support it can get during these difficult times.

Great Performers in Recital at Tanglewood: Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax – Tanglewood Online Festival – Now – August 8th

Tanglewood in Massachusetts offers a full line-up of programming online. You have to sign up for their e-mails and then set-up a log-in with password to access the programming. There’s a wide array of primarily classical programming available. Much of it is free. Others, like the concert we’re suggesting here, has a fee.

In this particular concert cellist Ma and pianist Ax perform a program that includes Brahms’ Violin sonata in D minor, Opus 108: II. Adagio; Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words, Opus 109 and Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 in A, Opus 69. The price to view this performance is $12. You can sign up to get access to all performances for $100.

The link above takes you to the main page for Tanglewood Online Festival with instructions how to sign up and details of the full program.

Other concerts available this weekend include:

BSO Musicians in Recital from Tanglewood – August 7th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

The program includes works by Nico Muhly, Bonnie Bewick, Mark O’Connor and more. Ticket price: $5

Daniil Trifonov performs Bach’s The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080 – August 7th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT Ticket price: $12

Boston Symphony Orchestra performs Mahler’s Symphony #3. – August 8th – 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT – Free

Andris Nelsons conducts with Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano

Many of the concerts remain available for a week or longer after their original availability.

In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams – PBS – August 7th (check local listings)

On March 9, 2008, a musical called In the Heights opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York. Nominated for 13 Tony Awards, it won four including Best Musical. The musical made its creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, a household name.

This documentary follows the cast as they assemble the musical and get ready for their opening night.

Along the way are moving personal stories about many of the participants including Christopher Jackson and Seth Stewart.

I saw this documentary several years ago and loved it. It should be very entertaining and interesting to watch it now and see that Javier Muñoz, Krysta Rodriguez and Joshua Henry – all of whom have gone on to reach far greater personal heights – were part of the ensemble.

PBS has this scheduled for August 7th. Check your local listings for exact time and date.

International Jazz Day from Cuba – PBS – August 7th (check local listings)

International Jazz Day is an annual event that takes place in a different city every year and it features performances by many of the leading artists in jazz.

In 2017 the event took place at the Gran Teatro de La Habana in Havana, Cuba. Quincy Jones and Will Smith were the hosts.

The line-up included Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chucho Valdes, Barbarito Torres, Oscar Valdés, Kenny Garrett and Ambrose Akinmusire.

A film of that concert will air on PBS on Friday. As with all PBS programming, best to check your local listings for exact date and time.

Bach, Haydn and Golijov – LA Chamber Orchestra – August 8th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

In Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s ongoing Summerfest Concerts, this weekend’s filmed performances finds a small ensemble performing a mix of music of Baroque, Classical and Contemporary music.

Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 33 No. 3 “The Bird” opens the program. Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel is next. The performance concludes with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita #3 in E Major for solo violin, “Gavotte en Rondeau.”

Worth noting is that Bach’s composition has been transcribed for marimba.

The performers for this concert are violinist Sarah Thornblade and Maia Jasper White; violist Erik Rynearson; cellists Giovanna Moraga Clayton and Armen Ksajikian with Wade Culbreath on marimba.

Giulio Cesare – Glyndebourne – August 9th – August 16th

Seems like this is George Frideric Handel’s weekend. With the Metropolitan Opera showing the composer’s Agrippina on Saturday, England’s Glyndebourne makes his opera Giulio Cesare available on Sunday.

The classic story of the love affair and political intrigue that centers around Egypt’s queen and Rome’s ruler comes to life in this opera written by the composer in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym. His inspiration was the libretto written by Giacomo Francesco Bussani for composer Antonio Sartorio. 

This production took place in 2005 and was directed by David McVicar. Sarah Connolly sings the role of Cesare and Danielle de Niese sings the role of Cleopatra. The Glyndebourne website indicates that this production is Bollywood meets Baroque. Doesn’t that sound intriguing?

Those are your Best Bets at Home: August 7th – August 9th, but we always have some reminders for you:

In addition to Saturday’s Agrippina from the Metropolitan Opera, they are offering Wagner’s Parsifal on Friday and Mozart’s Don Giovanni on Sunday.

Fans of Tennessee Williams can still catch The Kindness of Stranger event through August 14th.

SFJazz offers John Santos’ 60th Birthday Concert on their Fridays at Five program on August 7th.

The Bill Frisell Trio offers up concerts from the Village Vanguard on August 7th and August 8th.

Terri Lyne Carrington and Danilo Pérez perform on August 8th.

That’s the complete list of Best Bets at Home: August 7th – 9th. I hope you enjoy your weekend. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Enjoy the performances.

Photo: Gustavo Dudamel at YOLA (Photo by Danny Clinch/Courtesy of LA Philharmonic Association)

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We’ve written several times about Trifonov. He is easily amongst the finest, most adventurous and ambitious classical pianists currently performing, recording and in his case, sometimes composing.

For this online event he will be in discussion with pianist Emanuel Ax. Joining them will be another pianist, Sergei Babayan, who was also one of Trifonov’s teachers at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

The subject of this conversation will be Trifonov’s amazing career.

Trifonov is only 29 years old, but he has impressed critics and fellow musicians alike. During the 2010-2011 season he did quite well in three prestigious piano competitions. He won Third Prize in Warsaw’s Chopin Competition, First Prize in Tel Aviv’s Rubinstein Competition, and both First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition. 

That latter honor is particularly prestigious as the second prize goes to the best overall competitor in any category.

Ten years later and he’s considered amongst the great classical pianists of our time. His album, Transcendental, a collection of compositions by Franz Liszt, won the Grammy Award in 2018 for Best Instrumental Soloist.

Hopefully you were able to catch his Carnegie Hall recital when it was recently available for one weekend through the venue’s association with Medici.tv.

This Tuesday’s conversation should be a fascinating one. Remember, if you cannot watch Live with Carnegie Hall: Daniil Trifonov live as it happens, Carnegie Hall archives these programs for later viewing.

In fact, you can catch all the previous programs including sessions with Ute Lemper, Emanuel Ax, Renée Fleming, Isabel Leonard and many more.

Photo of Daniil Trifonov courtesy of Opus 3 Artists

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We’ve got quite the list for you. There are 14 Best Bets at Home: May 29th – May 31st. Plus a few reminders, of course!

This House – National Theatre Live – Now – June 4th

James Graham wrote this play that sold out two runs at the National Theatre and transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2017.

The setting is Parliament in Britain in 1974. The Labour and Tory parties are battling one another over the direction England should go. It’s a herculean task and one that requires cunning maneuvers, compromise and finding a way to bend the rules just to the point before breaking.

Michael Billington, writing in The Guardian, gave the show a five-star review. He said, “It has taken four years for James Graham’s enthralling play to make it from the National to the West End. It has been worth the wait because it enables us to see the work from a fresh perspective. In recording the struggle of the Labour government of 1974-79 to simply survive, the play offers a fascinating slice of history. Yet as we enter a new age of fractured opposition, the play raises serious questions about whether our current parliamentary system is fit for purpose.”

Jeremy Herrin directed This House.

Love’s Labour’s Lost – Stratford Festival – Now – June 18th

In Aristophanes’s Lysistrata women withhold sex from their husbands in an attempt to end war. It’s a dramatic play. Shakespeare took a similar premise for Love’s Labour’s Lost, but he was interested in making people laugh.

Four men, including the King of Navarre (Sanjay Talware), have vowed not to be in the company of women for three years. They are more interested in study than in females. Just as they have embarked on this plan, the Princess of France (Ruby Joy) and three female companions arrive testing each man’s resolve. Add a Spanish nobleman and his infatuation with a woman to the mix just to make things more frantic.

Shakespeare employs his usual tricks of disguises and mix-ups for this comedic play.

John Caird (Nicholas Nickelby, Les Misérables) directed this 2015 production.

Snowblind – San Francisco Ballet – May 29th – June 5th

Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome is the inspiration for this one-act ballet by Cathy Marston. In the ballet, Ethan Frome is married to his wife, Zeena. She is a difficult woman and also a hypochondriac. Mattie, Zeena’s cousin, joins the couple to help them in their home. But Ethan soon finds himself drawn to the woman. You know this won’t end well.

The music used in the ballet comes from a variety of composers including Amy Beach and Arthur Foote. Philip Feeney arranged the music. Scenery and costumes are by Patrick Kinmonth and the lighting was designed by James F. Ingalls.

Dancing the principal roles are Mathilde Froustey (Mattie), Sarah Van Patten (Zeena) and Ulrik Birkkjaer (Ethan). This performance took place in 2018.

The Broadhurst At 100! 54 Celebrates the Broadhurst Theatre – Feinstein’s/54 Below – May 29th 6:30 PM EDT/3:30 PM PDT

When New York’s Broadhurst Theatre opened in 1917, George Bernard Shaw’s Misalliance was the first production. Amongst the musicals to have appeared there are Fiorello!, Cabaret, Godspell, The Tap Dance Kid, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Fosse and Anastasia.

100 years after The Broadhurst first opened, Feinstein’s/54 Below celebrated the centennial with a concert featuring cast members from many of the shows that have appeared on that stage. (This show took place in 2017.)

The performers include Jerry Adler (Oh What a Lovely War), Jim Brochu (Zero Hour), Carole Demas (Grease), Wayne Cilento (Dancin’), Josh Franklin (Grease), Marcy Harriell (Lennon), Sarah Charles Lewis (Tuck Everlasting), Howard McGillin (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Bonnie Milligan (Head Over Heels), Christiane Noll (Ragtime), Alice Ripley (Next To Normal), Don Scardino (Godspell), Rebecca Spigelman (Hairspray), and a Trivia Contest Video with Tony Award winner Jason Alexander (Broadway Bound).

Due to rights issues, these performances are only available at the set time and are not repeated.

The Cellist – The Royal Ballet – May 29th – June 12th

If you want to get another look at the work of choreographer Cathy Marston, you can check out the latest offering from The Royal Ballet. The Cellist is a ballet by Marston inspired by the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pré. She was at the pinnacle of her career when she passed away at the age of 28 after suffering from multiple sclerosis. (You might remember the film Hilary and Jackie with Rachel Griffiths and Emily Watson told her story.)

Lauren Cuthbertson dances the role of The Cellist. Marcelino Sambé dances The Instrument and Matthew Ball dances the role of The Conductor. The music includes Schubert’s Trout Quintet along with cello sonatas by Faure and Elgar. The cello solos are performed by Hetty Snell.

The world premiere of The Cellist was just this past February.

Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn – Broadway HD – May 29th – June 1st

The 1942 movie that introduced the world to the song White Christmas was turned into a stage musical that opened on Broadway in 2016. The movie was called Holiday Inn, but the musical includes the composer’s name: Irving Berlin.

Broadway HD is making this film of the 2016 production available for free this weekend.

The story remains pretty much the same: two men vie for the attention of a young rising star. In the film those roles were played by Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds. In the musical they are played by Bryce Pinkham, Corbin Bleu and Lora Lee Gayer.

The musical, directed by Gordon Greenberg (who co-wrote the book with Chad Hodge), includes the classic Berlin songs, “Blue Skies,” “Steppin’ Out With My Baby,” “Cheek to Cheek” and “Easter Parade.”

I guess with everything that’s going on they think we need a little Christmas. (Wait, that’s in Mame.)

Daniil Trifonov Recital – Carnegie Hall – May 29th – May 31st

In February of 2019 pianist Daniil Trifonov gave a solo piano recital at Carnegie Hall. Medicitv.com, in association with Carnegie Hall, is making that performance available for free beginning on Friday, May 29th and continuing through the weekend.

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review of this concert raved, “By this point, it’s no surprise that Daniil Trifonov, one of the most awesome pianists of our time, can sell out Carnegie Hall. Still, that the hall was packed for the unusual recital program he played on Saturday was a testimony to the trust his admirers place in him. At 27, he is also an adventurer intent on exploring overlooked realms of the repertory. On Saturday it was thrilling to go along on his journey.”

The program of which he was so enamored included: Beethoven’s Andante in F Major, WoO 57 (“Andante favori”) and Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3; Schumann’s Bunte Blätter and Presto passionato and Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major. The encores featured Prokofiev’s Allegro rubato and Allegro precipitato from Sarcasms, Op. 17, Nos. 2 and 3 and Chopin’s Largo from Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65 (arr. Alfred Cortot).

How are you doing so far? You’re halfway through the list of Best Bets at Home: May 29th – May 31st!

Allegiance – Broadway on Demand – May 29th – June 7th

Lea Salonga, George Takei and Telly Leung star in this musical set during World War II that tells a story of family, duty, customs and betrayal set during the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The story is based on Takei’s own experiences.

The book was written by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione. Kuo wrote the music and lyrics.

Allegiance was directed by Stafford Arima.

This is not a free streaming event. Broadway on Demand is charging $14.99 for the initial viewing on May 29th at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT. That fee includes a download of the cast album, exclusive content and the ability to watch the show over a 24-hour period. From May 30th – June 7th, the streaming fee, minus those extras, will be $8.99.

30 minutes before the May 29th event Playbill.com will host Toast to Allegiance which will include interviews with the cast. This event is free and open to everyone.

Igor Levit: Vexations – The Gilmore – May 30th – 8 AM EDT/5 AM PDT

If you want to catch this recital you’ll have to get up early and stay up late. Pianist Igor Levit is going to live-stream a performance of Erik Satie’s Vexations. If you are unfamiliar with the work, it lasts 20 hours. There is one theme, two variations and they get repeated 840 times over the course of the 20 hours.

What propels someone to tackle so challenging a work? Levit says in press materials, “The sheer duration of over 20 hours of Vexations doesn’t feel like a ‘nuisance’ or ‘torture’ to me, as the title would suggest, but rather a retreat of silence and humility. It reflects a feeling of resistance.

“That’s why it feels right to play the Vexations right now. My world and that of my colleagues has been a different one for many weeks now and will probably remain so for a long time. Vexations represent for me a silent scream.”

John Williams: Maestro of the Movies – Pacific Symphony – May 30th – August 13th

The Pacific Symphony Orchestra had planned on having a May 30th Family Musical Morning performance. Having to cancel an in-person event, they are holding their first virtual concert and the program is a celebration of the music of composer John Williams.

During this 45-minute online concert, music from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harry Potter and E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial will be performed by the Pacific Symphony which is being conducted by Richard Kaufman. Interspersed amongst the selections will be Ask the Composer with John Williams along with personal stories and anecdotes about playing at recording sessions with Williams.

Viewing the show requires signing up with an e-mail address, but there is no fee. The program will then be available for streaming for 45 days.

Lucrezia Borgia – San Francisco Opera – May 30th – May 31st

Victor Hugo’s play Lucrèce Borgia served as the inspiration for this opera by Gaetano Donizetti and his librettist Felice Romani.

The scandals and the intrigue in the house of Borgia have fascinated people for centuries. In Donizetti’s opera a young orphan named Gennaro (Michael Fabiano) finds himself in the company of Lucrezia Borgia (Renée Fleming). Though he and his friends were warned about her and her husband, he is enraptured by her beauty and sees in her the mother he never knew. Lucrezia’s husband believes Gennaro to be her lover and plots his murder. What happens over the course of the opera is tragedy at its most dramatic.

This San Francisco Opera production from 2011 marked the first time Lucrezia Borgia had been performed by the company. John Pascoe directed the production and the orchestra was lead by conductor Riccardo Frizza.

The [title of show] Vineyard Theatre Virtual Variety Show Show – May 30th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT

In 2006, the Vineyard Theatre in New York presented a unique musical entitled [title of show]. The musical was written by Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen. They starred in their own musical along with Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff. Two years later [title of show] was on Broadway.

To celebrate this musical-within-a-musical that could (and the theatre that gave it life), the Vineyard Theatre is hosting a live-streaming fundraiser event. The evening, which costs a minimum of $25 (after which you are given a link to the show), is billed as “new material from the cast and creators of [title of show] and over 40 starry guest artists from theatre, film, and television sharing performances, sketches, reflections, special quarantine talents, and more.”

You have to secure your “ticket” prior to 12 PM EDT/9 AM PDT on May 30th in order to view the show. The show itself, which Christopher Isherwood of the New York Times called “a zesty, sweet, Broadway-trivia-riddled musical about the anxiety and excitement of creating a zesty, sweet, Broadway-trivia-riddled musical about the anxiety and excitement of creating a. …” has a cult following. Fans of musical theatre have loved it. So have Broadway stars as is indicated by the guests they have lined up for Saturday’s event.

A partial list includes: Laura Benanti, Victoria Clark, Billy Crudup, Christopher J. Hanke, Bill Irwin, Cheyenne Jackson, John Kander, Judy Kuhn, Linda Lavin, The Lopez Family Singers (Lindsay Anderson, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Annie Lopez, Bobby Lopez, and Katie Lopez), Bob Mackie, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Newell, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, Zachary Quinto, Brooke Shields, Douglas Sills, Phillipa Soo and Michael Urie.

Spotlight Virtual Grand Finale – Music Center – May 30th – 10 PM EDT/7 PM PDT

Each year the Music Center in Los Angeles hosts a competition to find the best high school performers from San Diego up to Santa Barbara. They have several categories from which to choose: acting, dance, music and vocals. Usually the event is a big gala at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This year Spotlight goes online.

There are fourteen students competing in this year’s finals. This Grand Finale will be hosted by an alumnus of the Spotlight program: Tony Award-winner Lindsay Mendez (Carousel). Special guests include Matthew Rushing from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, ballet star Misty Copeland and singer Josh Groban.

Don Giovanni – Glyndebourne – May 31st – June 7th

Mozart’s masterpiece opera about Don Juan is Glyndebourne’s featured opera this week. This 2010 production was directed by Jonathan Kent.

Starring in Don Giovanni are Gerald Finley as Don Giovanni; Luca Pisaroni as Leporello; Anna Samuil as Donna Anna; Brindley Sherratt as Commendatore; William Burden as Don Ottavio; Kate Royal as Donna Elvira; Anna Virovlansky as Zerlina and Guido Loconsolo as Masetto. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the orchestra.

Kent set this production in Southern Europe in the 1970s/1980s. Critics were very divided about how successful this Don Giovanni was. Which seems to make this must-see viewing so we can decide for ourselves.

Don’t forget that this weekend’s operas from the Metropolitan Opera are Bellini’s La Sonnambula (Friday); Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (Saturday) and R. Strauss’s Salome (Sunday).

Fridays at Five from SFJazz this week features Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT on Friday only.

Stratford Festival has two additional Shakespeare plays available this week: The Tempest and Timon of Athens.

I hope that gives you enough Best Bets at Home: May 29th – May 31st for your weekend entertainment.

Main photo: Lauren Cuthbertson and Marcelino Sambé in The Cellist (Photo by Bill Cooper/©2020 ROH)

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: May 29th – May 31st appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The program is the same at both concerts. These all-Bach recitals include: Chaconne from Partita No 2. in D minor, BWV 1004 (arr. Brahms); Prelude, Gavotte and Gigue from Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (arr. Rachmaninoff); Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542 (arr. Liszt) and The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080.

When I heard Trifonov perform the Tchaikovsky in December, I realized there are still discoveries destined to be made about classical music and artists that want to make them. Trifonov is that artist.

You might be thinking, what’s going to be so special about a performance of these works by Bach? Forget those thoughts. I can assure you no one plays with the same degree of curiosity and passion as Trifonov.

I would recommend that any opportunity to see Daniil Trifonov to perform is one worth taking advantage of.

For tickets, please contact the venues by phone. The websites do not show tickets available online. That may indicate that these two performances are already sold out.

Photo of Daniil Trifonov courtesy of the artist’s website.

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