During the first half of this concert music by Tan Dun (Concerto for Six), Yi-Wen Jiang (Selections from ChinaSong) and Bright Sheng (Four Movements For Piano Trio) will be performed.

Wang was born in China and joined the LA Phil in 1994. She’s a beautiful musician and audiences may know her best from her on-stage collaborations with composer John Williams. Wang is the featured soloist any year in which the Theme from Schindler’s List is played as part of the Maestro of the Movies concerts.

Wang has performed under music directors Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel. She will soon find her third music director on the podium after Dudamel leaves for the New York Philharmonic.

Last week I spoke with Wang about this concert, the significance of the music she programmed and about her musical partnership with Williams. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with Wang, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: What does the New Year mean to you personally and do you associate any particular music with the New Year?

All New Years means so much for many of us coming from Asia. I heard a comparison that it is like Thanksgiving and Christmas combined. I have to say it is that combined and much more. There are many traditions. Traditions with foods that we eat for Lunar New Year and of course, music. What I’m going to perform, it’s not really traditional New Year’s music. But certainly, as people will hear, it’s very effective. It’s very colorful. It’s going to be very festive. 

I guess being colorful and festive makes it easier for Western audiences to hear Chinese music. 

In fact, as I was practicing Harvest Celebration [one of the ChinaSongs], it came to my mind this is exactly the drum beats and the percussive rhythm that people would feel at a local dance. I’m going to speak at the beginning of the concert. I will ask people who has seen a Lion Dance. They will really associate that with the rhythm that they will hear in Harvest Celebration.

The concert opens with Yi-Wen Jiang’s adaptations of traditional songs. Then you’ve got music by Bright Sheng and Tan Dun. The second half of the program is Mendelssohn’s string quintet. What’s the conversation that you see taking place between the first half of the concert and the second half of the concert?

I actually wouldn’t be the expert right now to tell you. But I do want to mention that to the audience that viola quintet is a form of chamber music that’s less common than a string quartet and a piano trio. Bright Sheng’s piano trio brings back a lot of familiar memories to me melodically. So I recommended that piece and I suggested Yi-Wen Jiang’s transcription of the three string quartet pieces. In terms of Mendelssohn viola quintet, it’s a master work of the chamber music repertoire. What is the connection? I cannot just ignore that when I introduce the program. In terms of how I see that, it’s as if we give you some beautiful hamburgers on the Chinese banquet table.

Selections from ChinaSongs opens the concert. Those are based on traditional songs. What can you tell me about those songs and their cultural significance? 

The first piece is Yao Dance. It means dances of the Yao People. The Yao People is from the south west of China. They are a minority. They love to sing and dance and they have beautiful music. The second one is Shepherd’s Song, and this is folk music from the Inner Mongolia. [It’s] really about the shepherds in the prairie and has a lot to do with singing. Shepherd Song and Harvest Celebration are both very well known as solo music for violin with piano accompaniment. So these two are the pieces that I played many times when I was growing up in China.

Shepherd Song is slow. It’s beautiful. It’s music originally written for a Chinese instrument, which is called suona, which is a double reed instrument. It sounds like an extremely loud oboe. It’s an instrument that people play in festival settings like weddings and New Years. It’s very loud. A composer transcribed that for violin. It’s really a great piece that always brings down the hall because it’s so lively and loud. It’s exciting. It has syncopation. It has rhythmic changes. It’s always a fantastic piece for a performance.

Where do you believe Tan Dun’s work stands in the world of contemporary classical music in general, and in the music by Chinese-American composers?

I really think Tan Dun is very important, if not the most important, living Chinese composer. I always thought that from the very beginning. He always incorporates a lot of elements from back home and not only the familiar melodies that I grew up listening to. He went into places in China that we’ve never been to. I think he’s so innovative. I feel he’s always ahead of all time.

Tan Dun and Bright Sheng were in the same composition class at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. That’s the first class right after culture revolution ended. We always consider that to be the most important and the greatest composition class period in Chinese history. So they both attended and were in that class, and they both came to Columbia University and had their doctorate at Columbia University. We actually turned out to have two composers from the same background and education.

What does it mean to you to have Chinese music part of the programing at the Los Angeles Philharmonic or any other orchestral institution that chooses to program it?

I feel it’s very important. Not only in L.A. Society is so diverse and it’s important that we understand each other’s music and background. So I’m always thrilled to be the interpreter or to introduce that music to a broader audience. Obviously in L.A., needless to say, we have so many people of Chinese heritage.

Increased exposure to non-traditional music and contemporary classical music began in earnest under Esa-Pekka Salonen. Gustavo Dudamel has done a wonderful job of continuing that tradition. What are your hopes that whomever the new music director is announced to replace Gustavo Dudamel will follow in those footsteps and continue to present music from other cultures and from newer composers that don’t traditionally fit into programing?

I have no doubt whoever our next music director will be will be innovative and will bring their new angle and strength in this following champions of modern music. Gustavo came and look at how much music he brought in. We’ve played so much music of South American composers that we really had not a lot of exposure to before. So I feel whoever will come will bring their unique angle on this.

Is it time for a woman to be the music director?

Maybe. We will see. I think we are trying not to put an expectation to fulfill a certain agenda or a role. Yes, we are looking. We are taking our time. We are hopeful. We’ve had Gustavo for 17 years.

I noticed how carefully you skirted around that question. If Gustavo said, hey, there’s a place for you at the New York Philharmonic, would you join him?

I have to say this, I will not. My home is in LA and my part is here. 

One of the advantages of having your home in Los Angeles is the relationship that you’ve developed off-stage and on-stage with John Williams. What can you tell me about your close musical relationship with him and how that developed? 

It all started after I joined the L.A. Phil. My first summer was 1995, and then, in 1998, I remember very clearly when he first programmed a violin solo. On that program it was Sabrina and he was so thrilled. We connected and the rest is history. We have have performed yearly ever since then. So it’s more than 25 years now. I’ve also toured with him. There’s nothing else quite like that.

When I’m asked your favorite conductor, I will bring up John Williams’ name. Who will give you this kind of experience for me?

When you are on stage, immersed in this music and you look up the composer looking down at you – that kind of connection, that kind of gift and experience cannot be replaced.

He has written a violin concerto or two. Maybe you could be a soloist on one of those.

It is my goal. Yes. Someday I will play one of those concertos and not just the three minute solo, which I do love. 

Being a young girl growing up in China, could you ever have imagined this kind of experience with the most beloved film composer of all times, with arguably the greatest orchestra in the United States? What does it mean to you every night when you get on stage, whether you’re a member of of a small ensemble, as you will be Tuesday, or a soloist with the entire Philharmonic?

Thank you for asking me that question, because I feel that every day. I could not have imagined. When I attended the Middle School of Shanghai Conservatory and practiced around the clock. When I came here on a full scholarship to attend Peabody Conservatory. Then when I attended Manhattan’s School of Music and studied under Glen Dicterow, who is a colleague at USC Thornton School of Music. I could not have imagined that my professional path would have taken me this far. Even when I joined the L.A. Phil at age of 26, I could not have imagined how my professional development have evolved and grown.

I have an important part of my career that is teaching now. I already have one former student in the orchestra and I have another incoming former student. This is really the greatest feeling to see the next generation, developing under my guidance.

On your page on USC’s website, you are quoted about your teaching philosophy that, “The intent is always to motivate and to inspire them to become better instrumentalists and complete musicians.” I was intrigued by complete musician. When did you realize you were a complete musician and what does it mean to you? Or how do you define what a complete musician is?

I hope I live by example. You don’t only win the job and play the notes and make a salary. Complete musicians means you’re devoted. That you are involved in music. Your responsibility includes sharing, cultivating, giving, which is so important. I would say at my ripe old age, I feel I’m still changing and hopefully getting better. I’m still hoping to become a better musician, artist and a teacher. That, for me, means you’re complete musician. You are immersed and giving.

Berl Sinofsky [one of Wang’s former teachers] is quoted as saying that, “Music is a higher calling than just a profession or living. It is an effort in understanding something bigger than yourself. It is an effort at striving to be something bigger than you are.” In what ways has music given you that understanding of something bigger and that ability to be something bigger? 

I doubt I can give really a deserving answer to your question. I think that’s a great statement that he gave. I hope to do more is really part of my answer. It’s going to be what I said earlier. I think by really doing good with my music and really becoming more than just a musician by really helping others and be involved and immersed in a community. I think that’s that’s what I’m hoping to do.

To watch the full interview with Bing Wang, please go here.

All photos courtesy of Los Angeles Philharmonic

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My top pick is:

MUSICALS:  DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES – Original Cast Recording – Nonesuch Records

In 2005 I first saw the Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas musical The Light in the Piazza. Guettel’s music and lyrics for this show are, I believe, the most romantic since West Side Story.

Romance takes a darker turn in their new musical which is based on the same 1958 television movie that inspired the 1962 film starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick.

This musical finds Kelli O’Hara in the Remick role and Brian d’Arcy James in the Lemmon role as two people who fall not just in love, but into a downward spiral courtesy of the copious amounts of alcohol they consume.

I haven’t seen this musical, but one listen to this album makes me want to book a ticket to New York to see it on Broadway (it opens in late January at Studio 54). Just to hear new music from Guettel is reason enough to see any show and more than reason enough to make this recording my Top Pick.

Here are my other choices for New In Music This Week: December 15^th

CLASSICAL:  MENDELSSOHN: LIEDER OHNE WORTE – Igor Levit – Sony Classical

Pianist Levit offers up selections from Mendelssohn’s 8 book Songs Without Words in this solo recording. Levit was inspired to record these pieces (along with Charles-Valentin Alkan’s Prélude Op. 31: no 8 “La chanson de la folle au bord de la mer”) as a response to the October 7^th attacks in Israel.

The choices he made reflect his realization that the best way to raise his voice was through his musicianship. The recording, which is beautiful, is to raise money for two organizations battling Anti-Semitism.

As he says in the press release announcing this release, “It is my artistic reaction, as a person, as a musician, as a Jew, to what I have felt in the last few weeks and months. Or to put it more precisely, it is one of many reactions that came to mind.”

CLASSICAL:  SINTA QUARTET PLAYS BEETHOVEN – Sinta Quartet – Bright Shiny Things

If you like your Beethoven in the non-traditional style, this album is for you. Actually, this album is for anyone who enjoys Beethoven at all.

Sinta Quartet is a saxophone quartet. They perform three of Beethoven’s string quartets on this imaginative and ear-opening recording:  String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95; String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132and String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131.

Their performances give a richness and depth that is uniquely satisfying by virtue of this being all woodwind instruments instead of string instruments.

Give it a try. I’d bet money you’ll be impressed!

JAZZ:  OWL SONG – Ambrose Akinmusire – Nonesuch Records

The title of trumpeter/composer Akinmusire’s album indicates that this is going to be a quiet record. After all, owls don’t make loud noises. I bet, however, they wish they made music as beautiful as this album.

Akinmusire is joined by guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley on this album which is rightly finding its place on many Best of 2023 albums. The 8 tracks totaling 42 minutes make up an album that is exactly what we need at the end of a chaotic year. Owl Song is the music we need most right now that gives us time and space to do the things we need most: think, feel, relax.

JAZZ:  A WORLD OF PIANO! – Phineas Newborn, Jr. – Craft Recordings

This album was recorded in late 1961 and released in 1962. It is a masterclass in jazz piano of the era. Newborn isn’t as well-known as some of his contemporaries, but he should be and this album makes the case for it.

There are eight tracks on the album including Charlie Parker’s Cheryl; Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life; Clifford Brown’s Daahoud and Sonny Rollins’ Oleo.

Newborn is joined by Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums for the first four tracks. The last four tracks find him playing with Louis Hayes on drums and Sam jones on bass.

This is a 180-gram vinyl release and hi-res digital.

MUSICALS:  DIARY OF A WIMPY KID THE MUSICAL – Cast Album – Ghostlight Records

For a musical that hasn’t been widely seen (it premiered in 2016 at The Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis), this show has some high-profile fans participating in this recording.  They include Norbert Leo Butz, Kevin Del Aguila, Sutton Foster and Jessie Mueller.

The musical has a book by Del Aguila and music and lyrics by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler. The musical is, of course, based on Jeff Kinney’s books.

I enjoyed this album and look forward to the time when we all might get a chance to see it performed.

MUSICALS:  GODSPELL EL MUSICAL – Spanish Cast Recording – Concord Theatricals Recordings

I’ve always found it fascinating to hear musicals in other languages. One of my favorites is the Spanish-language version of A Chorus Line which was directed by Antonio Banderas.  This recording is also affiliated with Banders who produced the 2022 show in Malaga, Spain.

Godspell was composed by Stephen Schwartz who also wrote the lyrics. The book was written by John-Michael Tebelak. Roser Batalla did the Spanish lyric and book translations.

Godspell opened on Broadway in June, 1976 and ran for 527 performances. This Spanish production ran from November 3, 2022 to January 8, 2023.

This recording is only available digitally in al territories. CDs are available in Spain only right now. Those wanting a CD can pre-order it. 

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

Enjoy your weekend.

Enjoy the music.

Happy Holidays!

Main Photo: Art from the album cover of Days of Wine and Roses (Courtesy Nonesuch Records)

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Which explains Lauritzen’s participation in this Sunday’s Music Box 2023 which is presented by Chamber Music LA at Zipper Hall at The Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. The concert will showcase four different chamber music ensembles (Jacaranda Music, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Colburn School’s Chamber Ensemble-In-Residence Quartet Integra and Salastina) performing string quartets written by Felix Mendelssohn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Arnold Schoenberg, Franz Schubert and a composer yet to be identified.

That last composer whose identity is being kept under wraps is where Lauritzen comes in. He has selected a piece of music and removed all details leaving it up to the musicians (Salastina’s Meredith Crawford, Kevin Kumar, Yoshida Masada and Maia Jasper White) and the audience to try to figure out who the composer is. This part of the program is called Sounds Mysterious.

Earlier this week I spoke with Lauritzen about his puzzle, Music Box 2023 and the start of the arts, not just in Los Angeles, but around the world. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel.

What excites you most about Music Box 2023 and and how do you think that excitement will translate to audiences who will be there?

The thing that really excites me about this particular program is that it’s about the string quartet, which is to chamber music, what the symphony is to orchestral music. It’s the pinnacle of what chamber music is. Every composer who tried to write seriously for chamber music wrote a string quartet. Generally you find in their string quartets some of their most serious, thoughtful, probing, artistic music within that structure. So to explore different styles of the string quartet, I think, is the thing that I’m most looking forward to.

Let’s take the Mozart, which opens the program. If all of four ensembles that are playing play that same Mozart, would a casual listener be able to discern a difference between how each one of them played that piece of music?

I love this question because it speaks to an element of virtuosity that is, I think, not talked about all that often. So what is virtuosity? We think about virtuosity as someone gets up in front of an audience and does something on a violin or a cello or whatever that seems humanly impossible. That’s one element of virtuosity. Another element of virtuosity is an interpretive element. This would be a cool thing for chamber music to do sometime is everybody plays the same piece. Then you can find out. I think even the casual listener would notice a difference and it might be something that you see, even if maybe they couldn’t put words on it.

What’s the criteria you use in selecting that that mystery piece of music?

I’ve done a couple of different options in the past [with Salastina] where I’m interested in both an unknown piece of music by a famous composer and a really awesome piece by an unknown composer. Those are the two extremes of the spectrum. I’m looking for music that structurally hangs together. I’m looking for music that we can hear it and we can identify things about this music that might give us a clue to what it is. I’m not really super trying to trip people up. I’m not trying to find a piece that makes you think it’s by someone and then it’s actually something else. 

What do you feel the state of classical music is in Los Angeles right now?

I think it’s a vibrant scene. We’ve got our really wonderful large companies doing amazing things. And, of course, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is – just ask the New York Times – the most important orchestra in the United States. That’s not just because of Gustavo, although Gustavo is awesome. From the largest company in the city, all the way down to the smallest chamber music organization, we’ve got some of the best musicians on planet Earth here in Los Angeles.

We have to because of the dominant industry that runs this town – the film industry. The music that’s written for film and television demands greatness from the musicians and they deliver every single time. I’m in awe of the incredible artistry of the amazing musicians of this town. It comes down to the musicians. If the music making wasn’t great, then the organizations wouldn’t work out. 

But, you know organizations of all sizes, whether it’s in Los Angeles or across the country and across the world, are having a hard time getting audiences to come back. Even one of the one of the ensembles that’s playing as part of Music Box, Jacaranda Music, is not going to be in existence at the end of this upcoming season. The million dollar question is what will it take to get audiences back? What will it take for people to embrace the collective experience of hearing music together?

You’re right, it’s the million dollar question. It’s so sad. I’ve been a Jacaranda fan for as long as I’ve lived here in Los Angeles. I was just reading yesterday about the Philadelphia Orchestra musicians. They’ve authorized the strike for various reasons. Part of the reason that management has said we can’t raise your pay is that audience levels are at 64%. Before the pandemic they were at 75%. So something has to change to bring those audience levels back. You hit on a key component of it: community.

What did we miss the most when we were all at home isolating from one another? We missed that collective experience. The joy of getting in the same space together and experiencing music There’s great resources online and yes, we can watch anything that we want to watch and listen to anything that we want to listen to. But there’s that electric experience that you’re sharing this space with your friends and neighbors and people that you don’t know that you might get to know afterwards.

The other component for me is storytelling. Classical music is complicated. Classical music is complex. Classical music has a high entry point and I don’t believe that it should. Who I am in the world of classical music is someone who says you may think that it’s a difficult entry point, but here’s how it’s easy. Here’s how this thing that Beethoven did that we think is this grand and glorious thing – yes, it is this grand and glorious thing – but it also relates to what we experience everyday in our world. It’s a combination of reminding folks how incredibly joyful a concert experience is, and then, once they get there, giving them the context and relevance and the kind of emotional experience of what a classical music concert can be. 

Since Schoenberg’s music is the penultimate work on this program and the first work is Mozart, I found this quote from him particularly appropriate. He said, “The way in which I write for string quartet, none can deny that I have learned this directly from Mozart.” We have a through line in this concert that is going to confirm Schoenberg’s quote. Looking forward, what do you think the through line will be? Schoenberg died in 1951, so he’s been gone for quite a while. What do you think the through line as a sequel to this would be, 25, 50 years in the future if we continued forward? 

Classical music should always be looking forward. Classical music should always be creating something new while looking back to the past and not dishonoring the past. What do we love about the great composers in history? We love Beethoven because Beethoven changed everything. We love Mahler because Mahler said everyone’s done everything with symphonies except this thing. And then Mahler blew everything up and created symphonies that no one had created before. So classical music is at its best when it’s looking forward. When it’s looking to what hasn’t been done yet, while still recognizing that there is this rich tradition and history. That as a composer or a musician you’re part of this thing that’s bigger than yourself.

To watch the full interview with Brian Lauritzen, please go here.

Main Photo: Brian Lauritzen (Courtesy Brian Lauritzen)

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The German-born Reinhardt, who has conducted with orchestras around the world, got her Master’s Degree in conducting from Juilliard. She had conducting fellowships with the Boston and Seattle symphonies before being named a [Gustavo] Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 2017-2018 season.

I was hoping to speak with Reinhardt about the concert, but vocal issues meant we had to correspond via e-mail instead. Here’s our exchange:

When Leginska conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1925, Isabel Morse Jones said in her review for the Los Angeles Times that the conductor was “a master of music, not men.” Has the classical music world opened up as much as you’d like for conductors who happen to be women?

The classical music world has clearly opened up a lot in the past century. But the fact that we still talk this much about being a woman in this field means that’s apparently still “a thing” to be female conductor. It’s not normal yet. True equality will be reached on the general of a conduct will be as trivial as the color of that person’s hair.

It should be noted here that in Bachtrack‘s annual survey of classical music for the year 2019 (the most recent one completed due to the pandemic), only eight women appeared in the ranks of the top 100 conductors. That is up from one woman in 2013.

When you conduct a piece as widely performed as the Mozart piano concerto, knowing that not only did the composer play it, but Beethoven, Brahms, Clara Schumann and others have, how do you go about finding new revelations in the score and how often do you make such discoveries? How does that translate to the performance the orchestra and soloist will give?

In general I treat every piece of music the same – no matter if ten famous people have played it or no one. My job as conductor is always the same: to analyze the piece, find out what it is about and try to bring that out together with the orchestra. I also feel that music is truly about the time that the performer and audience members live in; the performance is informed by the circumstances one lives in and is an interaction or dialogue.

Young musicians face enormous pressure to make it big quickly and to brand themselves. When you’re working with someone like Eric Lu, who is only 21 years old, what do you think are amongst the most important things someone like him can do to create a long career?

I don’t really feel in any position to give Eric any advice, particularly since he’s doing so well. But I guess every musician, no matter how old or young, needs to figure out what kind of events/projects make them happy and what repertoire suits them and they can easily turn into a success.

The concert opens with the Hebrides Overture by Mendelssohn. The composer suffered from severe seasickness on his journey to Scotland. Yet in spite of that illness, he was inspired to begin composing immediately the opening them of the work. Have you experienced anything in your own life where it was abysmal to get through, but ultimately yielded something beautiful?

I, too, have been quite seasick and I feel with Mendelssohn. So if I had to compose something right after I would have been very quick, too.

He described his 4th Symphony* that is also on the program as “the jolliest piece I have written…and the most mature thing I have ever done.” What, then, do you make of his constant revisions of the work that continued right up until his death in 1847?

We often view Mendelssohn as this happy composer, to whom success and everything else came easily and early, but we shouldn’t forget that he was also extremely self-critical. He revised most of his orchestral works, some even more than once and was also about the 4th symphony at first very unsure. He wrote to a friend, to whom he sent the score for a performance, that he “isn’t quite sure if this is any good at all.” I find it rather sympathetic that a composer of such incredible ability was still self-critical and always trying to aim for yet a higher level! 

What faith do you have in the system that the opportunities you and other women conductors have right now will be long-term and sustaining and not just a reaction to #MeToo and other issues?

I believe that in the longterm quality will prevail, no matter what the gender, race, faith or color of skin. I am glad to see increasing attention being paid to inclusiveness in the classical music scene and elsewhere. Of course bias still exists, it’s simply an unfortunate reality of the world, but you can’t let that hold you back. I don’t think gender is relevant in the assessment of a conductor, who is ultimately measured and evaluated by his or her skills and abilities to interpret the music,  an orchestra, and know all the things that a conductor must know to do the job effectively, and I believe that’s what it comes down to.

You were bitten by the classical music but as a 9-year-old performing Verdi’s Otello was a choir member. How would the 9-year-old version of yourself respond to whom you have become today?

I guess the 9-year-old version of me would be in a bit of disbelief. But probably I would also ask, what one could possibly find interesting about waving a stick around, rather than [having] a career as a singer or actor.

For tickets to Tuesday night’s concert, please go here.

*Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 is nicknamed Italian. Anyone who knows the film Breaking Away will immediately recognize the music.

All photos of Ruth Reinhardt courtesy Ruth-Reinhardt.com. Main photo by Jessica Schaefer.

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My top pick this week was originally from Dance Theatre of Harlem. They were schedule to show their highly-acclaimed re-invention of the ballet The Rite of Spring with music by Igor Stravinsky on Saturday. We just received word it has been postponed until March 13th.

Luckily there are plenty of other options and my revised Top Pick is The Gathering For Justice’s tribute to the legendary Harry Belafonte.

I also have Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in San Francisco Opera’s 2013 production of Verdi’s Falstaff, an evening with Tony Award winner Ali Stroker and a release party/concert for Old Friends by Mark Winkler and David Benoit.

But there’s so much more than that. So take a look. Here are my Best Bets: February 26th – February 28th:

MUSICAL: Gatsby – a Musical – Cadogan Hall – February 26th – February 28th

Baz Luhrmann did all but make F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby into a musical. But he’s not the only one who believes this story can, to greater or lesser degree, be musicalized.

Enter composer and lyricist Joe Evans and writer/director Linnie Reedman with their musical version, Gatsby A Musical.

The show played at the Kings Head Theatre in north London in 2012. This weekend, Cadogan Hall is offering a reunion concert presentation.

Daisy is the focus of the musical and she’s played in this concert by Jodie Steele (Six The Musical). Ross William Wild (Million Dollar Quartet) plays Gatsby. Tom Buchannan is played Liam Doyle (Wicked). Blake Patrick Anderson (Be More Chill) plays Nick Carraway with Joe Frost and Emma Williams playing George and Myrtle Wilson. (You don’t need a synopsis, do you? Didn’t we all read this in high school or college?)

Reviews in 2012 were mostly positive, though some said it was more like a play with music rather than a musical. Even if that’s true, if we’re about to embark on our own roaring twenties, wouldn’t it be great to get lost in all the decadence from a century ago?

There are three performances available: Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 PM EST/11:30 AM PST. Tickets, which must be purchased in advance, are £22 which equates to approximately a little over $31.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Jupiter String Quartet – Kranner Center for the Performing Arts – February 26th – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

The first weekend of this month I included the Reflection and Renewal series with Jupiter String Quartet in my Best Bets. I’m including them again as the series comes to an end with Friday’s concert. On the program are works by Felix Mendelssohn, George Walker and William Bolcom.

The last two are what makes this concert the most interesting to me personally. Walker was the first African-American composer to receive be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His Lilacs was named the recipient in 1996. Jupiter String Quartet will be performing Lyric for Strings, written when the composer was 24 as a tribute to his recently deceased grandmother.

Bolcom’s Three Rags for String Quartets is an arrangement of three popular piano pieces the composer wrote: Poltergeist, Graceful Ghost and Incineratorag. In this concert, Jupiter String Quartet will be playing the last one.

If you’ve missed any of the four performances from Krannert Center you have until March 5th to view them all. Each episode runs 20-30 minutes. There is no charge to do so.

JAZZ: Paula West: Great American Politic – SFJAZZ – February 26th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Jazz singer Paula West took to the stage at SFJAZZ in 2018 with this show as a musical response to he who was once president. Among the songwriters she relied on to express her views were Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Simon and Garfunkel.

You’re probably thinking, do I really need to end my week with a politically charged show? If you’ve heard Paula West before you already know the answer to that question. If you don’t know her, hopefully this clip will persuade you to take a look.

Tickets are $5 (which gives you access to a full month of Fridays at Five concerts). You can also get an annual membership for $60 (which give you access for 52 weeks).

OPERA: Courtney Bryan’s Blessed – Opera Philadelphia Channel – Debuts February 26th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Opera Philadelphia continues their fascinating new series of digital commissions with Blessed by composer Courtney Bryan.

Bryan regularly came back to a bible verse from Matthew 5 as protests about policy brutality grew in frequency and intensity around the country.

The verse, a rather popular one, says, “blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Blessed is her musical response to that verse.

Performing are soprano Janinah Burnett and vocalist Damian Norfleet. The film, directed by Tiona Nekkia McClodden, was shot in New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia. Collaborating with McClodden was sound designer Robert Kaplowitz to create what press materials are calling “sonic quilting.”

Tickets range from $10 for a seven day rental to $25 for a digital package.

OPERA: Verdi’s Falstaff – San Francisco Opera – February 27th – February 28th

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Bryn Terfel, Ainhoa Arteta, Heidi Stober and Meredith Arwady. This Olivier Tambosi production is from the 2013-2014 season.

Two of Shakespeare’s play served as the inspiration for Verdi’s Falstaff: The Merry Wives of Windsor and sections from Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. Arrigo Boito adapted the plays to create the libretto. 

Falstaff had its world premiere in 1893 at La Scala in Milan. This was Verdi’s final opera and only his second comedic opera.

Simply put, Sir John Falstaff tries everything he can to woo two married woman so he can assume their husband’s vast fortunes. He’s rather bumbling in his efforts and the machinations in place to thwart his endeavors leave him with nothing short of a major comeuppance.

I’ll be watching this production just to see Bryn Terfel in this role.

Joshua Kosman, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, said of Terfel’s performance, “His performance as the fat knight has everything that makes Falstaff irresistible – grandiose self-regard, improbable charisma and a vein of deep poignancy, all conveyed through singing of great power and flexibility.

“And as Falstaff says of himself, Terfel was not only a great onstage wit but the cause of wit in others. His very presence seemed to spur his fellow performers to find both the buoyant humor and the rich emotional undercurrent in the piece.”

The production becomes available at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST and remains available through the end of Sunday, February 28th PST.

JAZZ: Mark Winkler/David Benoit Record Release Party – Feinstein’s at Vitello’s – February 27th – 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST

I’ve written about singer/songwriter Mark Winkler before. In fact, you can see my interview with him from August 2019 here. He has teamed up with pianist, composer and KKJZ radio host David Benoit for a new album called Old Friends which was released on Tuesday.

The new recording finds the duo performing three songs they co-wrote along with well-known tunes such as “The Shadow of Your Smile,” “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” and the title song (originally performed by Simon & Garfunkel). I’ve heard the album and think it’s quite good.

To celebrate the album’s debut they are holding a live-streaming release party from Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in Los Angeles. Joining Winkler and Benoit for this performance are Gabe Davis on bass, Clayton Cameron on drums and Pat Kelley on guitar.

There is the main show at 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST with a ticket price of $31.75. There’s also an Encore After Show scheduled for 10:45 PM EST/7:45 PM PST which will find Winkler and Benoit in conversation with Brad Roen. Tickets are $18 for the after show.

POSTPONED DANCE: Firebird – Dance Theatre of Harlem – rescheduled to March 13th

Dance Theatre of Harlem’s month-long Winter 2021 Virtual Ballet Series concludes this week and they’ve saved the best for last.

In 1982, DTH premiered John Taras’ choreography to the classic score by Igor Stravinsky. Instead of Russia the setting is the Caribbean. Geoffrey Holder created the sets and costumes.

When the work first debuted 39 years ago, Anna Kisselgoff in her New York Times review proclaimed, “It is filled with amusing inconsistencies but it does one thing other versions do not – send its audience into a whooping spell of delirium. When the firebird figure drove out the forces of malice last night, the house cheered as if it had just seen an adventure yarn. And so it had. Good conquered evil and did so in an action-packed continuum.”

There is no charge to watch the ballet.

Firebird will be available for one week on DTH’s YouTube Channel.

BROADWAY/CABARET: An Evening with Ali Stroker – Kean Stage – February 27th – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST

Ali Stroker was the recipient of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Ado Annie in the revival of Oklahoma. She made her Broadway debut in the 2015 revival of the musical Spring Awakening.

For this live-streamed show from Enlow Recital Hall at Kean University in New Jersey, Stoker will be performing songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stephen Sondheim, Carole King, Stephen Schwartz and, of course, Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Tickets are $25 with a discount available to members of the Kean University family (you have to e-mail to acquire that discount.)

Ado Annie is just a girl who can’t say no. How can you say no to this concert?

JAZZ: Artifacts Trio: …and Then There’s This – REDCAT – February 27th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

What began, perhaps, as a one-off collaboration amongst cellist Tomeka Reid, flutist Nicole Mitchell and drummer Mike Reed in 2015 has blossomed into one of the most vital trios working in jazz.

This live-streamed concert through REDCAT in Los Angeles is required viewing for those who like their music on the more adventurous and experiment side. You probably knew that when you read the configuration of cello, flute and drums.

Tickets are $15 for general admission; $12 for REDCAT members and students and $8 for CalArts students, faculty and staff. There will be a post-performance discussion with Reid after the concert ends.

ROOTS MUSIC: Joachim Cooder and Amythyst Kiah with Special Guest Ry Cooder – Skirball Cultural Center YouTube Channel – February 27th – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

Every once in a while a concert comes along that doesn’t fit easily into what Cultural Attaché does, but seems too good not to mention. Quite often those events come from the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Saturday’s concert by Joachim Cooder with his father Ry Cooder as a special guest is just such a concert. And for added measure vocalist Amythyst Kiah is also part of this concert.

What can you expect? A little bit roots rock, some folk influences, definitely some blues, a little bit of country and a whole lot of great music.

Ry Cooder might be known to some as the composer of the scores for such films as Paris, Texas and Alamo Bay. He was also the producer of the album that put the Buena Vista Social Club on all of our radars. Above all, he’s a supremely talented musician.

Joachim’s most recent album was last year’s Over That Road I’m Bound, a collection of songs by country artist Uncle Dave Macon. He’s a singer, drummer, keyboardist who has collaborated with his father and also released two other solo albums.

Kiah – you just need to hear this woman sing. Truly. Earlier this year she released a single called “Black Myself” that, well, just has to be heard. She’s got an amazing voice.

There is no charge to watch this show. However, if you make reservations for the concert by February 26th, you’ll get access to program notes and more. And if you can’t watch the show as it streams on Saturday night, it will be available on Skirball’s YouTube channel.

BROADWAY/CABARET: Brian Stokes Mitchell with Seth Rudetsky – Seth Concert Series – February 28th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST

During the pandemic you’ve probably seen video of Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell serenading his neighborhood with “The Impossible Dream” from the musical Man of La Mancha in support of hospital workers during the pandemic.

Stokes, as his friends and colleagues call him, has appeared on Broadway in Jelly’s Last Jam, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Ragtime (originating the role of Coalhouse Walker), Kiss Me, Kate, King Hedley, Man of La Mancha and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. He won his Tony for his performance as Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate.

He is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for The Actors Fund. In other words, he has plenty to talk and sing about.

If you can’t watch the show live at the time listed about, there will be an encore showing at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST. Tickets for either time are $25.

*TOP PICK* GALA: The Gathering for Harry (Belafonte) – The Gathering For Justice – February 28th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

This gala fundraiser for The Gathering For Justice is advertising this is a “surprise” event celebrating the 94th birthday of legendary actor, activist, singer and songwriter Harry Belafonte. But does that matter? They are celebrating Harry Belafonte.

I grew up with my mother and my aunt talking about how much they loved Belafonte and his music. His records were played regularly by them both. I won’t go into their other, more personal, comments about him.

He’s a Tony Award winner for his performance in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, a three-time Grammy Award winner, an Emmy Award winner and the recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

While his most recent film appearance was in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman as an civil rights pioneer, it is his work as an activist that he is perhaps best known. Which makes this event with The Gathering For Justice a perfect fit. The organization’s focus on ending child incarceration and the systemic racism within our criminal justice system.

That Belafonte founded the organization also helps (and makes this whole surprise thing a little, well, surprising.)

Amongst the artists coming together to celebrate Belafonte’s birthday are Aloe Blacc, Common, Danny Glover, Tiffany Haddish, Jay-Z and Susan Sarandon.

Tickets begin at $25 but sponsorship packages go for as much as $100,000.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Telegraph Quartet – Noe Music – Debuts February 28th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

Last September San Francisco-based Telegraph Quartet was scheduled to perform at Noe Valley Chamber Music. The pandemic forced some changes. First was the date. Second was the name of the festival, which is now called Noe Music.

The new date is upon us as violinist Eric Chin and Joseph Maile; violist Pe-Ling and cellist Jeremiah Shaw perform a program of music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Johannes Brahms on Sunday.

Korngold is best known for his rousing film scores, but he also composed classical music. His four-movement String Quartet No. 3 had its world premiere in Los Angeles in 1949 as part of the Evenings on the Roof series at the Wilshire Ebell Theater. It’s a stunning work.

Brahms’ String Quartet in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2 was composed in 1873. Along with the composer’s String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, they were both published as companion pieces Op. 51. The piece performed in this concert actually had its premiere prior to the Brahms’ String Quartet No. 1. Also a four-movement work, this quartet with its use of canons, shows the influence of Johann Sebastian Bach on Brahms.

Tickets are $20 and the concert is expected to run 90 minutes.

Those are my official picks as Best Bets: February 26th – February 28th, but a few reminders:

Saturday’s Met Stars Live in Concert features soprano Sonya Yoncheva in a performance from Germany.

Also from the Metropolitan Opera are the last three productions streaming in celebration of the late baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. They are all works by Verdi: La Traviata from the 2011-2012 season on Friday; Un Ballo in Maschera from the 2012-2013 season on Saturday and Il Trovatore, the final production in which he appeared at the Met from the 2014-2015 season.

Larry Powell’s The Gaze…No Homo is available for free streaming this weekend only from Center Theatre Group. Beginning Monday, March 1st, it will be available for streaming on demand for $20 through March 25th. I’ve written about this show before. I strongly recommend it. Last December I published a two-part interview with Powell. You can read part one here and part two here.

That’s it for my Best Bets: February 26th – February 28th. Have a terrific weekend and I’ll see you in March (on Monday) with next week’s line-up of streaming productions from the Met.

Photo: Harry Belafonte with Martin Luther King, Jr. (Photo courtesy Mr. Belafonte’s Facebook page)

Update: On Friday afternoon, February 26th, I received word that Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Firebird was being postponed until March 13th. This post has been updated to reflect the postponement and a new Top Pick was selected.

The post Best Bets: February 26th – February 28th – REVISED appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

My top pick this weekend sadly fits into something blue. New York’s legendary Birdland is struggling to stay open under the weight of the pandemic. They have assembled a massive line-up of talent for their virtual concert event on Sunday. Though it is our last listing, it definitely heads our list.

Here are my Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th:

BALLET: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – San Francisco Ballet – Now – February 10th

William Shakespeare’s play (1595/1596) served as inspiration for composer Felix Mendelssohn (1826 & 1842) and then choreographer George Balanchine (1962) who created the ballet that is now being streamed by San Francisco Ballet.

The ballet company first performed the work in 1985. The production being streamed is from last year. This is the same production that gave one performance before the pandemic closed theaters.

Fans of the play be advised, this is not a strict adaptation of Shakespeare’s writing. The first act is very loyal to his story, but the second act is fully focused on a wedding ceremony.

Performing in this production are Julia Rowe as the Lead Butterfly; Cavan Conley as Puck; Esteban Hernandez as Oberon; Sasha De Sola as Titania; Sasha Mukhamedov as Hippolyta with Frances Chung and Ulrik Birkkjaer performing the Pas de Deux.

Tickets are $29 for 72 hours of access. You can also sign up for their 2021 Digital Season for $289 which will allow streaming of all content with access to subscription only bonus features.

JAZZ: Catherine Russell – SF JAZZ – January 22nd – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

This weekend’s concert in the Fridays at Five series from SFJAZZ features vocalist Catherine Russell. You may remember I interviewed her last February when she was touring behind her album, Alone Together. Her appearance at SFJAZZ comes from September 2019 and was part of the same tour.

In addition to her career as a jazz vocalist, Russell has performed rock ‘n’ roll with numerous stars notably David Bowie.

You will need either a one month digital membership with SFJAZZ ($5) or an annual digital membership ($60) to watch the concert.

OPERA: Soldier Songs – Opera Philadelphia – Now Available

Composer David T. Little interviewed multiple soldiers for Soldier Songs, a 60-minute work for baritone and amplified musicians he composed in 2006. Johnathan McCullough performs and directs this new film for Opera Philadelphia. This is a powerful work made even more powerful by this film which was written and produced by James Darrah.

I’ve seen Soldier Songs performed live and I’ve seen this film. If you want to be moved and challenged, I strongly urge you to check this out.

Single tickets to stream the film are $25. You can also join Opera Philadelphia Channel for $99 for one year’s access to all currently available and upcoming programming.

JAZZ: Wayne Shorter Quartet 18th Anniversary Concert – Panama Jazz Festival – January 22nd – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

The closing weekend of the Panama Jazz Festival has two concerts well worth watching. The first comes from 2018 and features the Wayne Shorter Quartet: saxophone legend Shorter, guitarist John Patitucci, percussionist Brian Blade and pianist Danilo Pérez. Health issues have forced Shorter to stop performing, therefore this is a great opportunity to see him with his band. There is a minimum $5 donation required to watch the concert.

OPERA: Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczała– Męt Stars Live in Concert – January 23rd – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

If you’re a regular follow of the Metropolitan Opera’s weekly streaming productions, the names Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczala are certainly familiar. Just this week alone they appeared in productions of Norma (Radvanovsky) and Lucia di Lammermoor (Beczala).

They are teaming up for this weekend’s Met Stars Live in Concert which will be coming from Germany’s Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal with Vincenzo Scalera accompanying on piano.

Italian opera figures prominently in the program which is scheduled to include selections from Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Luisa Miller and Un Ballo in Maschera; Giordano’s Andrea Chénier; Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Also on the program are selections by Cilea and Moniuszko before concluding with three arias from Dvořák’s Rusalka.

Tickets are $20 and the concert will remain available for streaming for 14 days.

PLAY: The Approach – Project Arts Centre, Dublin – January 23rd – January 24th

Cathy Belton, Derbhle Crotty & Aisling O’Sullivan star in this play by Mark O’Rowe which explores the mysteries of humans as seen through the eyes of three women whose personal relationships and the complications therein reveal, gradually, the interconnectedness of them all.

Critics have raved about this production.

Projects Arts Center in Dublin is making live performances available for viewing this weekend. That means, they will only be streamed once at the scheduled times. The play runs 60-70 minutes. There will be a 30-minute post-performance conversation after Saturday’s show.

On demand tickets will be available for one week after the conclusion of the last live performance.

Saturday’s performance is at 2:15 PM EST/ 11:15 AM PST. Sunday’s performance as at 3:45 PM EST/12:45 PM PST. Tickets range from £15-£50 based on your ability to pay. ($20.51 – $68.36 at press time)

OPERA: Samson and Delilah – San Francisco Opera – January 23rd – January 24th

Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Olga Borodina and Clifton Forbis. This revival of the Nicholas Joël production is from the 2007-2008 season.

The biblical tale of Samson and Delilah serves as the inspiration for Saint-Saëns’s opera. With a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire, Samson et Dalila had its world premiere in Weimar in 1877.

Franz Liszt, who previously served as the Music Director at Weimar, was instrumental in getting the opera its world premiere.

When the governor of the Philistines, Abimelech, belittles the Hebrews into believing that they are helpless to his power and that of the temple of Dagon. Everyone believes him except Samson, who leads a rebellion against Abimelech and kills him. He meets Dalila who tells Samson that his accomplishments have wooed her and that she’s in love with him. Though others try to warn him about Dalila, he succumbs to her charms. But is she truly in love with Samson or does she have other ideas in mind?

Joshua Kosman, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, raved about Borodina’s performance. “Her tone was lithe and lustrous, with a sinewy strength that cut easily through the orchestral texture. She shaped melodic phrases into intricately expressive form, concealing their focus and clarity behind a deceptively casual air. And she did it all without sacrificing any of the character’s alluring ease.”

There is no charge to watch Samson and Delilah. It will only be available beginning Saturday at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST through Sunday at 11:59 PM PST.

PLAY READING: Rabbit Hole – The Reading Series – January 23rd – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Grief has overcome a family and as they try to navigate their loss, the person who caused this torment enters their lives.

The Reading Series is presenting a live reading of the play with Tony Award-winner Celia Keenan-Bolger (To Kill a Mockingbird) in the role of the mother, Becca. Jawan M. Jackson is reading the role of her husband, Howie. Lauren Molina reads the role of Izzy, Becca’s sister. Mary Testa reads the role of Nat, Becca and Izzy’s mother. Andrew Barth Feldman reads the role of Jason, the source of the family’s grief. Allison Tanney directs.

There is no charge to watch this reading; however donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.

JAZZ: Rubén Blades with the Roberto Delgado Salsa Big Band – Panama Jazz Festival – January 23rd – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

The final concert of the Panama Jazz Festival this year is this 2018 performance from the San Sebastian Jazz Festival. With 37 albums so far, Bladés long established himself as one of the foremost performers and songwriters of salsa and Latin jazz.

Delgado’s band is from Panama and has two Grammy Awards. He and Blades collaborated on 2017’s Salsa Big Band album and 2015’s Son de Panama.

If you don’t want to sit still on Saturday night, this is your best option. Plus there’s no charge to watch the concert.

CABARET: Sheléa: A Tribute to Alan and Marilyn Bergman – The Sorting Room at The Wallis – January 23rd

If you know the songs The Summer Knows, The Way We Were, The Windmills of Your Mind (and if you haven’t heard Dusty Springfield’s version of that song, do so now!) and You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, then you know just a fraction of the songs written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Together they have three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards.

Singer Sheléa will be performing a tribute to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame inductees in this program from The Sorting Room at The Wallis. In 2019 she released the album Pretty World, which featured the duo’s songs. Amongst the guests on that album are Stevie Wonder and Kirk Whalum. She’s also been mentored by Quincy Jones, who produced her PBS concert special.

Tickets to watch the performance are $25.

TOP PICK: JAZZ/CABARET: Save Birdland – January 24th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

New York’s Birdland serves as a home for jazz musicians and vocalists, Broadway stars and fans of both. It’s existence, like so many others, is threatened by the pandemic. Birdland is one of my personal favorite places to visit whenever I’m in New York.

This Sunday a telethon and virtual concert will take place to raise money for them.

This isn’t just any run-of-the-mill club, so it is only fitting that they have a stellar line-up of participants and performers for the event on Sunday: Monty Alexander, Lucie Arnaz, Iain Armitage, Kenneth Ascher, Colleen Ballinger, Erich Bergen, Terence Blanchard, Stephanie J Block, Matthew Broderick, Scott Bradlee, Brenda Braxton, Ken Burns, Gunhild Carling & Her Darlings, Ron Carter, Jim Caruso, Peter Cincotti, Emmett Cohen Trio, George Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Elvis Costello, Jeff Daniels, Clive Davis, Diana DeGarmo, Aisha De Haas, Natalie Douglas, Michelle Dowdy, Christine Ebersole, Kurt Elling, Kevin Eubanks, Giancarlo Esposito, Whoopi Goldberg, Mandy Gonzalez, Tim Guinne, Amanda Green, Julie Halston, John Heginbotham, Sara Hickman, Perez Hilton, Clint Holmes, Sunny Holiday, Demetia Hopkins-Green, Joe Iconis and Family, Sheila Jordan, Stacey Kent, Tory Kittles, Amy Hillner Larsen, Warren Leight, Amanda Lopez, Melissa Leo, Norm Lewis, Tzi Ma, Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, Lauren Marcus, Karen Mason, Marilyn Maye, Audra McDonald, Jane Monheit, Susie Mosher, Anson Mount, Bebe Nuewirth, Leslie Odom, Jr., Arturo O’Farrill Quintet, Mandy Patinkin, Christine Pedi, Wendell Pierce, John Pizzarelli, Martha Plimpton, Randy Rainbow, Chita Rivera, Justin “Squigs” Robertson, Mercedes Ruehl, Catherine Russell, Victoria Shaw, Dee Snyder, Billy Stritch, Veronica Swift, Mary Testa, Steve Tyrell, Lillias White, Frank Wildhorn, Steve Wilson, Amra-Faye Wright, Ace Young, Karen Ziemba, Glenn Zaleski and remarks from President Bill Clinton. 

There is a Go Fund Me page set up where donations are being accepted to Save Birdland.

That’s my official list of the Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th.

But before I go, just in case you don’t have enough opera from which to choose, a reminder that the Metropolitan Opera is streaming a 1985 production of Puccini’s Tosca on Friday; Massenet’s Manon on Saturday (in addition to the concert listed above) and Wagner’s Die Walküre on Sunday.

I hope you find plenty to enjoy from my Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th this weekend. Have fun!

Main Photo: Kurt Elling performing at Birdland (Photo by R. Paternite/Courtesy Tom D’Angora)

The post Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The members of the New York Philharmonic performing in this concert are Yulia Ziskel and Na Sun on violin; Cynthia Phelps on viola and Nathan Vickery on cello.

On the program is Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in D Major Op. 44, No. 1.

Mendelssohn composed this work in 1838. It has four movements:

Molto allegro vivace

Menuetto: Un poco Allegretto

Andante espressivo ma can moto

Presto con brio

Misha Amory, writing on the Brentano Quartet website, said of this work: “The D major quartet, opus 44 #1, is decidedly filled with light and joy. Although it was actually the last of the three opus 44 quartets to be composed, it seems that Mendelssohn was particularly proud of it, which may be the reason it was published as the first of the set. D major is a brilliant key for stringed instruments, and the composer plays to that quality.”

McGill will join for a performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 10.

Coleridge-Taylor took it upon himself to compose a clarinet quintet that would be void of any influence of Johannes Brahms. The elder composer’s quintet is considered one of the finest of all his compositions. Though it was widely believed he had done so, it did not propel his career the way he had hoped.

This approximately 30-minute work has four movements:

Allegro energetico

Larghetto affettuoso

Scherzo: Allegro leggiero

Allegro agitato – un poco più moderato

Tickets for Members of the New York Philharmonic & Anthony McGill are $15.

Photo: Anthony McGill (Courtesy his website)

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