My top pick is:

JAZZ: THE SKY WILL STILL BE THERE TOMORROW – Charles Lloyd – Blue Note Records

What’s better than a new Charles Lloyd record? A double album from Charles Lloyd. Adding to the gifts here is that he is joined by drummer Brian Blade, bassist Larry Grenadier and pianist Jason Moran. How wonderful that this legendary artist is gifting us this album on his 86^th birthday.

Of course, none of this would mean a thing if the music wasn’t good. It isn’t good. It’s great. In fact, this is one of Lloyd’s best albums ever. It features six new originals composed by Lloyd.

Lloyd and company have recording 15 tracks running 90 minutes that range from the moving and thoughtful The Lonely One to the joyous Monk’s Dance and the title track which makes it abundantly clear that Lloyd still has much to say both musically and compositionally. Artists half his age would love to put out an album this good.

Here are my other picks for New In Music This Week: March 15^th:

CLASSICAL: BEETHOVEN FOR THREE: SYMPHONY NO. 4 and Op. 97 “ARCHDUKE” – Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma – Sony Classical

Chamber music fans have certainly been excited by the Beethoven For Three project from pianist Ax, violinist Kavakos and Cellist Ma. This is the third in that series which finds the trio performing Beethoven’s symphonies as arranged for just these three instruments/musicians.

The first recording featured the composer’s 2^nd and 5^th symphonies. The second was anchored by the 6^thsymphony. Here Beethoven’s 4^th is given more attention that it usually receives as it is considered the bastard child between the groundbreaking 3^rd symphony and the enduringly popular 5^th. 

The end result makes a persuasive argument that there is a lot more meet on this symphony’s bones that one imagined. By stripping away all the other instruments, the compositional structure shines through in ways that are surprising and surprisingly faithful to the original composition. The performances are, as one would expect from this trio, superb.

The Archduke is Beethoven’s Piano Trio No 7 in B-Flat Major.

CLASSICAL: THE OVERLOOK HOTEL – Paul Moravec/Boston Modern Orchestra Project/Gil Rose – BMOP/sound

It is embarrassing to admit that I’ve not heard composer Moravec’s music prior to listening to this album. I can assure you within minutes of hearing his Suite from The Shining (opera) that I lined up much more to explore. Plus, I can’t wait to experience the opera. (A full recording of the opera comes out April 12^th).

This wonderful album from BMOP includes more than just a suite of music from his opera based on Stephen King’s novel. There’s also Brandenburg Gate, a chamber orchestra composition; Scorpio Dances which is ballet music and Serenade written in tribute to the architecture and art that surrounds the New York State Capitol Building.

When I chose what other recordings to listen to of Moravec’s work I immediately gravitated to The Blizzard Voices and Northern Lights Electric which are both recordings by BMOP and Gil Rose.

CLASSICAL: TCHAIKOVSKY ORCHESTRAL WORKS Vol. 2 – BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Alpesh Cahuhan – Chandos

If you like the work of Russian composer Tchaikovsky, but want to hear something less commonly recorded, this new album from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is just the ticket.

The most widely performed piece on this recording is Capriccio Italien. Opera afficionados might know the Introduction to The queen of Spades. The rest of the program includes Fatum, Dances from The Oprichinik, music from Hamlet and three pieces from The Snow Maiden.

This is a great album that allows for a sense of discovery with a composer about whom we thought we knew it all. All of Tchaikovsky’s signature sounds are here:  big, sweeping themes, emotional themes and unforgettable music.

JAZZ: BIG GEORGE – One For All with George Coleman – Smoke Sessions

Tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis; drummer Joe Farnsworth, pianist David Hazeltine, trumpeter Jim Rotondi and bassist John Webber are the musicians who make up One For All. They are also the composers of most of the tracks on this album that celebrates saxophonist George Coleman and finds him joining for the three songs in the middle of this terrific album.

Big George also celebrates other jazz giants who are still active today (see our top pick for a jazz giant who is still making terrific music).

The various members of One For All wrote most of the songs on this album. Appropriately one of those originals is Oscar Winner by Rotondi. A week late for the Oscars but a fun song that gives Coleman plenty of room to shine.

JAZZ: POWER TO THE PEOPLE – Joe Henderson – Craft Recordings/Jazz Dispensary

This 1969 album from composer/saxophonist Henderson has long been considered a classic. He was joined on this album by Ron Carter on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Herbie Hancock on piano and Mike Lawrence on trumpet for two songs.

This album may be best known for introducing the world to Henderson’s composition Black Narcissus. Henderson wrote five of the tracks on this album. Ron Carter’s Opus One-Point-Five and the Jerome Moross/John Treville Latouche song Lazy Afternoon are the other songs heard on this album. His take on Lazy Afternoon is amazing.

This is both a high-end vinyl re-release and the record is also available in remastered form on streaming platforms.

JAZZ: HEARTLAND RADIO – Remy Le Boeuf – SoundSport Records

If you’re looking for a straightforward jazz album, Heartland Radio is probably not for you. Not that it doesn’t have that, but it also has music that sounds like it came off the dance floor, an R&B festival and elements of being performed at Coachcella.

All of which is to say this is an album that showcases the many ways in which a large ensemble can be presented and recorded. Composer/saxophonist Le Boeuf says in press notes that this album is like the soundtrack to a road trip. What a diverse soundtrack it is!

He mentions influences including Bon Iver, Clean Bandit, D’Angelo, Al Green, and Thom Yorke. The title track, which opens the album, made me wonder if this album was for me. But patience rewards and Heartland Radiodoes as well. It all comes together in a satisfying stew or influences and genres that would make any road trip or any 45 minutes (the album’s length) much more satisfying.

OPERA: DALINDA – Chor und Orchester de Berlin Operngruppe/Felix Krieger – Oehms Classics

In May of last year the Berlin Operngruppe gave the world premiere of an opera by Gaetano Donizetti. Yes, the composer of Lucia dei Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, La fille du régiment and more had an opera that hadn’t been performed before. It never got staged because the work ran afoul of Neopolitan censors.

The plot is rather complicated and would take too much space here to try to synopsize. Suffice to say that in the title character, Donizetti has found another remarkably compelling women around whom to create his opera. (Felice Romani – librettist for Bellini’s Norma and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore wrote this libretto.)

Soprano Lidia Fridman sings the title role and is joined by bass-baritone Paolo Bordogna and tenor Luciano Ganci.

This is an important and fascinating discovery and if you’ve loved any of Donizetti’s other operas, I’m certain you’ll find much to enjoy here.

OPERA: WHEN NIGHT FALLS – Elīna Garanča – Deutsche Grammophon

I’m such a fan of mezzo-soprano Garanča that it almost wouldn’t matter what she chose to record. What impressed me most about this album is that she has chosen a mix of orchestral songs along with various pieces arranged for voice and piano, voice and piano and guitar and in one case, voice, piano and oboe.

Amongst the composers whose work she has recorded are Luciano Berio, Johannes Brahms, Engelbert Humperdinck, Franz Schubert, Richard Strauss and Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti. 

Not being familiar with Tosti, Sogno by the composer was a particular delight. Manuel de Falla’s Asturiana is beautiful as is Nana Criolla by José Maria Gallardo del Rey. Let’s face it, the whole album is gorgeous.  This is a well-spent hour for any opera lover.

That’s all for New In Music This Week: March 15^th.

Enjoy the music!

Enjoy the weekend!

Main Photo: From the album cover of The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow

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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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The program will find two-time Grammy winner Leonard discussing her career and passions with Zsolt Bognár who hosts Living the Classical Life. She will also be performing on the live-streamed event. Joining Leonard will be pianist Emanuel Ax, soprano Janai Brugger and trombonist Wycliffe Gordon.

Leonard’s roles at the Metropolitan Opera have included Rosina in The Barber of Seville (a role she also performed at LA Opera); Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro; Miranda in Thomas Adés’s The Tempest; Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte; Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Charlotte in Werther.

I first became aware of her when I attended a Met Opera Live in HD screening of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. While the opera happens to be amongst my favorites, this particular production was staggeringly beautiful, truly emotional and Leonard’s singing was glorious.

She also sang the title role in Nico Muhly‘s Marnie when it had its US premiere. Muhly’s opera was streamed on April 30th by The Met. Leonard was stunning once again. As she is in this concert performance of “I See Forio” from Marnie with Muhly at the piano and Nadia Sirota on viola.

Who knows when live performances will resume again. Leonard has multiple bookings on her calendar, but sadly it might be quite some time before we get to see and hear her live in either an opera or a concert.

If you know Leonard and her work, or want to be introduced to her, Thursday’s Live with Carnegie Hall will definitely be something to watch. If, however, the timing doesn’t work out for you, Carnegie Hall archives these programs so you can watch it at your leisure approximately an hour or so after the conclusion of the live stream.

Photo of Isabel Leonard by Fay Fox/Courtesy of Columbia Artists

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The old joke about how you get to Carnegie Hall seems like it was written about pianists. Taking the stage for a solo recital there is, arguably, the pinnacle of success for a classical pianist.

Ax made his own debut at Carnegie Hall in 1974 and had his first recital there in 1982. Bronfman had his debut there in 1976 with his first recital in 1989. Hamelin won the 1985 Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition for Pianists and had his first solo recital there in 1988.

Some key moments in Carnegie Hall’s history of piano performances:

1891: Jan Paderewski made his US debut

1906: Artur Rubinstein made his US debut

1909: Sergei Rachmaninoff made his Carnegie Hall debut

1925: George Gershwin gave the world premiere performance of Concerto in F

1928: Vladimir Horowitz made his US debut

1957: Glenn Gould made his Carnegie Hall recital debut

1960: Sviatoslav Richter made his Carnegie Hall debut

1981: Martha Argerich made her Carnegie Hall recital debut

1989: Maria Joao Pires made her Carnegie Hall recital debut

1990: Evgeny Kissin made his Carnegie Hall recital debut

1991: Stephen Hough made his Carnegie Hall recital debut

2001: Lang Lang made his Carnegie Hall debut

There’s a lot of history in this building which gives all three musicians a lot to talk about. Hopefully they will also perform. Either way, this is definitely going to be an interesting hour or so.

And if you can’t make the Emanuel Ax: Live with Carnegie Hall livestream on April 23rd, the video will be available a few hours after its conclusion on the Carnegie Hall website.

Photo of Emanuel Ax © Lisa-Marie Mazzucco/Courtesy of Carnegie Hall

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