Here are the twelve concerts I think warrant a journey to the Hollywood Bowl this summer:

JULY FOURTH FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR WITH HARRY CONNICK, JR. – July 2^nd – July 4^th

If you’ve never experienced a fireworks show at the Hollywood Bowl, you clearly don’t know what you’re missing. This year’s headliner for the annual July 4^th concerts is Harry Connick, Jr.

His most recent album centered on songs of faith, but I would expect this concert to focus more on the material he’s best known for which are jazz standards and songs from the Great American Songbook.

Thomas Wilkins leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in these three concerts.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

For those not in the Los Angeles area, he’ll be performing at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego on July 6^th; Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA on July 9^th and 10^th and at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, WA on July 12^th and 13^th. These are the only dates on his schedule right now.

ALL- GERSHWIN – July 11^th

Who could ask for anything more than pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, opera’s Isabel Leonard and Broadway star Tony Yazbeck in an evening of songs and music by George Gershwin?

The program opens with the Cuban Overture and is then followed by Variations on “I Got Rhythm.“ Leonard and Yazbeck conclude the first half with selections of Gershwin’s songs.

The second act features Thibaudet playined Rhapsody in Blue and closes with An American In Paris.

Lionel Bringuier conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

MAESTRO OF THE MOVIES: THE MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS AND MORE – July 12^th – July 14^th

This annual celebration of all things John Williams will be a little different. Yes, Williams curated the program utilizing his own music and many classic scores he loves from the Golden Age, but he will not be appearing this year.

Williams had to cancel all upcoming appearances due to a health issue “from which he is expected to make a full recovery.” Does that mean light sabers won’t be at the ready for the inevitable selections of music from Star Wars? Of course not. 

David Newman, who regularly conducts the first half of these concerts each year, will be conducting the full program.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

BIG BAND NIGHT – July 17^th

If you love large ensemble jazz music, this concert is for you. The evening opens with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (who have made countless appearances at the Hollywood Bowl).

Next up is The Count Basie Orchestra who will feature vocalist Nnenna Freelon. 

The headliner is the Maria Schneider Orchestra which is celebrating its 30^th anniversary. Earlier this year Maria Schneider released a 3-lp vinyl box set entitled Decades. You can’t stream that recording, you can only get it here. But you can hear this incredible artist and her musicians live. This is her only US appearance until September.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

STRAVINSKY & KHACHATURIAN – July 30^th

I’ve written before how Aram Khachaturian’s music isn’t performed often enough. As they did in the Walt Disney Concert Hall this season, the LA Philharmonic is breathing new life into his work in this program that features the composer’s Violin Concerto and the Spartacus Suite No. 2.  Martin Chalifour is the soloist for the concerto.

The concert closes with the 1919 version of Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite. Kevin John Edusei conducts.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

PROKOFIEV & SHOSTAKOVICH – August 6^th

One of my top five piano concerti of the entire repertoire is being performed by Denis Kozhukhin in this concert. It is Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26. (My favorite recording of it is by Martha Argerich.)

The second half of the program is Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. The work was completed the same year that Joseph Stalin died and is widely interpreted as the composer’s commentary on the brutality of the Soviet government during Stalin’s reign. It’s a big and powerful symphony.

Ryan Bancroft leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

HERBIE HANCOCK HEAD HUNTERS 50^th – August 14^th

Where were you on October 26, 1973? Maybe you remember the release of Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters which is considered amongst the best jazz-fusion/jazz-funk albums of all time.

Watermelon Man may not be a title recognize, but I guarantee you the music has burrowed its way into your soul. 

This is the ONLY reunion of Hancock with the surviving members of that record:  drummer Harvey Mason; saxophonist Bennie Maupin and percussionist Bill Summers.  Playing bass is Marcus Miller as original bassist Paul Jackson passed away in 2021.

The original four-track album runs less than 45 minutes. Which means there will be a whole lot more music performed by Hancock and his bandmates.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

THE ELEMENTS WITH JOSHUA BELL – August 15^th

Joshua Bell commissioned five composers to write individual movements based on the elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space.  Those composers are Kevin Puts, Edgar Meyer, Jennifer Higdon, Jake Heggie and Jessie Montgomery.

Bell performs the work with Rodolfo Barráez conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Also on the program are Aaron Copland’s El Salón México, which opens the concert and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story  which closes the concert.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

SARA BAREILLES WITH THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA – August 17^th

What at one point years ago might have seemed like a pop concert, is now pure heaven for musical theater lovers. Sara Bareilles is a three-time Tony Award nominee having received two nominations for Best Original Score (Waitress in 2016 and SpongeBob SquarePants in 2018) and for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for the 2023 revival of Into the Woods.

Of course, she’ll perform music from throughout her career and this is her only concert on her schedule until late September.

But wait, there’s more. Tony Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) will open the show.

Thomas Wilkins conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

THE RITE OF SPRING – August 22^nd

The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky is one of classical music’s most important and enduring works. Hearing this monumental work outside is reason enough to see this concert. But fans of Stravinsky’s music are in for a full evening of his genius.

Teddy Abrams, Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a concert that opens with Stravinsky’s arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner. His Circus Polka follows and the first half closes with Leila Josefowicz performing his Violin Concerto. Then the main attraction is on tap for the second half of the program.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

DUDAMEL LEADS BEETHOVEN 9^th – September 10^th

Not sure what else anyone needs to know beyond Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. But here goes:

The soloists for this concert are bass Dashon Burton; mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey; tenor Anthony León; countertenor Key’mon Murrah and soprano Hera Kyesang Park. The Los Angeles Master Chorale also performs.

The concert opens with Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

DUDAMEL AND THE STARS OF OPERA – September 12^th

I couldn’t tell you the last time tenor Jonas Kaufmann performed in Los Angeles, but I can tell you the next time he will – at this concert where he will be joined by soprano Diana Damrau.

The two will perform selected arias and duets.

The concert opens with Verdi’s Overture to I vespri sicilliani which is followed by the ever-popular Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni. Respighi’s Pines of Rome closes the concert.

Gustavo Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

Those are the 12 Hollywood Bowl Concerts Not to Miss in my opinion. What concerts are on the top of your list? Let me know in the comments.

Main Photo: Hollywood Bowl 2023 (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)

The post 12 Hollywood Bowl Concerts Not To Miss This Summer appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Composer George Gershwin did not know he was expected to write a new work for a concert that Paul Whiteman called An Experiment in Modern Music until his brother Ira read about it in the paper several weeks earlier. Gershwin went to work and the end result was Rhapsody in Blue.

That concert took place at 3:00 PM on February 12, 1924 at Aeolian Concert Hall which stood just east of 6th Avenue in Manhattan. (Go to this link to hear a 1924 recording with Gershwin at the piano with Paul Whiteman and his orchestra).

Since that jazz band version (arranged by Ferde Grofé) there has been the fully-orchestrated concert version (the standard version heard played by symphonies around the world) and multiple re-workings of Rhapsody in Blue by artists ranging from Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington to Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts (on his album Portraits in Blue) and a new re-imaginging that was released recently by pianist Lara Downes with composer/percussionist Edmar Colón.

I recently spoke with Roberts, Downes and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin, whose 1974 recording of Rhapsody in Blue is one of the first recordings I owned. We discussed their first memories of hearing the piece; its longevity and appeal and also a recent article written by Ethan Iverson for the New York Times.

You can read Iverson’s full story here, but he says, in part, “If Rhapsody in Blue is a masterpiece, it might be the worst masterpiece. The promise of a true fusion on the concert stage basically starts and ends with it. A hundred years later, most popular Black music is separate from the world of formal composition, while most American concert musicians can’t relate to a score with a folkloric attitude, let alone swing.”

What follows are excerpts that have been edited for length and clarity. You can see all three of my interviews on our YouTube channel.

DOWNES: I have this fuzzy memory of hearing the bit you would imagine used for figure skating in the Olympics. That’s one of my earliest memories I can pinpoint.

SLATKIN: Actually it’s so long ago, I don’t think I remember, but I suspect that like everybody else, the first thing was the clarinet at the beginning more than the piano part. It was a sound that we really hadn’t heard before.

ROBERTS: I was a child, probably 12 years old, maybe 13. The funny thing is I remember hearing the piece, but when I first heard it, I didn’t know that’s what it was called. I think I heard it on the radio, maybe in the middle of it or something and I was really attracted to it. It was soulful. I could tell it had something in it that I could identify with. And of course, years later, I figured out that it was indeed Rhapsody in Blue.

SLATKIN: I hung out with a lot of jazz musicians, but I didn’t know so much about big band jazz. So this idea that whether it appeared in a symphonic form or in a band version didn’t really strike me as anything other than something very unusual that I wasn’t used to. 

ROBERTS: Now that I’m grown up and I’ve been out here playing a long time, I don’t know if I was thinking this way as a kid, but I think it was the fact that the themes were relatable to me, meaning they seemed to come right out of my cultural experience.

DOWNES: What was happening in American music and all of the things that were coming together and all the things that were changing so fast. Understanding what was happening in Black music at that time in the early part of the 20th century and this hybrid language that was developing.

SLATKIN: In order to understand that, we have to go back to that first performance and understand why it was so important. This concert is organized by Paul Whiteman – An Experiment in Modern Music. We didn’t really have American music for the concert hall. Yes, there were composers in America, and yes, many of them were born in the States. But the sound of the music itself reflected a more European tradition.

We’re not talking about an original American music. We’re talking about borrowed music from church, from patriotic songs, from folk music. We didn’t have anything we could call our own. That’s coming up via the emerging popular music scene, probably starting with ragtime. The vernacular music of the time tended to be shorter pieces 3 or 4 minutes long. Now, all of a sudden, a large scale work 15 16 minutes was appearing. This audience, which included some of the most distinguished musicians in New York at the time, was stunned by what they heard. 

ROBERTS: He’s using American themes. He’s using themes that clearly come out of the African American experience. And as Dvorak said, that’s really the cultural identity of the country. That’s where the themes should primarily come from. Not exclusively, but that’s the richest soil that we have.

DOWNES: [When] we look at the core tradition of classical music, what we’re looking at is [often] this interchange between structured music and the vernacular. The folk music that gets absorbed into the music of Brahms and Liszt to Dvorak and everybody. So I think it’s a continuation of a tradition. I also like to look at this as omnidirectional. Gershwin is leaning back, he’s looking forward. He’s got all these things kind of pushing and pulling at him. And what he comes up with is very emblematic of its time.

SLATKIN: It’s an immediate sensation. All of a sudden composers in this country said, we have the room to grow within our own culture, within our own sound world. And from that point on, composers now began to gravitate from one world into the other.

ROBERTS: So I think that it’s ripe for improvisation because the rhythms are clear. You can hear the blues element in the melodies. When I did Portraits of Blue back in 1996, a lot of critics were not too happy about it at the time. Of course, there’s the Ellington version of it. Nobody really did it, though, with the real intention of improvising on it and bringing it literally into the jazz environment with the specific agenda of improvising on it and recreating it. Me doing that has made it clear that not only can you do it, but you should do it, and there should be many versions of it where people can do what they want with it.

SLATKIN: Even Gershwin himself added little things in different performances. I think one of the reasons that this works as an improvisatory piece, even though everything is written out by Gershwin, is because it’s essentially a number of cadenzas where the orchestra is not playing.

DOWNES: I always experience it as a dialog. I really do. I have a close relationship with the solo piano version of the piece. I play that a lot, too. So what that means is that when I play the Grofé version with an orchestra, I have to remember what not to play. But I feel very intimately involved with those orchestra bits because I need to play them myself. I’m not sure that I have an objective view of the structure, but that is something that we wanted to expand and embrace was the improvisational nature and opportunity.

ROBERTS: In the original score, it basically says something to the equivalent of wait for George to nod or something or watch George. So he was he was probably improvising on it himself when he premiered it at Aeolian Hall in 1924.

DOWNES: I think that the further that we’ve gotten from 1924, as we always do, we have started more and more setting that thing in stone, which it wasn’t originally. When you talk about Ellington and Strayhorn, they’re not that far out from the 20s. Grofé did the version in 24 and then the version with orchestra from 1942. I feel like these 100 year anniversaries, it’s important not to put things in a museum when they get to be 100 years old.

I think it’s an interesting thing that we don’t do in the world of classical music very much. There’s some of it, but we don’t tend to re-arrange, reconsider, review, re-imagine. It’s really funny for me when I work with musicians from other traditions and they’re like, you do what? You play the same notes the same way over and over again? 

ROBERTS: And I think that’s what ultimately made me want to do something different with it. The goal for me is to present the piano based on all of the music that I’ve heard in my life up till now. What is it that I understand and put it in that context.

SLATKIN: I think it’s not even fair to call this work a piece of cultural appropriation, because it doesn’t reflect what the Black musicians of the times were doing. They were going in a whole different direction. And yes, that music would pave the way for innovators such as Ellington and so many others.

DOWNES: There have been all along massive problems of inequity in the music world that were institutional. There have been a lot of closed doors and a lack of access. I don’t think that fits with the musicians themselves. I think that sits with institutional structures. I think that what musicians have always done well is listening. And I think that we listen to each other and we learn from each other and whatever is happening in our air around us, we absorb. We can’t help it unless we want to keep our heads under a rock.

ROBERTS: It’s been a struggle. There’s no secret there. There’s obviously been a lot of struggle with minorities in this country. Not just in terms of opportunities in music, but with a bunch of stuff. The fact is, had he not written it, I think there still would have been struggle. So I like to look at it more from the standpoint that he did it. It has opened up, frankly, eventually opportunities for people to still do whatever it was that they were going to do.

DOWNES: I’m so fascinated with that time in the 1920s, in the 30s. Things were changing so fast. People were encountering each other for the first time and everything was new. Jazz was new, and it was a very different thing than it is now. Just even to look at Gershwin’s very short lifetime, his 24-25 years before he wrote Rhapsody in Blue, all the things that are so quickly moving through but accumulating: the Yiddish theater and vaudeville and the beginnings of the Great American Songbook. It’s all coming together. 

SLATKIN: Gershwin didn’t intend that when he wrote it. It wasn’t I’m going to write something and therefore nobody else can go this direction ever again. Gershwin was in his own groove. He came from Tin Pan Alley. Those are people who went from door to door just pitching tunes to publishers. Most music was sold in sheet music fashion for people to play at home. Within the Black culture that was probably not the case. This was passed on more through different means. Ragtime, as practiced, say, in New Orleans or other places, was mostly an improvisatory field. It wasn’t really written out yet. 

ROBERTS: It’s not just George Gershwin. It’s not like it’s George Gershwin’s fault that he did that right. I just think the main thing that we have to focus one in this country is let’s see if we can get away from doing stuff like that. Let’s really use all of our efforts, all of our collective power, to include people and give them opportunity to succeed regardless of race, creed or gender.

SLATKIN: It’s not felt as a work that’s exclusive to one audience. Timeless works are that way for a reason, because they go over these boundaries. Rhapsody in Blue was different for its time. Could Ellington and others have appeared and done this kind of work earlier if Gershwin hadn’t done it? Maybe. But probably not. And anyway, if they wanted to go that direction, they would have done it regardless of what Gershwin did.

DOWNES: I do think that there’s a reason that things last. The piece has proven itself 100 years later and I would just love to see it continue to grow. Because I do think that was Gershwin’s intention. This musical kaleidoscope that speaks to me of endless possibility and shifts.

SLATKIN: Gershwin was all about moving forward with music. Leonard Bernstein talked about how he really was not happy that so many people knew him from West Side Story. Gershwin, I think, would have said, I’m thrilled that the Rhapsody has reached this kind of audience. And I’m pleased that my other works have also done this. He’s always the classic example, along with Mozart and Schubert, of saying what would have happened if he’d lived longer? Let’s just take what we’ve got, because what we’ve got is not bad.

ROBERTS: The attitude I have is that it’s a living work. It’s a living document. I feel like that simply is one of these pieces that’s alive every time we play it. I hope that it’ll be around for another 100 years. And I hope that there’ll be other music that America will fall in love with, that we can continue to have similar ways to collaborate jazz and classical music. 

To see my Rhapsody in Blue interview with Lara Downes and to hear more about her new album, please go here.

To see my Rhapsody in Blue interview with Marcus Roberts and to hear some exciting news about upcoming albums, please go here.

To see my Rhapsody in Blue interview with Leonard Slatkin, please go here.

Main Photo: George Gershwin (Courtesy the Billy Rose Collection/New York Public Library Archives)

The post Rhapsody in Blue is 100 appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

During a 70-minute performance Tao is at the piano playing music by Bach, Arnold Schoenberg, Art Tatum, George Gershwin and more while Teicher dances – most of it improvised. They will perform Counterpoint at The Nimoy Theatre, CAP UCLA’s newly opened theater in Westwood on Saturday, September 30th. They will also perform the show on October 6th at Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Both Teicher and Tao do a fair amount of improvisation as I learned when I spoke with Teicher earlier this week. What follows are excerpts from that conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with Teicher, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: Tap dancer Dianne Walker said in a story that she wrote for Dance Magazine in 2022 that when Tina Pratt introduced her to jazz pianist Barry Harris she really “got the improvisational connection between musician and dancer.” What was the process by which you got the improvisational connection between dancer and musician?

When I went to the New York City Tap Festival for the first time I met a teacher whose name was David Rider. And David was, for lack of a better way to describe it, very much in the modern day tap dance scene. Being in the modern day tap dance scene usually involves being very connected to the history, to the lineage, to the roots of this dance. And by that I mean I came into the dance a little bit late to meet a lot of the folks who had passed away.

The teachers who were at these festivals had a direct connection to the jazz tap tradition. That’s to say, the Black elders and the white elders of this dance form. When I started working with [David], I became aware of the importance of improvisation historically. Then as I started to tap dance more amongst the present day type community, I became aware of just how important it was to be an improviser and a good one.

What role do you allow or want improvisation to be part of what you do generally and specifically what you do with Conrad?

For what I do with Conrad, it’s mostly improvisation. Mostly because I want to feel really present with Conrad. We’ve played now the same set a number of times, and we both do different things to provoke each other to play, to show that we hear each other, to show that we’re in conversation. What is the point of gathering in person? To me, improvisation answers one aspect of that, which is to say, if it’s happening live, then you have to see it live.

What are the discoveries in that process that you’ve made about Conrad?

This is not a show I would do with any other pianist other than Conrad. It’s not I’m a tap dancer looking to do a show with a pianist. It’s I am myself, a dancer, looking to do a show with my friends and collaborators and someone who I’ve forged a long-lasting connection with. That’s Conrad.

Conrad and I met for the first time when we were teenagers and collaborated together for the first time when we were 19. Over the years we have become friends. I’ve seen so many of his shows and he’s seen so many of mine. This is not something that we’ve kind of put together just to make a show. This is something that came out of a shared respect and admiration for each other that led to something where it says, well, maybe we should share this connection that we have.

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is a huge component of Counterpoint. Can you break down in a basic manner how you came up with where each of you would take solos and particularly where the solo would become, in your case, the notes played with your feet?

I should say that while it’s improvised, every time we get to that particular section, Conrad does not play. That is something that is relatively set amongst this improvisation. My memory tells me that was Conrad’s idea and I just sort of humored him. I said, sure, I’ll try it. It was something that we always discussed doing together because it was such a fun piece and I had never danced it. Conrad had played Rhapsody quite a bit, but had never done it in a duo capacity

I think there are a lot of people who have very meaningful connections to Rhapsody. So it’s a relatively easy win. But also to both of us. I do feel like it goes through so many emotions, so many colors and textures and shapes. As I dance, I feel like in that 16-and-a-half minute experience I get to live such a full life. I get to do all these different things and explore my dancing in so many different ways. If it’s the thing that we are doing the most these days in terms of a piece, it continues to be a really fertile ground for our conversation.

You’ve been doing this show with Conrad for the past few years, do you want to expand it beyond what you’re doing now?

We just thought we were doing it once or twice. We had these three gigs back-to-back and we said if we don’t feel great about it after those three gigs, we’ll stop doing it. It turns out it was show two or something. We got to the dressing room and Conrad said that was really fun. The audience really took to it. So we said if people are willing to pay us to hang out and play music together that we enjoy, then who are we to argue?

The set has more or less stayed the same over the past couple of years. We don’t do this program every week. If we do six or eight engagements a year, that’s a lot. I’m happy to keep it as is for now. But we are performing it at the Gilmore in Kalamazoo, Michigan this year which has a piano festival. I believe they’ve commissioned a new piece for Counterpoint as part of that. So we will create one new piece for our duo this year, which is fun. We’ve discussed if maybe someday we really feel like a piece has seen the end of its time, then we’ll take it out. And if we’re excited about something new, then we’ll put it in. That is on the table.

There’s a composer named Jonny Greenwood whom I like very much. I like his work for film. I obviously like his work in the band Radiohead. When he was told that Radiohead is innovative and there are all these things that are great about Radiohead, he’s quoted as saying in response, “When people say you’re doing something radical in rock or dance music, I’m not sure how special that is. What we do is so old-fashioned. It’s like trying to do something innovative in tap dancing.” What would you say to someone who thinks that tap dancing is old-fashioned, whether it’s a rock star or somebody that you meet at a local store?

This is the nature of us, of our limited capacity to become familiar with the intricacies of things. Every community, every subculture, every genre of dance and music has a dense and rich and textured and complex history. It’s not uncommon for me to experience what I might be so bold as to call a sort of ignorance around the depth of tap dance.

Some of that is because tap dance has been historically marginalized because it came from Black culture and a lot of things that come from Black culture have been diminished in terms of understanding their complexity. But the truth is, I think everything is as beautiful or as rich as we make it. If someone thinks that something is simple, they’re just maybe not trying hard enough to see how beautiful something is.

To see the full interview with Caleb Teicher, please go here.

Main Photo: Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher in Counterpoint (Photo by Em Watson/Courtesy CAP UCLA)

The post Choreographer/Dancer Caleb Teicher Redefines Counterpoint appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

June 17th – June 18th:

Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival

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

July 7th – July 9th:

Maestro of the Movies: John Williams with the LA Phil

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

July 13th:

An Ellington Celebration

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

July 25th:

Rhapsody in Blue

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

July 28th – July 29th:

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

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

July 30th:

Everybody Rise! A Sondheim Celebration

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

August 10th:

Sibelius and Grieg

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

August 22nd:

Chris Thile & Appalachian Spring

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

August 23rd:

Herbie Hancock Celebrates Wayne Shorter

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

September 20th:

Promises

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

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

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

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

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

Last month we posted the first of two interviews with composer/singer/songwriter Gabriel Kahane. That interview touched on the political side of his work. This weekend the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is performing his piano concerto entitled Heirloom as part of two concerts. It was written for his father, pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane and it looks at three levels of inheritances within his family.

In our conversations about Heirloom, Kahane revealed what it’s like composing for his father, the family stories that find themselves in his piano concerto and about the “existential muck of being human.”

What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see our full interview with Gabriel Kahane, please go to our YouTube channel.

You wrote on your Tumblr account about your piano concerto, “I keep putting it off in large part because I’ve never felt comfortable with large scale instrumental composition.” Did writing Heirloom help you overcome that discomfort?

I still feel ike a bit of an imposter when I’m writing instrumental music. My friend Eric Jacobsen, founder and conductor of The Knights and [Music Director] of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, had been nagging me for years to write something for my dad. I had resisted and resisted. Fnally I said yes. We put together this consortium of six orchestras. Just when it was about time for me to start sketching the piece, I was in Chicago to do emergency shelter intake form there and my dad was playing the Gershwin Concerto.

There was a pre-concert talk and the the person conducting the pre-concert talk asked my dad, “What makes the Gershwin concerto so special?” And my dad said, “The miracle of the Gershwin concerto is that it sounds like Gershwin.” By which he meant as much as Gershwin was steeped in the music of his more formal contemporaries, and as much as he admired that music and felt himself to be an impostor and in the shadow of that music, he managed to write this concerto that we would all say sounds like Gershwin. It sounds like Gershwin the songwriter.

I realized in that moment that that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to write a piano concerto that sounded not like Andrew Norman or Tom Adés or Missy Mazzoli, but like me. And so the musical challenge was how to translate my language as a songwriter into a concert work without it sounding sort of retrograde or neo-classical.

I would say that it did help me to get over some of that feeling of imposter syndrome in as much as just treating melody as though it were a vocal line. When I’m writing vocal music I feel very comfortable. Writing for a symphony orchestra it’s in the absence of text that I become unmoored. I think that one of the things that helped me with writing Heirloom was to just think of those melodies as being vocal lines.

Then to sort of take these three inheritances: the musical inheritance from my parents to me, my father’s inheritance from his mother who fled Germany and then finally my older daughter’s inheritance. We don’t know what that’s going to be yet, except that she’s as stubborn as I am.

Did writing Heirloom change your relationship with these various inheritances that you’re exploring in the three movements?

That’s a great question. No. Not particularly. That’s in part because I think if composers are being honest, whenever we assign a program to abstract instrumental music, we’re always doing a little bit of myth-making. I think that in the case of this piece the sort of non-musical subject matter really is there. But it’s not like I was doing therapy as I’m sitting at the desk. Like now I understand my father.

I think that the slow movement, which is the movement for my grandmother, has kind of surfaced in a number of pieces: my first piece that I wrote for the LA Phil back in 2011 called Orinoco Sketches. Then in the penultimate song from Book of Travelers, which is called Port of Hamburg, in which I set some of her diary from the time that she was leaving Germany and coming to the United States.

I think that really sort of feels like the emotional center of the piece for me. I was very close to her. She was an extraordinary person who went through a lot to get where she was at the end of her life. I feel like it’s a nice musical testament to her life.

Writing for your father, this is not the first time you’ve done that. He commissioned Django: Tiny Variations on a Big Dog from you. You two also collaborated in 2013 on a “curated mixtape concert” as part of the Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festival. Now you’ve written this piano concerto, Heirloom. I have to think that creates a special relationship between you and your father that is probably unique among other composers. Where do you think this journey has taken the two of you?

Oddly because we share DNA, it’s always been the case whenever he and I work together – he’s also conducted a few pieces of mine –  there’s actually less conversation or interaction than there would be with someone who’s not a blood relative.

Among his gifts as a musician is the ability to elevate and transcend what’s on the page with anyone’s music. I’ve always felt this with him both as a pianist and as a conductor. He is a dream interpreter because his musicianship is just so kind of peerless. Whatever you wrote he is going to make it sound better than it was. 

On top of which, he and I are related. So he gets my music at a very, very deep core level. Because I am a part of him and he is part of me. So really the only conversations that we had were that there were a couple spots where he said, “You know, I feel like this is sort of pianistically underwritten. Can you thicken it up a little bit?” He also had some notes in the first draft about places where he thought that the orchestration is too fussy. And I was like, “No doubt it’s fine.” Then we got through the premiere and I was like, “Oh, he was right.” 

So did you make changes?

I did one revision between Kansas City and Oregon. And now in the last ten days of the year I’m planning one more revision so that hopefully L.A. audiences are getting what I hope will be the the final draft, although it could change. There are still a few more orchestras to do it. So we could say, once it happens, it could be the world premiere of the final version of it. 

Could be?

I am kind of a chronic tinkerer. This is a piece where the first movement is kind of a beast; it’s 15 minutes long. The second and third movements feel like they work pretty well. I’m just hoping to understand better what the journey of that first movement is. I don’t generally work in long form. I’m a songwriter. So 15 minutes feels a little bit like a run on sentence right now. I’m trying to clarify that.

You did an interview with the Portland Monthly when you became the creative chair of the Oregon Symphony. In it you talked about “the existential muck of being human.” How does your work allow you to be more in touch or more accepting of that existential muck?

I’m going to be honest. The thing that most puts me in touch now – in this moment – with the existential muck of being human, is that in 8 minutes I get to go be a dad to my two daughters who are four and one. Our younger daughter just turned one a few days ago. It’s just really humbling being a parent. People say that, but I think the reason that it feels so humbling is that you’re just trying to keep them alive and teach them to be kind. That never ceases to amaze me. I think also being a parent just puts a lot of things in context.

The Right to Be Forgotten [his folk opera in one act], which is a piece we didn’t really touch on, deals more deeply with the idea of professional jealousy and the relationship between the internet and professional jealousy than anything that I’ve done before. It’s something that I think most of us in the era of social media wrestle with because social media is nothing if not an invitation to feel dissatisfied with our accomplishments.

But I find that being with my daughters, as they’re discovering in their different phases of childhood how to be in the world and my one-year-old looking out the window and seeing snow for the first time, it just reminds me how overly self-serious one can be and how messed-up our priorities and sense of hierarchical construction in the world are. So certainly music, songwriting, composing, have helped me to make sense of the world.

But in this particular moment, the thing that most makes me make sense of the world is being a parent. To try to not mess it up too badly. That is the same thing every working parent has to deal with, whether they’re a secretary or a composer or a garbage collector. It’s just that struggle that everybody has.

This interview took place on December 12, 2022. To watch the full interview with Gabriel Kahane, please go here.

Main Photo: Gabriel Kahane (Photo by by Jason Quigley/Courtesy MKI Artists)

Correction: We previously quoted Gabriel Kahane as having said his father commented that the concerto was “genetically” underwritten. In discussions with Mr. Kahane he clarified he said “pianistically.” We apologize for the error.

The post Gabriel Kahane Gets Personal with “Heirloom” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

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

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

CLASSICAL MUSIC: July 15th: Peter and the Wolf

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

JAZZ: July 18th: Kamasi Washington

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

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

JAZZ: July 24th: Ledisi Sings Nina Simone

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

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

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

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

BROADWAY/VOCALS: July 30th: Cynthia Erivo

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

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

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

CLASSICAL MUSIC: August 5th: Schumann & Beethoven UPDATED

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

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

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

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

CLASSICAL MUSIC: August 10th: Dudamel Conducts Gershwin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The performance concludes with Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: September 9th: Beethoven and Schumann

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JAZZ: September 26th: Herbie Hancock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As you might expect for a series tied to podcasts, most of this week’s productions are from recent seasons. Most of the operas come from 2018-2020. There is one notable exception: the 2014-2015 season production of Verdi’s Macbeth.

Since the Met is re-running productions as the bulk of their weekly streaming schedule, I’m going to mix in interviews with the performers and creators in place of clips to avoid the redundancy of showing the same few clips available. Let me know your thoughts!

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on May 31st, you’ll still have time to see the 2010-2011 season production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory that was part of Rare Gems week.

Here is the full line-up of rare gems for Week 64 at the Met:

Monday, May 31 – Puccini’s Turandot – 4th Showing

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov and James Morris. This revival of the 1987 Franco Zeffirelli production from the 2019-2020 season.

Puccini’s opera had its world premiere in 1926 in Milan. The libretto was written by Guiseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The composer died two years before its premiere and the opera was completed by Franco Alfani.

Set in China, Turandot tells the story of Prince Calaf who has fallen in love with the title princess. She, however, isn’t very interested in him. In order for any man to marry Turandot, he is required to correctly answer three riddles. Should any answer be wrong, the suitor is put to death. Calaf is successful, but Turandot remains opposed to their marriage. He strikes a deal with her that will either lead to their marriage or his death. 

Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times about this production:

“Mr. Nézet-Séguin led an exciting and insightful account of Puccini’s Turandot, a revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s glittering, over-the-top and popular 1987 production. The strong cast was headed by the blazing soprano Christine Goerke as Puccini’s icy Princess Turandot, the ardent tenor Yusif Eyvazov as Calaf, and the plush-voiced soprano Eleonora Buratto as Liù. The chorus, during the crowd scenes, sounded superb.”

Tuesday, June 1 – Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Sir Mark Elder; starring Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Laurent Naouri, Elchin Azizov and Dmitry Belosselskiy. This Darko Tresnjak production is from the 2018-2019 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 there.

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?

This production marked the Metropolitan Opera debut of director Tresnjak who is best known for his work on Broadway with such shows as A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (for which he won a Tony Award) and the musical Anastasia. He directed LA Opera’s award-winning production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles.

Wednesday, June 2 – Bizet’s Carmen – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Louis Langrée; starring Aleksandra Kurzak, Clémentine Margaine, Roberto Alagna and Alexander Vinogradov. This revival of Richard Eyre’s 2009 production is from the 2018-2019 season. 

Georges Bizet collaborated with librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy on this immensely popular opera. It was based on Propser Mérimée’s novella of the same name. 

When Carmen was first performed in Paris in 1875 it was considered both shocking and scandalous. 

Set in Seville, Spain, Carmen is a gypsy who has caught everyone’s eye. A soldier, Don José, plays coy and gives her no attention. Her flirtation causes troubles for both when Don José’s girlfriend, Micaëla arrives. Tensions escalate between the two women and after a knight fight, José must arrest Carmen. When she seduces him it sets off a series of events that will not end well for the gypsy woman.

Margaine made her Met Opera debut in the 2017 revival of this production of Carmen. She had not been announced to open the production, but assumed the part in true understudy form when Sophie Koch took ill. Margaine had been scheduled to take on the role later in the run.

Of her return to the role in this production, Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times said, “Anchoring the performance was the mezzo Clémentine Margaine, arrestingly stern and articulate in the title role. Her voice doesn’t bloom, but it darkly insinuates, like a clarinet. And she portrays a disconcertingly changeable, mordant yet (seemingly genuinely) hopeful Carmen, rising to stony grandeur in the final duet.”

Thursday, June 3 – Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Enrique Mazzola; starring Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Kathleen Turner, Javier Camarena and Maurizio Muraro. This revival of the 2008 Laurent Pelly production is from the 2018-2019 season.

This two-act comic opera written by Gaetano Donizetti was first performed in 1840 in Paris. The libretto is by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.

La Fille du Régiment tells the story of a young woman, Marie, who was raised by the 21st Regiment after having been found as a baby on a battlefield. The plan is that when she is old enough she will marry one of the men of the Regiment. She falls in love with Tyrolean Tonio. When the Marquise de Berkenfield shows up, it is discovered that she is Marie’s aunt and she wants to take Marie away to raise her as a lady. Will love win out for Marie?

One of the hallmarks of this opera is the challenge that faces every tenor singing the role of Tonio to hit nine high C’s in the opera’s best known aria, “Ah! mes amis.” In this production Camarena did this so effortlessly he was allowed an encore to do a second pass at the aria and another nine high C’s.

While Anthony Tommasini did rave about Camarena’s high C’s, he also thought the chemistry between Yende and Camarena worked well, as he said in his New York Times review:

“Ms. Yende and Mr. Camarena treat the story seriously, without a trace of mugging or winking. They were adorable during scenes of budding romance. Complications ensue when the Marquise of Berkenfield, here the commanding mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, realizes that Marie is the daughter she abandoned at birth to avoid scandal, and hauls her off to teach her ladylike behavior. But young love wins out.”

Friday, June 4 – The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess – 5th Showing

Conducted by David Robertson; starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker and Donovan Singletary. This James Robinson production is from the 2019-2020 season. 

DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel, Porgy, was the inspiration for a play written by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. That play served as the inspiration for this opera by George Gershwin with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Porgy and Bess had its world premiere in 1935 at Boston’s Colonial Theatre.

In the opera, Porgy lives in Charleston’s slums. He’s disabled and spends his time begging. He is enamored with Bess and does everything he can to rescue her from an abusive lover, Crown and a far-too-seductive drug dealer, Sportin’ Life.

If you saw the Broadway version which went by the name The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, that was a truncated version and it was also modified to fit more contemporary times. The Metropolitan Opera production is the full opera as originally written by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin.

Gershwin’s score features such beloved songs as Summertime, I Loves You Porgy and It Ain’t Necessarily So.

Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times, raved about the production and, in particular, its two stars:

“As Porgy, the magnificent bass-baritone Eric Owens gives one of the finest performances of his distinguished career. His powerful voice, with its earthy textures and resonant sound, is ideal for the role. His sensitivity into the layered feelings and conflicts that drive his character made even the most familiar moments of the music seem startlingly fresh. And, as Bess, the sumptuously voiced soprano Angel Blue is radiant, capturing both the pride and fragility of the character.”

Saturday, June 5 – Verdi’s Macbeth – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Željko Lučić and René Pape. This revival of Adrian Noble’s 2007 production is from the 2014-2015 season.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth was the first of his plays to inspire an opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave with additional work by Andrea Maffei. The opera had its world premiere in Florence, Italy in 1847. Verdi re-wroked Macbeth and changed the language from Italian to French. The revised version had its premiere in Paris in 1865.

This is not Shakespeare set to music. Verdi did take much of what Shakespeare wrote about a Scottish general who is told by three witches that he will be the King of Scotland. With the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth, he stops at nothing to do so. However, Verdi couldn’t include the whole play in his opera, nor did he want to. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady MacBeth truly anchors this opera.

This production marked the first time Netrebko had sung the role of Lady Macbeth at the Met. Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, set up the challenges she was facing:

“…the lead soprano role in Verdi’s Macbeth is not just a daunting challenge. For Ms. Netrebko, who turned 43 last week, it represents a shift from the lyric soprano and bel canto roles with which she made her reputation to vocally weightier repertory. Lady Macbeth is particularly risky and demanding.”

He was more than pleased with the result. “The years that Ms. Netrebko spent singing bel canto heroines paid off here in the skillful way she dispatched the trills and runs that Verdi folds into the vocal lines. One such place is the Act II banquet scene after Macbeth, having murdered King Duncan, has been proclaimed the new monarch. Lady Macbeth sings a drinking song, a brindisi, inviting the guests to join in a toast. Yet there was something eerily malevolent in the way this Lady Macbeth tossed off the song with insistent good cheer. Wearing a ruby red evening gown, her eyes wild, Ms. Netrebko almost willed her guests into having a good time, or else.”

Sunday, June 6 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten – 5th Showing

Conducted by Karen Kamensek; starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein and Zachary James. This Phelim McDermott production is from the 2019-2020.

Akhnaten is one of Glass’s three biographical operas (the others are Einstein on the Beach and Saturday’s opera, Satyagraha.) The composer also wrote the libretto with the assistance of Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins.

Akhnaten was a pharaoh who was controversial for his views on worshipping more than one God. He suggested just worshipping one – the sun. He was husband to Nefertitti and father of Tutankhamun. This opera does not have a linear storyline.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini praised the leads:

“Wearing gauzy red robes with extravagantly long trains, Mr. Costanzo and Ms. Bridges seem at once otherworldly and achingly real. His ethereal tones combine affectingly with her plush, deep-set voice. Ms. Kamensek, while keeping the orchestra supportive, brings out the restless rhythmic elements that suggest the couple’s intensity.”

I’ve seen this production with Costanzo singing the title role and cannot recommend taking the time to watch Akhnaten highly enough. 

That’s the complete line-up for Week 64 at the Met. Next week the theme is Updated Settings for Classic Operas.

Enjoy your week! Enjoy the operas!

Photo: J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo and Dísella Lárusdóttir in Akhnaten. (Photo by Karen Almond/Courtesy Met Opera)

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So this column is dedicated to anyone who might want to go on Jeopardy! one day, or anyone who wants to deepen their knowledge of musicals, musical-comedy and the men and women who have created them.

Option #1 is The Contemporary Broadway Musical being offered by the Pasadena Playhouse.

This is a ten-class series presented by Broadway producer Adam Epstein. He’s a five-time Tony Award nominee who took home the trophy for Best Musical when Hairspray won in 2003.

Here is the schedule for the ten classes:

February 22nd: High Flying Adored: Eva Peron delivers a Broadway coup de thé·â·tre; Gower Champion dies

March 1st: Michael Bennett’s Dreamgirls vs. Tommy Tune’s Nine

March 8th: The Empire Strikes Back: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and the “colonization” of Broadway: Cats, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon

March 15th: La Cage Aux Folles and Into the Woods

March 22nd: Americans vanquish the British (again!): City of Angels, Crazy for You, and the return of the musical comedy

March 29th: Falsettos: William Finn and his Tight Knit Family move uptown

April 5th: Broadway in the 1990’s: Disney conquers Broadway; Rent and Ragtime conquer hearts

April 12th: From Celluloid to Greasepaint: The Producers, Hairspray and the changing face of Broadway in the 21st century

April 19th: Avenue Q and Wicked: a theatrical tale of David and Goliath

April 26th: Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and the future of Broadway musicals

All of the dates above are the live presentation of each week’s topic. However, those who sign up for the classes can catch up even if you start halfway through the series. The classes will remain available to you beginning 24 hours after the conclusion of each live class. The 10-series course costs $179. (Members at Pasadena Playhouse receive at 20% discount).

Option #2: What Makes It Great?

Gershwin. Berlin. Arlen. Rodgers. Bernstein. You don’t need to add first names to the list of composers in this title. They are all legends whose work has catapulted them to the upper echelon of composers.

Rob Kapilow, the author of Listening For America: Inside the Great American Songbook from Gershwin to Sondheim, is conducting a five-episode series of classes called What Makes It Great? Celebrating the Great American Songbook beginning on February 23rd and running through March 30th.

Kapilow has teamed up with the Kaufman Music Center and JCC Thurnauer School of Music to lead explorations of these five men and their work. The classes stream on Tuesdays at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST and include a live Q&A afterwards. For those for whom that schedule doesn’t work, the classes will remain available through April 15th.

Here is What Makes It Great‘s line-up:

February 23rd: George Gershwin

March 2nd: Irving Berlin

March 9th: Harold Arlen

March 23rd: Richard Rodgers

March 30th: Leonard Bernstein

Tickets for the five classes are $50.

There is a bonus attraction on April 6th. Kapilow will be joined by Nikki Renée Daniels (the upcoming revival of Company) and Michael Winther (the upcoming Flying Over Sunset) for a performance called What Makes It Great? Stephen Sondheim. Tickets for that show are $15 and will allow ticket purchasers to watch the show through the middle of April.

With either or both of these classes, I assure you you’ll not just learn about musicals. You’ll also improve your trivia games, impress your friends who thought you knew nothing about the subject and more importantly you’ll know the difference between August Wilson and Stephen Sondheim when it’s your turn to play Jeopardy!

Photo: Broadway’s Shubert Alley (Photo by Christopher Firth/Courtesy New York Public Library Archives)

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Amongst the stars performing in this week’s productions are Kathleen Battle, Angel Blue, Lawrence Brownlee, Maria Ewing, Denyce Graves, Jessye Norman, Eric Owens, Florence Quivar, Leontyne Price and Shirley Verrett.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on February 1st, you might still have time to catch the 2007-2008 production of Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi that concludes The Antiheroes week.

Here’s the full line-up for Week 47 at the Met:

Monday, February 1 – The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

Conducted by David Robertson; starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker and Donovan Singletary. This James Robinson production is from the 2019-2020 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on September 5th and 6th and December 11th.

DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel, Porgy, was the inspiration for a play written by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. That play served as the inspiration for this opera by George Gershwin with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Porgy and Bess had its world premiere in 1935 at Boston’s Colonial Theatre.

In the opera, Porgy lives in Charleston’s slums. He’s disabled and spends his time begging. He is enamored with Bess and does everything he can to rescue her from an abusive lover, Crown and a far-too-seductive drug dealer, Sportin’ Life.

If you saw the Broadway version which went by the name The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, that was a truncated version and it was also modified to fit more contemporary times. The Metropolitan Opera production is the full opera as originally written by George Gershwin, Dubose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin.

Gershwin’s score features such beloved songs as Summertime, I Loves You Porgy and It Ain’t Necessarily So.

Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times, raved about the production and, in particular, its two stars:

“As Porgy, the magnificent bass-baritone Eric Owens gives one of the finest performances of his distinguished career. His powerful voice, with its earthy textures and resonant sound, is ideal for the role. His sensitivity into the layered feelings and conflicts that drive his character made even the most familiar moments of the music seem startlingly fresh. And, as Bess, the sumptuously voiced soprano Angel Blue is radiant, capturing both the pride and fragility of the character.”

Tuesday, February 2 – Verdi’s La Forza del Destino

Conducted by James Levine; starring Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci and Bonaldo Giaiotti. This John Dexter production is from the 1983-1984 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available on June 18th and 19th and November 6th.

This frequently performed Verdi opera had its world premiere in 1862 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The libretto is by Francesco Maria Piave, based on an 1835 Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino by Ángel de Saavedra.

Leonora is the daughter of the Marquis of Calatrava. She falls in love with Don Alvaro, but her father is dead-set against their getting married. A tragedy befalls all three leaving Leonora to find solace in a monastery.

This was one of Price’s greatest roles throughout her career. Bernard Holland, writing in the New York Times, raved about her performance.

“This was truly Miss Price’s evening. There were some jolting shifts of register, and Miss Price must protect her fragile upper notes with tender care; but her dramatic presence on stage and the overall impact of her singing went far beyond matters of technique. ‘Madre, pietosa Vergine’ had a stunning muted eloquence, and ‘Pace, pace, mio Dio!’ at the end had a sonorous beauty and power of communication that this listener – and I think everyone else in attendance – will think back upon for many years to come.”

Wednesday, February 3 – Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites

Conducted by Manuel Rosenthal; starring Maria Ewing, Jessye Norman, Betsy Norden, Régine Crespin and Florence Quivar. This John Dexter production is from the 1986-1987 season. 

Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites had its world premiere in 1957 at La Scala in Milan. The composer wrote the libretto based on a rejected screenplay by Georges Bernanos.

The setting is France during the French Revolution. Blanche de la Force, who is impossibly shy and fragile, wants to retreat from all that is going on in the world and chooses a Carmelite monastery. The prioress tells her that a monastery is a place for devotion to God, not escape from the world. Blanche convinces her to let her stay. What happens to Blanche and the other nuns proves not to be the escape she was hoping for.

Will Crutchfield, in his New York Times review, said of this production, “The revival is cast from strength: the Carmelite sisters are being played by Maria Ewing, Jessye Norman, Florence Quivar, Regine Crespin and Betsy Norden. It has always been easy to get good singers interested in this work…This is not because the opera is old-fashioned. It is a severe drama of the spirit; its questions are not of romantic passion or political freedom but of the relationship of these nuns to their vows, to God, to one another and to their consciences as they face a terrible fate in Revolutionary France. There are no star turns, no big vocal payoffs, yet the writing is essentially vocal in the sense of treating the human voice with love and respect. It does not ask singers to degrade their art, even though it does ask them to cede a part of it: there is a lesson here for willing composers.”

Thursday, February 4 – Rossini’s La Cenerentola

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Elīna Garanča, Lawrence Brownlee, Simone Alberghini, Alessandro Corbelli and John Relyea. This revival of Cesare Lievi’s 1997 production is from the 2008-2009 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on July 17th and September 17th.

Gioachino Rossini’s opera of the Cinderella story is based on Charles Perrault’s Cendrillon. The libertto, by Jacopo Ferretti, was based on two previous libretti for operas based on the same story: Charles-Guillaume Étienne’s libretto for Nicolas Isouard’s 1810 opera Cendrillon and Francesco Fiorini’s libretto for Stefano Pavesi’s 1814 opera, Agatina o La virtú premiata. La Cenerentola had its world premiere in 1817 in Rome.

The story is exactly you expect. After being relegated to chores around the house by her Stepmother and her Stepsisters, Cinderella dreams of going to the Prince’s ball. They mock her before leaving themselves for the event. Cinderella’s fairy godmother appears to make her dream a reality, but only if she returns by midnight.

In Steve Smith’s New York Times review of this production he raved about Brownlee. “As Don Ramiro, the Prince Charming of the tale, the young American tenor Lawrence Brownlee was outstanding, with a sweet sound, impressive agility, ringing high notes and a smile that resonated to the core of his interpretation. Mr. Brownlee’s performance of the prince’s big aria, ‘Si, Ritrovarla Io Giuro,’ drew the evening’s most rousing applause.”

Friday, February 5 – Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro

Conducted by James Levine; starring Carol Vaness, Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Thomas Allen and Ruggero Raimondi. This Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production is from the 1985-1986 season.

Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro is based on the 1784 play La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (translated: “The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro”) by Pierre Beaumarchais. Lorenzo da Ponte wrote the libretto. La Nozze di Figaro had its world premiere in Vienna in 1786.

Figaro and Susanna are getting married. They are in a room made available to them by the Count who plans to seduce the bride-to-be based on an old law that gave permission to lords to have sex with servant girls on their wedding night. When Figaro gets wind of this plan he enlists several people to outwit the Count using disguises, altered identities and more.

In his New York Times review, Donal Henahan seemed particularly impressed with Battle. “The greatest strength of this performance lay in its pair of servant lovers, Kathleen Battle as Susanna and Ruggero Raimondi as Figaro, with Frederica von Stade’s Cherubino and Carol Vaness’s Countess adding vocal quality to a cast that had its weak spots. Miss Battle’s spring-water soprano and pert acting were a delight all evening, and her last-act aria, ‘Deh vieni, non tardar,’ caught Susanna’s whole character in one affecting moment.”

Saturday, February 6 – Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos

Conducted by James Levine; starring Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle and Tatiana Troyanos. This revival of Bodo Igesz’s 1962 production is from the 1987-1988 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available on May 13th and December 5th.

Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos had its world premiere in Stuttgart in 1912. The libretto is by Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

This is really an opera-within-an-opera. Two different sets of performers have been brought together at the home of a rich man. One group is a serious ensemble of opera singers who embrace the highest of dramatic operas. The other is a group of comedians who are set on acting out an Italian comedy. Their host, seeing that time is quickly running out, asks them to perform their separate works together.

Donal Henahan had some fun with his review of this production in the New York Times. “Jessye Norman, as the monumentally offended Prima Donna, played Ariadne with a dignified horror that put one in mind of Margaret Dumont trying to ignore a particularly egregious Groucho caper.

“Miss Norman, pacing herself a bit too obviously, as she often does, muted her glorious soprano early in the evening. However, she allowed it to expand to Wagnerian proportions in the final duet a purple-passioned caricature of the High Romantic style. Miss Battle gave a strangely reticent performance, singing half voice much of the time, most frustratingly in Zerbinetta’s coloratura showpiece, ‘Grossmachtige Prinzessin.’ In this aria, one of the most strenuous 10 minutes in all of opera for a light soprano, Miss Battle sang with supple accuracy and grace but rarely with the cutting brilliance and clarity of a true Zerbinetta. One had to conclude that she was either out of sorts or purposely saving voice.”

Sunday, February 7 – Puccini’s Tosca

Conducted by James Conlon; starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti and Cornell MacNeil. This Tito Gobbi production is from the 1978-1979 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on June 4th and December 29th.

It is quite likely that Puccini’s Tosca was the first opera to premiere in 1900. Its first performance was on January 14 in Rome. Based on Victorien Sardou’s 1887 play of the same name, Tosca‘s libretto was written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.

The setting for Tosca is Rome in 1800. The Napoleonic wars were raging and political unrest was omnipresent. The opera takes place over the course of slightly less than 24 hours. Floria Tosca is the object of Chief of Police Baron Scarpia’s lust. He uses suspicions that her lover, Mario Cavaradossi, aided a political prisoner who has escaped as an opportunity to get him out of his way which will leave Tosca for himself. After capturing Cavaradossi, Scarpia says that if Tosca doesn’t become his lover, he will have Cavaradossi killed.

Donal Henahan, in his New York Times review, praised Verrett’s singing. “Miss Verrett, in appearance the most persuasively starlike Floria Tosca the Met has offered in years, also succeeded in satisfying the purely vocal demands of her role. There was little strain anywhere, and many passages of extraordinarily fine, intelligently nuanced singing.”

He went on to say about Pavarotti, “Mr. Pavarotti, though a bit thin of voice in such outpourings as ‘Recondite armonia,’ pitched himself into the action, vocally and theatrically, with his usual infectious enthusiasm. Puccini is notoriously hard on voices—perhaps more so than Verdi or even Wagner— and Mr. Pavarotti is taking a calculated risk in moving into emotionally heavy and tone‐shredding roles. But his ‘Vittoria!’ rang out excitingly, without sounding strident, and in the lyrical passages he was nothing less than glorious. Bravissimo is not good enough for such singing. How about pavarotissimo?”

That concludes Week 47 at the Met and the first week of their Black History Month series. Next week the Metropolitan Opera continues their celebration of Black History Month with a second week in this series.

Enjoy your week and enjoy the operas!

Photo: Shirley Verrett and Luciano Pavarotti in Tosca (Photo courtesy Met Opera Archives)

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My top pick for the weekend is Close Quarters #6 from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Their ambitious series has redefined how classical music can presented in the 21st century. With innovative direction from James Darrah and interesting choices of music, LACO’s series is well worth exploring.

Here are my Best Bets: January 15th – January 18th:

OPERA: The West Is a Land of Infinite Beginnings – LA Opera – January 15th – January 29th

Missy Mazzoli’s opera, Proving Up, had its world premiere in 2018 at the Terrace Theatre in Washington, D.C. and is based on a short story by Karen Russell. Royce Vavrek wrote the libretto. This short film is inspired by the opera.

James Darrah directed this digital short for LA Opera. As he recently told me, “Proving Up is an excerpt, but I didn’t want it to feel like an excerpt. It was an opportunity to lean into 80s/90s counterculture. I’m using all my favorite horror movies. There’s a twist that allows you to think about the mystique of it. Let’s not tell the story of Proving Up, but let’s build mythology around this character and what would he look like in LA in 2021. The West is a Land of Infinite Beginnings is, I hope, a little unexpected.”

This digital short will have its premiere at 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST on Friday, January 15th and remain available for free streaming for two weeks.

JAZZ: Virtual Halston – Cast Party Network YouTube Channel – January 15th: 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

If you’ve read this column on a regular basis, you know I think there’s no better way to start the weekend than with the charming and delightful Julie Halston and her Friday afternoon salons. Of course, if you’re on the West Coast, you’re getting an early start, but what’s so bad about that?

Her guests this week: jazz musician John Pizzarelli and his wife, actress Jessica Molaskey (Parade).

Mix your favorite cocktail and enjoy and hour of witty repartee and maybe even some music!

JAZZ: Kenny Garrett Quintet – SFJAZZ – January 15th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Saxophonist Kenny Garrett announced himself to the world when he was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1978 (at the tender age of 18) under the direction of Mercer Ellington. He would go on to record with Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw before striking out on his own as a bandleader.

His first album was appropriately entitled Introducing Kenny Garrett in 1985. He’s never needed an introduction since. He’s won one Grammy and has received seven other nominations.

Joining him for this 2019 concert from SFJAZZ are percussionist Rudy Bird, pianist Vernell Brown, Jr., bassist Corcoran Holt and drummer Samuel Laviso.

This concert is party of the Fridays at Five series from SFJAZZ and requires a one-month digital membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to watch it.

JAZZ: Thumbscrew – Village Vanguard – January 15th – January 16th

Giovanni Russonello, writing in the New York Times, selected a streaming concert by Thumbscrew in October as one of the 8 Things to Do This Weekend. He described them this way:

“The guitarist and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson works in all kinds of scenarios, but there’s no better way to get acquainted with her wavy, wiry style than to hear her play with Thumbscrew. In that trio, featuring the drummer Tomas Fujiwara and the bassist Michael Formanek, a playfully sympathetic rapport prevails whether the group is handling jazz standards, Brazilian folk songs or one of the bandmates’ own deceptively precise compositions.”

Doesn’t that sound intriguing? You can find out for yourself as Thumbscrew has two performances streaming from New York’s Village Vanguard this weekend. Each performance is $10.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Close Quarters #6 – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – January 15th – 9:30 PM EST/6:30 PM PST

Two weeks ago, in the first of two Close Quarters films curated by Juan Pablo Contreras, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra released its most ambitious, so far, of this multi-film series. Which makes me all the more excited to see what’s in store from James Darrah and the musicians of LACO in #6 of the series.

Opening the program is the world premiere of Mariachitlán for Piano Four-Hands by Contreras. Also being performed is Seduccíon for flute, clarinet and piano by Miguel del Águila and Tangódromo by JP Jofre.

Performing Mariachitlán is the duo Hocket (composer/pianists Sarah Gibson and Thomas Kotcheff).

If you want to see just the performances without the surrounding filmmaking and storytelling, LACO makes that available on their YouTube channel. I recommend watching the full films.

DANCE: Matthew Bourne’s “Cinderella” – Center Theatre Group – January 15th – January 17th

In 2019 Matthew Bourne’s “Cinderella” returned to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. This marked the 20th anniversary of the show’s original run at the theatre.

The ballet uses Sergei Prokofiev’s music, but is set in War-torn England during the Blitz. Ashley Shaw and Andrew Monaghan star.

If you are seeking a traditional ballet, Bourne’s work is not for you. What makes his projects compelling is he is constantly seeking out new ways of telling familiar stories. Bourne has had a long relationship with Center Theatre Group with many of his other projects, including The Car Man, Edward Scissorhands and The Red Shoes having appeared there.

As part of Center Theatre Group’s Digital Stage Plus, they are making a film of this production available for rent. There are five available performances: Friday, January 15th at 8:00 PM PST; Saturday, January 16th at 2:00 PM PST and 8:00 PM PST and Sunday, January 17th at 1:00 PM PST and 6:30 PM PST. Tickets are $10.

OPERA: Romeo & Juliet – San Francisco Opera – January 16th – January 17th

This production of Charles Gounod’s opera, directed by Jean-Louis Grinda, was new to San Francisco Opera when it was performed in 2019 and marked the first time this opera has been performed there in 32 years. Grinda is director at Opéra de Monte-Carlo and this was his American directorial debut.

Starring as Romeo is Pene Pati (who assumed the role after the announced Bryan Hymel withdrew a few days before opening). In the role of Juliet is Nadine Sierra. Additional members of the company were Lucas Meachem as Mercutio, Timothy Mix as Capulet, James Creswell as Friar Lawrence, Daniel Montenegro as Tybalt, Philip Skinner as the Duke of Verona, Stephanie Lauricella as Stéphano and Eve Gigliotti as Gertrude. Yves Abel conducted.

Joshua Kosman, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, said of Pati’s performance, “He’s got a vigorous, full-bodied sound with a lustrous mid-range and glorious, perfectly placed top notes, including one long-held stratospheric closer that would have sounded like showboating if it hadn’t been so magnificent. Pati sings in a gleaming, sensuous stream of sound, with heroic accents in more athletic passages and a warm, tenderly inviting depth for moments of romantic intimacy.”

PLAY: Sinatra: RAW – The Wallis – January 16th – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

If you went to central casting for the perfect type to portray Frank Sinatra in 1971, you probably wouldn’t think of hiring a British actor. Richard Shelton, however, had other ideas and put together a show that depicts Sinatra being Sinatra – warts and all – and allows Shelton to shine.

It’s late night in Palm Springs and the singer has had a few too many drinks. He starts to tell stories about his career, the Rat Pack and, of course, sings a few songs.

Press notes indicate that this is a cabaret version of his show. When Sinatra: Raw was reviewed by Donald Huerta for the Times of London, he said, “This solo performance (with pianist) is a mesmerising distillation of Shelton’s talent for inhabiting a showbiz legend. If you are in any way, shape or form a fan or, indeed, want to know more about a complex man, Shelton’s masterful take on Ol’ Blue Eyes is a must-see.”

Tickets are $25 and allow for streaming for 24 hours.

CABARET: Kelli O’Hara with Seth Rudetsky – Seth Concert Series – January 17th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

If you’ve seen Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara on stage in any of the musicals in which she has performed*, you know why any opportunity to hear her glorious singing is one not-to-be-missed. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and watch this show.

Seth Rudetsky’s concert series performances are not glamorous. She’s in her home and he’s in his on a keyboard accompanying her. They communicate online through their computers. But somehow it all works and makes for some beautiful performances and always good stories.

*The Bridges of Madison County, The King and I, Kiss Me Kate, The Light in the Piazza, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Pajama Game and South Pacific

If you cannot catch the performance live on Sunday, there will be an encore showing Monday, January 18th at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST. Tickets are $25.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Mutual Admiration – Gershwin and Ravel – Music@Menlo – January 17th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

In 1928, composer Maurice Ravel was on a tour of America where he performed several of his works. During his stop in New York, he had a chance to meet George Gershwin. The two shared a keen interest in jazz.

This concert, featuring violinist Kristin Lee and pianist Orion Weiss, looks at their Mutual Admiration from the perspective of the music each man wrote.

The concert comes from Music@Menlo in Atherton, California.

On the program is Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, op. 45; five songs from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess arranged for violin and piano by Jascha Heifetz and closes with Ravel’s Tzigane for violin and piano.

Tickets are $25.

CABARET: Pajama Cast Party – Cast Party Network YouTube Channel – January 18th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Jim Caruso’s Cast Party is so much fun. It’s a shame that we can’t see this wildly entertaining show in person. But he’s putting on his pajamas, as are his guests. And you should, too! Switching to the online format as Pajama Cast Party allows Caruso to continue his show where performers from various genres show up and sing whatever they want.

Joining him on Monday (the show runs every Monday) are Claybourne Elder (the new production of Company that hadn’t officially opened when Broadway was shut down); Capathia Jenkins (Newsies), married opera singers Jessica Fishenfeld (New York City Opera’s Stonewall) and Scott Joiner (San Francisco Opera’s The Secret Garden) and singer/songwriter Susan Werner (composer of the musical Bull Durham).

PLAY: Crowndation – Center Theatre Group – January 18th – 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST

Center Theatre Group is launching a new series called Not a Moment, But a Movement on their Digital Stage. The series centers on Black artists and combines the work of a musician, a theatre artist and a visual artist.

The series gets launched with Angelica Chéri’s Crowndation; I Will Not Lie to David. This one-woman show finds Fatima Seed struggling to define herself at the exact same age her mother was when she passed away. In the course of her journey she uncovers something previously unknown about her father.

Composer Jessica Lá Rep and visual artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle are paired with Chéri for this program.

Since Monday is Martin Luther King Day, Center Theatre Group is making this first showing available for free for all viewers. But only this one showing. It’s considered a sneak peak. Beginning on January 21st, the program will be free only for donors and subscribers, $10 for all others.

A few reminders before closing out Best Bets: January 15th – January 18th:

New York’s Prototype Festival concludes on January 16th. There is some terrific programming here. If you’re a bit on the adventurous side, I strongly urge you to check it out.

The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival 2021 concludes on Sunday, January 17th. This festival also has interesting and entertaining options. I strongly recommend the motown project by Alicia Hall Moran. (You can read my interview with her about the show here.)

PlayhouseLive began streaming You I Like – A Musical Celebration of Jerry Herman this week. This is a thoroughly entertaining 90 minutes guaranteed to please fans of musicals.

Finally, the Metropolitan Opera concludes a week of productions starring soprano Renée Fleming with Richard Strauss’ Capriccio on Friday; George Frideric Handel’s Rodelinda on Saturday and Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka on Sunday. And here’s a preview of next week since we’re including options for Monday. Next week’s theme is Leading Ladies: Opera’s Greatest Heroines and the week gets started with a 2014 production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen.

That officially ends my Best Bets: January 15th – January 18th. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Enjoy the holiday weekend.

Main Photo: Piano duo Hocket (Courtesy Hocket.org)

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