The Norwegian singer made her debut at The Met in a 2019 production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. She’s also appeared there in the operas Ariadne auf Naxos (which I saw and was astounded by her performance), Elektra and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. This season she will appear in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino.

Before that happens she will be one of just a few select artists to give a recital at those hallowed halls at Lincoln Center on Thursday, September 14th. She will also perform a recital at the BroadStage in Santa Monica on September 17th. Pianist James Bailieu will accompany her at both concerts.

Last month I spoke with Davidsen about her approach to recitals, how the world has changed for opera singers and the responsibility of accepting those keys that Gelb has offered her. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You told Jeff Linden of PBS’s Morning Edition last year that you realized it would be easier for you to take on roles because you didn’t have to be yourself. Essentially that you just could be the character and some of your fear went away. In a recital you don’t get that opportunity unless you create a world where you are a persona apart from yourself. So how do you approach recitals?

It’s a very good question because you don’t have the props, the sets, the dresses. You don’t have the other colleagues. So there’s a lot of information and role characteristic things that are not there. But I do think that I have created my world for each number that I do. Each aria, each song, there is sort of a little world that is my world. My hope is that some of it will go to you as an audience member. Maybe you know the song, maybe don’t know the song, maybe you will get completely different pictures. But there’s room for us to explore all these smaller songs – smaller in terms of length rather than a three-hour opera. 

When you were accepting your Opera News Award earlier this year, you talked about how music allows you to express yourself in ways that words could not. What does a recital and the repertoire that you choose to perform tell us about who you are?

In recital I’ll talk in between to present the songs. So I think already there the audience gets to know a bit more of me. I will bring some Grieg songs, some Sibelius to these recitals. There’s a different part of me than when you hear an Ariadne or Tannhäuser or a Verdi. It’s something else you get to know. The bigger arias that will be where people think obviously this is the Lise we’ve heard before. So I think it’s presenting different sides of me or different parts of what I do, rather than sharing the main emotion in a way. 

But is there part of of putting the repertoire together for a recital that you think not only does this music speak to each other, but this helps me tell a story about who I am at this moment as I’m performing?

I think there is an aspect. The BroadStage and the Met concert [are] both a mix. There are certain arias that I would like to do because I think about the space and the piano. You have to think about that as well. The pianist is lost with these long chords that don’t really sustain in a piano. Then there’s how we build it up, what what suits each other, what’s a good contrast in all of this. I always think, what can I bring that they haven’t heard before? What can I bring that it will be a surprise? All of these things have to be taken in.

I saw a video where you performed I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady, which I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear you singing. What inspires a choice like that?

That is a simple inspiration because it is about what can I do to lighten my repertoire? My opera roles are filled with drama. There is not so much operetta in my repertoire. I think the audience, when they hear that in a concert, it is to sort of clear the air a bit like, oh what a light little tune or fun maybe. Also, I think we need that. We need something to sort of clear it up a bit before we dig into something even more serious.

When Peter Gelb says, “Every major dramatic soprano role that she wants to do is hers as far as I’m concerned” and offers you the keys to the Met, that’s pretty heady to be told at any point in one’s career. What kind of pressure do you feel when when the head of a Met is saying such glorious things about you?

One part is unbelievably overwhelming. It’s big, big, big words. It’s a responsibility I’m not sure I can carry. But on the other hand, it’s a responsibility I would like to carry. It’s a job that I would like to have because I really love being at the Met. So if those two things can come together, then it’s kind of the perfect match. Both him and me can only see what the future holds in a way and plan accordingly.

You have so much attention on you right now which gives you tremendous opportunities. Given that a lot of people describe the time we’re living in now is a golden age for new opera, how much do new contemporary works interest you as you move forward in your career?

It interests to me quite a lot. But in terms of what I feel I can do, I still focus on the more classical, ultra-traditional operas, because I do believe I have a voice that suits that repertoire. That said, I do believe that when I’ve sort of settled some of these roles, then I hope I’ll get to do modern opera and work with a composer because it must be amazing to do a whole new opera that is made for you in your time. There’s a completely different way of communicating with the composer. You don’t have to say, Why did you write this? It means you can actually go and ask and I think that is amazing.

Is there an opera that you have so many questions that you would love to have a chance to talk to the composer? Would you like to talk to Wagner before tackling Tristan und Isolde if that were possible?

I think I’ve always liked to have a chat with them. I think the thing is both Wagner and Strauss are very specific in their writing. I think Verdi is even more interesting because there’s so much tradition. There’s so much this is how it used to be done and we don’t really know how much truth there is in that. Sometimes I wonder if they do this, why do they do it?

Renata Scotto just passed away. In 1978 she did an interview with the New York Times and she said, “I have two Renata Scottos, one working and one private. The private one doesn’t remember the artist because I really need to relax my head and have fun.” That was nearly 45 years ago. Does being an opera singer today require that same duality? 

I think that is the same. It’s just in a different way than it was for her. I think in today’s time we are even more exposed to our audience. With social media we’re connected in a completely different way, and that has its pros and cons. It’s brilliant because I can communicate with people on the other side of the world. I can get messages from people. I can give advice to young singers. There are so many good things, but I think it also requires an even stricter strategy in how to protect yourself. It’s all out there and how much do you want to be out there, How much do you want to be private or personal? And I think that is a balance I worked a lot on to find and I still do. 

In 1960, another Norwegian soprano, Kirsten Flagstad got a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. Most people today probably walk around or walk on her star and have no idea who she is because opera isn’t embraced in 2023 the way it was in 1960. Do you think it would be good if if opera was embraced the way it was in 1960? Do you think that’s even remotely possible? 

I have no idea if it’s possible. I think the world has so much to offer right now. We have so many paintings and art forms available to us that to go back and be such a high percentage of what people used to do, I think is really, really hard. I don’t know if I’m naive, but I really hope that there will be a time where [there] will be even more people listening to opera. If we can manage to open our doors a bit more and make sure that it’s reachable for everyone, that is my number one wish for this art form. 

I come from a house where we didn’t know what opera was, but we thought it was not for us. We didn’t listen to it. True to my education, to my work, my family now goes to opera and they say they love it. There’s a completely different way of listening. In a time where we search for yoga or mindfulness or meditation, I want to say, “Hey, we’re already there. Just come in.”

There’s so much to look at. There’s so much to take in. Turn your phone off. When we let go of the fact that we have to know everything all the time, that’s when we are able to take in new experiences. That’s what I’ve said to friends or family that don’t normally go to the opera. It’s okay if you’re bored for a couple of minutes. You can look at those sets. You can look at an orchestra of 100 people that are playing. And we’re all there for you. There’s so many things. Eventually you will know more and, maybe as an audience member, demand more. Lean back and let the music speak.

If there was anything about this time in your life, in your career, that you would like to bottle up and have as a reminder 15, 20, 25 years from now, what do you think it would be?

It will be the fact that I have so many wonderful audience members that come to my concerts. The fact that people travel to see me sing. I wish I can sort of take that in, not just in a bottle, but, I wish I understood that because it’s pretty surreal.

Why? 

I don’t know. Can’t you find someone where you are? I don’t really grasp that. But of course, I travel to see people, too. So it’s not really connected. If I zoom out, I can say,” Oh, how about that repertoire? You like that?” Then you travel to do it. But when people come from Australia to hear you, that is for me. There’s so much love in that and I wish I could take that in and keep that because it’s this dedication beyond. It’s really, really impressive.

Both photos of Lise Davidsen ©James Hole/Courtesy BroadStage

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June 17th – June 18th:

Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival

Formerly called the Playboy Jazz Festival, this two-day event is when summer officially starts. This year’s programming was curated by Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington. The first day features a line-up that includes Lionel Loueke and Gretchen Parlato, Samara Joy, Poncho Sanchez and Washington. Day two includes Ledisi, The Soul Rebels, Leon Bridges and West Coast Get Down (an ensemble that also features Washington.) Arsenio Hall hosts. If you’ve never been to Jazz Fest at the Hollywood Bowl, you don’t know that total joy that you are missing!

July 7th – July 9th:

Maestro of the Movies: John Williams with the LA Phil

This program typically takes place later in the season, but the addition of Gustavo Dudamel as conductor for, probably, the first half of the concert makes the date switch more than just fine. The LA Phil launches a two-year celebration of Williams at the Walt Disney Concert Hall this fall, so this concert is a preview of things to come. Of course, it is capped by having Williams conduct the LA Phil for the second half of the program (if this year’s concerts follow the tradition of these shows.) Fans will have their light sabers ready for music from Star Wars. Of course, I’d love to hear music from Rosewood, too.

July 13th:

An Ellington Celebration

It won’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. But with Dudamel leading the LA Phil, there will be no doubt it will swing. Not much has been released yet about this program, but Ellington’s work – particularly his close collaboration with the often not-credited Billy Strayhorn – is legendary music. Expect many of the classic songs and some of Duke’s symphonic works as well.

July 25th:

Rhapsody in Blue

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the premiere of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The Los Angeles Philharmonic gets a jump on the centennial celebrations with this performance conducted by Leonard Slatkin with soloist Makoto Ozone. The program also includes Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” which is not my favorite of his works (I know how sacrilegious that seems to many). Cynthia McTee’s Timepiece, commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for their own centennial opens the show.

July 28th – July 29th:

Quincy Jones’ 90th-Birthday Tribute: A Musical Celebration

So far Patti Austin, George Benson, Siedah Garret, Jennifer Hudson, Angélique Kidjo, Ibrahim Maalouf, John Mayer and Sheléa have been announced as performers coming together to celebrate Q. Jules Buckley will lead the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. With the vast career that Jones has had, don’t be surprised if the list of performers more than doubles. He’s had that kind of impact.

July 30th:

Everybody Rise! A Sondheim Celebration

I know this means going to the Hollywood Bowl twice in one weekend, but what fan of Stephen Sondheim’s work can resist an evening of his music performed by Skylar Austin, Sierra Boggess, Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster, Norm Lewis (so good in A Soldier’s Play at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles right now) and Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. Robert Longbottom curates the concert along with conductor Kevin Stites. Oh, did I mention that Patti LuPone, who won her most recent Tony Award for her performance in Company will be making sure that everybody rises?

August 10th:

Sibelius and Grieg

For a purely classical music experience, my choice is this LA Philharmonic concert with conductor Tarmo Peltokoski. The Sibelius is his Symphony No. 2. (Doesn’t Sibelius often work so beautifully in an outdoor setting?) The Grieg is the composer’s Piano Concerto with soloist Anton Mejias. Opening the concert will be Ciel d’hiver by composer Kaija Saariaho who just passed away on June 2nd.

August 22nd:

Chris Thile & Appalachian Spring

Classical music fans know that Appalachian Spring is the very famous work by Aaron Copland. Teddy Abrams will lead the LA Philharmonic in this concert. Opening for Copland is the world premiere of HOLLAND by Jonathan Bailey. Following that is where mandolinist Chris Thile comes in for the West Coast premiere of his ATTENTION! A narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra. Thile’s work has its world premiere at the Virginia Arts Festival on June 14th.

August 23rd:

Herbie Hancock Celebrates Wayne Shorter

If anyone can rally a great line-up of artists to celebrate the legendary Wayne Shorter who passed away in March, it is Herbie Hancock. And he has. In addition to Shorter’s regular band (Brian Blade, John Patitucci and Daniel Pérez), Hancock is bringing together Terence Blanchard, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Marcus Miller, Chris Potter, Carlos Santana, Cindy Blackman Santana and esperanza Spaulding.

September 20th:

Promises

Legendary saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders passed away last September. Just four days before the first anniversary of his death, Floating Points (composer Sam Shepherd) will premiere the live performance of this 2019 collaboration with Sanders. There are nine movements in this nearly 50-minute work. The original plan was for Sanders to perform with Floating Points. In his absence, Shepherd is being joined in this performance by Kara-Lis Coverdale, John Escreet, Shabaka Hutchings, Kieran Hebden, Los Angeles Studio Orchestra, Jeffrey Makinson, Hinako Omori, Dan Snaith and Sun Ra Arkestra. The album is amazing. The live performance should be equally exciting.

That’s my list of the 10 Hollywood Bowl Concerts not to miss this season. What’s on your list? Let me know!

Click on the title of each concert for information and to purchase tickets.

Main Photo: The Hollywood Bowl (Photo by Adam Latham) All Photos Courtesy Los Angeles Philharmonic Association

The post 10 Hollywood Bowl Concerts Not to Miss 2023 appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

There are other concerts that are going to be familiar to those who frequent the Bowl. The annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular is back as is a salute to the music of film composer John Williams.

I’ve combed through the schedule and here are the shows that stand out to me as the best bets this summer for fans of the performing arts. They are listed chronologically.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: July 15th: Peter and the Wolf

Gustavo Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a concert that will feature Oscar and Tony Award-winning actress Viola Davis narrating Peter and the Wolf (with music, of course, by Sergei Prokofiev). The composer’s Symphony No. 1 “Classical” opens the program. Margaret Bonds wrote the Montgomery Variations in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Selections from the work will be performed to conclude the first half of the concert.

JAZZ: July 18th: Kamasi Washington

If you watched the LA Phil’s Sound/Stage series you know how exciting a performer/composer Kamasi Washington is. (And if you haven’t, you should do so immediately.) Between the richness of his writing and the freedom he gives his very large band to improvise and contribute to the musical dialogue on stage, you will see very quickly why Washington is so highly-acclaimed.

As of press time, this is the only concert on his schedule. Opening is hip-hop artist Earl Sweatshirt. Both artists are from Los Angeles.

JAZZ: July 24th: Ledisi Sings Nina Simone

Singer/actress Ledisi is releasing an album of songs made famous by Nina Simone the night before this concert at The Hollywood Bowl. Ledisi Sings Nina includes such classic songs as Feeling Good, My Baby Just Cares for Me and Wild Is the Wind.

For this concert she will be joined by Thomas Wilkins leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

One week later she will be performing at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 31st and she’ll be at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego on August 17th. Wilkins will lead the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in that show.

I fully anticipate that Ledisi will put a spell on you at this concert.

BROADWAY/VOCALS: July 30th: Cynthia Erivo

Also releasing an album, her first solo recording, is the destined-to-be-an-EGOT Cynthia Erivo. (She’s only missing an Academy Award and that is certainly in her future.) That record, Ch. 1 Vs. 1, will be released on September 17th. The first single, The Good, came out last month.

The star of The Color Purple on Broadway and the recent Genius: Aretha Franklin will probably include songs from both her stage and screen career. She’ll be joined by Wilkins and the LA Philharmonic for this concert. At press time this was her only solo concert on her schedule.

I saw her in her Tony Award-winning role as Celie. She blew the roof off the Jacobs Theatre in New York every night. If anyone can make the shell of the Bowl levitate, it’s going to be Erivo.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: August 5th: Schumann & Beethoven UPDATED

Gemma New leads the LA Phil in this concert that opens with warp & weft by Sarah Gibson. She is a Los Angeles-based composer and pianist who also performs as a member of HOCKET.

warp & weft was given its world premiere performance in 2019 by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason was scheduled to perform Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor. However visa issues got in the way. She is being replaced by pianist Behzod Abduraimov. He will be performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15.

The second half of the program will feature the Rhenish Symphony No. 3 by Robert Schumann.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: August 10th: Dudamel Conducts Gershwin

What could be a better line-up of music for the summer than Cuban Overture, Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and songs by George Gershwin? Obviously for fans of this composer (count me in) this is pure heaven.

Gustavo Dudamel will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic for this concert.

Joining them will be pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and counter-tenor John Holiday.

As part of the Sound/Stage series, Thibaudet joined the LA Phil to perform the jazz band arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue. Perhaps this will be the full orchestra version. I hope so!

CLASSICAL MUSIC: August 17th: Dudamel Leads Elgar and Grieg

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel for a concert featuring the works of British composer Edward Elgar and Norwegian composer Edvard Greig.

Opening the program is Grieg’s immensely popular Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. From the opening notes of this work, you’ll immediately recognize it.

Kanneh-Mason joins for the chamber version of Elgar’s Cello Concerto. This was the composer’s last major work for orchestra. Kanneh-Mason’s 2020 recording with the London Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle received glowing reviews. Rob Cowan, writing for Gramophone, said of the performance:

“It really is a remarkable performance, one that has already given me enormous pleasure.”

The performance concludes with Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: September 9th: Beethoven and Schumann

One month earlier you had the chance to hear what a piano concerto in A minor written by Clara Schumann sounds like. With this concert you can hear what Robert Schumann did with his Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54. What makes this concert so appealing is the soloist, Hélène Grimaud.

Long a fan of Schumann’s work, Grimaud made her US concert debut with a performance of this work with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1990. Twelve years later she performed the concerto as part of her debut at Carnegie Hall. In other words, this piece has a special and substantial place in her heart.

The concert, lead by conductor Marta Gardolińska, will open with Overture by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz. After the intermission, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 will conclude the evening’s performance.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: September 14th: Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project

Bach’s Six Cello Suites will be performed by Yo-Yo Ma alone on the massive Hollywood Bowl stage. Almost exactly four years prior to this concert, he did exactly the same concert. The quiet, emotional and intimate music of Johann Sebastian Bach performed on a single instrument for two-and-a-half hours to an enraptured audience.

I know what you’re thinking, did this really work?

Here are some excerpts from Mark Swed‘s review for the Los Angeles Times:

“…the concert proved an unquestionably great, memorable Bowl occasion. …This audience sat in nearly unbelievable rapt attention focused on Ma as each musically complex and austere six-movement suite followed suite. …Extraordinarily, this had the effect of a kind of visual and aural intimacy you could never reproduce in a concert hall while at the same time producing a sense of awe being in a large outdoor arena where attention-deficit is normally taken for granted. With the Bowl doing everything right — the lighting, the mood, the outstanding sound system — Ma made the astonishing an argument against dumbing down.”

I certainly hope to experience this performance. If you do, don’t hesitate to get tickets. The previous performance was sold out.

JAZZ: September 26th: Herbie Hancock

He’s a legend. He always puts on a massively entertaining show. And I’d venture a guess by saying no two performances by keyboardist/composer Herbie Hancock are the same.

With a career that spans from Miles Davis to The Headhunters to his Oscar-winning score for Round Midnight, Hancock is always trying something new and pushing the definition of jazz into new areas. His support of young artists is also powerfully important.

There are no guests announced yet for this concert, but there will undoubtedly be many. He’ll be performing with his band (though wouldn’t a solo concert be amazing?).

I’ve seen Hancock several times and can strongly recommend seeing this concert.

Those are my selections as the best bets for the Hollywood Bowl 2021 season. If, like me, you enjoy a wide range of music, I recommend checking out the full schedule.

Coming soon will be my selection of the Best Bets at The Ford.

Leave a message in the comments section and let me know what you’re looking forward to seeing most this summer at the Hollywood Bowl.

Update: This post has been updated to reflect the change of soloists and material being performed on August 5th. Isata Kanneh-Mason was unable to get a visa.

Photo: Hollywood Bowl with Fireworks (Photo by Adam Latham/Courtesy Los Angeles Philharmonic)

The post Top Picks for the Hollywood Bowl 2021 Summer Season UPDATED appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This weekend’s Best Bets include traditional ballet and hip-hop dance; a celebration of one of America’s greatest playwrights; an opera legend in concert; a production of an opera by Stravinsky; a chamber music concert from Carnegie Hall; one of Broadway’s most provocative events and a live concert with a Broadway star who knows his way around roller skates.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd:

The Sleeping Beauty – Royal Ballet – Now – August 6th

Fourteen years ago, the Royal Ballet dusted off their 1946 original staging of Sleeping Beauty. While the costumes and designs by Oliver Messel remained in tact, they combined the choreography of Marius Petipa from the 19th century with new sections created by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon.

The music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky remains front and center as does the story of a young girl, Aurora, who has a curse placed on her. On her 16th birthday she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. The Lilac Fairy can’t reverse the curse, but she does create an opposing spell that spares Aurora from death, but she will remain asleep until a handsome prince kisses her.

Fumi Kaneko dances the role of Aurora. Kristen McNally dances the role of Carabosse who puts the curse on the girl. The Lilac Fairy is danced by Gina Storm Jensen. The Prince is danced by Federico Bonelli.

The Kindness of Strangers – TennesseeWilliams.net – July 31st – August 14

When the 2020 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival had to be cancelled, actor Bryan Batt (Mad Men) suggested rounding up long-time participants in the festival and taking it online. The result is Friday’s The Kindness of Strangers. The event takes place live on Friday, July 31st at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT. It will remain available online for free through August 14th.

If you need me to tell you the source of the event’s title, perhaps The Kindness of Strangers isn’t for you. But for a quick refresher course on Williams, he is the playwright who gave us The Glass Menagerie, Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Night of the Iguana and, of course, A Streetcar Named Desire.

The festival was launched in 1986, so they have a length list of participants and many of them are joining for The Kindness of Strangers.

Batt will serves as the host. The scheduled performers includes: Samantha Beaulieu, Troi Bechet, Curtis Billings, Betty Buckley (Camino Real), Leslie Castay, Michael Cerveris, Patricia Clarkson, Patrick Cragin, Brenda  Currin, Lisa  D’Amour, Arsène DeLay, Gwendolyne Foxworth, Alison Fraser, Lawrence Henry Gobble, John Goodman (who was a terrific “Big Daddy” in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Geffen Playhouse), Rodney Hicks, Kenneth  Holditch, Corey Johnson, Idella Johnson, Peggy Scott Laborde, Donald Lewis, Ti Martin, Elizabeth McCoy, Jessica Mixon, Whitney Mixon, Wendell Pierce (who gives a great performance in the film Clemency), Francine Segal, Janet  Shea, Harry Shearer, Carol Sutton, Beverly Trask, Kathleen Turner (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Cassie Worley, and Jake Wynne-Wilson.

The Kindness of Strangers is free to watch, but donations are encouraged.

Janine Jansen and Jean-Yves Thibaudet play Grieg, Debussy, and Chausson – Medici.tv – Now – August 2nd

This week’s Carnegie Hall concert made available on Medici.tv finds violinist Janine Jansen and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing a chamber musical recital from 2018. They are joined by the Dover Quartet for performances of music by Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy and Ernest Chausson.

The program offers Debussy’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor; Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major and Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in D Major.

This concert was part of Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series which allows an artist to program a series of concerts. This was the next-to-last of Jansen’s series.

Zoo Nation: The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – Royal Ballet – July 31st

Hip-hop meets Lewis Carroll in this adaptation inspired by the author’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Zoo Nation/The Kate Prince Company was commissioned to put this dance piece together by The Royal Ballet to accompany Christopher Wheeldon’s full-length ballet named after Carroll’s book.

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party centers around a young psychotherapist in his first job at the Institute for Extremely Normal Behaviour. His patients are all familiar characters to fans of this book: the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and the Queen of Hearts. He hopes his PhD in normalization will help him understand his patients better. Perhaps there isn’t anything to understand beyond that normal may not be all it is cracked up to be.

Kate Prince directed and choreographed the show. Music is by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde with all three creators collaborating on the lyrics.

Zoë Anderson from the The Independent in London said of the show, “Prince blends big group numbers with explosive solos. The whole company is strong, with dazzling turns by some of its best regular performers.”

Renée Fleming in Concert – Metropolitan Opera – August 1st – 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT

As part of the Metropolitan Opera’s ongoing series of Met Stars Live in Concert, Renée Fleming will be accompanied by pianist Robert Ainsley for a live recital from Washington, D.C.’s Dumbarton Oaks.

Lyric soprano Fleming is amongst the most popular opera singers in the world.

A graduate of Juilliard, she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1988. That same year she made her debut with the Houston Grand Opera Company in The Marriage of Figaro. She sang the role of The Countess. Three years later she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the same opera and the rest is history.

She is a 17-time Grammy Award nominee with four wins. She’s a fierce advocate for the study of health and music and how they are intertwined. Fleming is also passionate about education. She can be found on Broadway (the most recent revival of Carousel) and has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Brad Mehldau and more.

The recital is scheduled to include works by Handel (Semele), Massenet (Manon), Richard Strauss (Der Rosenkavalier), Korngold (Die Tote Stadt), Cilea (Adriana Lecouvreur), Puccini (Giannia Schicchi) along with a folk song by Joseph Canteloube and a little nod to Hollywood with Over the Rainbow from The Wizard Oz by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg.

Tickets to watch the concert are $20. With your ticket you will be able to watch the performance live and have access to it for 12 days.

Broadway Bares: Zoom In – Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – August 1st – 9:30 PM EDT/6:30 PM PDT

One of the most popular annual events in the Broadway community is a burlesque show called Broadway Bares. Director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell created the event to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Broadway Bares finds Broadway dancers performing uniquely choreographed routines that all gradually peel away their clothes.

Nobody appears fully nude in show, as per the truest tradition of burlesque. Men and women perform the numbers which are choreographed by some of the Broadway community’s best.

This is always one of the toughest tickets to get in New York. But this year, we’re all invited. Broadway Bares: Zoom In takes place on Saturday and will feature newly created pieces filmed/performed adhering to social distancing guidelines, plus there will be films of classic routines from the nearly 30-year history of the event.

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

The Rake’s Progress – Glyndebourne – August 2nd – August 9th

Igor Stravinsky’s opera had its world premiere in Venice in 1951. Poet W. H. Auden and poet/librettist Chester Kallman wrote the libretto. All three were inspired by artist William Hogarth’s paintings from the 1730s – a series entitled A Rake’s Progress.

The opera traces the fall of Tom Rakewell. When he encounters Nick Shadow, he leaves behind Anne Truelove. Shadow and Rakewell soak up all that London has to offer.

But Rakewell is unaware that Shadow is actually the Devil. One series of events leads to another and our protagonist finds himself in a mental word.

In this 2010 production from Glyndebourne, Topi Lehtipuu sings the role of Rakewell. Matthew Rose sings Shadow and Miah Persson sings the role of Truelove.

This is a revival of John Cox’s 1975 production that was designed by artist David Hockney. Vladimir Jurowski lead the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tim Ashley, writing for The Guardian, said of this revival, “Designed by David Hockney and directed by John Cox, Glyndebourne’s production of The Rake’s Progress dates from 1975 and is still widely regarded as the benchmark staging of Stravinsky’s great, if difficult, opera.

“Hockney’s designs mediate between the 18th century and the 20th, just as the score self-consciously shuttles between Mozartian models and modernism. Cox’s understanding, meanwhile, of when to keep us detached and when to let emotions through remains wonderfully acute.”

Cheyenne Jackson with Seth Rudetsky – BroadwayWorld.com – August 2nd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

If you only know Cheyenne Jackson from his roles on Glee or American Horror Story, there’s much more than that to him. For it is Broadway where he truly rose to fame.

Jackson made his Broadway debut as a replacement in the musical Aida. He was also a replacement in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Audiences started taking serious notice when he starred in the musical All Shook Up in 2005. The stage musical Xanadu was next in 2007 (which showcased his roller skating abilities). He starred alongside Kate Baldwin in the wonderful 2009 revival of Finian’s Rainbow. His most recent show was The Performers in 2012.

Jackson joins music director/composer/pianist and Broadway expert Seth Rudetsky for his weekly Online Seth Concert Series. The show will be a combination of conversation and song. Sunday’s performance will be live. If you can’t watch the show live, there is an encore showing on Monday, August 3rd at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT.

Tickets are $20 for either performance.

As you can see, this week’s Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd is a short but sweet list. But I have a few reminders before we go:

This weekend’s opera productions from the Metropolitan Opera are Dvořák’s Rusalka on Friday; Verdi’s Ernani on Saturday and Wagner’s Die Walküre on Sunday.

SF Jazz continues their multi-part Wayne Shorter Celebration on Fridays at Five with Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard on Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT.

The Fred Hirsch Trio will perform live sets from the Village Vanguard on Friday and Saturday at 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT.

The Julius Rodriguez Trio performs live from Smalls on Sunday at 7:45 PM EDT/4:45 PM PDT.

I hope you enjoy this weekend’s Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd. Stay safe and healthy!

Photo: Artwork from the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival 2020 Cover/Courtesy of the Festival

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Edvard Grieg’s music is on the bill (as one would expect given the show’s title.) Li opens the show with the Norwegian composer’s Piano Concerto in A Minor. The second half finds the LA Philharmonic, under the direction of Gustavo Gimeno, performing three selections from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite.

Li is one of the fastest rising classical pianists right now and this concert will give us all a good idea of just how talented he is and how far he might go.

Photo by Simon Fowler

The post George Li – Masterworks by Grieg appeared first on Cultural Attaché.