My top choice doesn’t easily fit into any genre, but it’s an oldie that you’ll either love or hate:

TUBULAR BELLS – Mike Oldfield (Universal Music Group)

It’s hard to believe that Tubular Bells came out 50 years ago. But here we are. This is a special 50th Anniversary Edition on vinyl of the music that many people associate with its use in the film The Exorcist (which is also 50 years old this year.) It’s hard to get that haunting melody out of your head.

In addition to the two suites found not he original album, a second record contains a demo for Tubular Bells 4, the music as used in the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, a remix, the original single and more.

Here are the rest of this week’s picks of New In Music This Week: May 26th:

CLASSICAL: INFINITE BACH – Maya Beiser (Islandia Music Records)

Cellist Maya Beiser not only explores Johann Sebastian Bach’s Solo Cello Suites, she explores the sound that can be created in both the recording process and the listening process. Infinite Bach will be released in different ways: on Apple Music you can get it digitally in Dolby Atmos spatial audio. Other platforms will have the album in what’s described as an “immersive binaural mix.” Having heard Infinite Bach it’s not a traditional recording of these cherished works, but it is certainly a fascinating one. Audiophiles will want to take Beiser’s journey into Infinite Bach.

CLASSICAL: CHILDHOOD TALES – Isata Kanneh-Mason (Decca Classics)

There are 46 tracks on this album from pianist Kanneh-Mason. They range in length from 24 seconds to 4 minutes and 21 seconds. They are predominantly miniature works. Childhood Tales begins with Mozart’s Ah! Vous diary-je, mama performed as a theme and 12 variations. You might not recognize the name, but you’ll know the melody instantaneously as we refer to it as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

In addition to Mozart, Kanneh-Mason performs works by Claude Debussy (Children’s Corner) and Robert Schumann (Kinderszenen, Op. 15). Don’t be fooled…there’s nothing childish about her performances of these pieces. They might be short, but don’t think they come without challenges.

CLASSICAL: FROM AFAR: REWORKS – Various Artists and Vikingur Ólafsson – Deutsche Grammophon

If you read our recent interview with pianist Ólafsson, you’ll have seen that he talked about this album of remixes of his recordings from his 2022 album From Afar as “basically reversing the creative process.” Six different contemporary composers have written new material to accompany some or all Ólafsson’s original recordings. Those composers are Christian Badzura, Álfheiður Guðmundsdóttir, Snorri Hallgrímsson, Helgi Jonsson, Michael A. Muller, and Herdís Stefánsdóttir. Don’t expect to be dancing across your living room listening to these works. Do expect to get into a very peaceful and contemplative state instead.

JAZZ: SHE SEES – Erik Friedlander (Skipstone Records)

Cellist Friedlander is not going to let anything get in the way of making joyous music. Friedlander was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2016. Last summer he had Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery. This album, filled with titles like Baskets, Biscuits, Rain; Soak! Soak! and Wit & Whimsy showcase an enthusiasm for living life.

Joining Friedlander on this record are Diego Espinosa on percussion, Ava Mendoza on guitar and Stomu Takeishi on bass. Espinosa and Mendoza played in Friedlander’s 2020 album Sentinel.

JAZZ: AFTER|LIFE – Brian McCarthy (Truth Evolution Recording Collective)

Saxophonist/composer McCarthy is definitely ambitious. His most 2017 album The Better Angels of Our Nature used music old and new to explore the Civil War. On this follow-up album he’s going boldly to where no man has gone before: to the stars. There are eight tracks on this record with the three-movement suite After Life anchoring the recording. It closes with a song entitled Lucy, but she’s not in the sky with diamonds.

His nine piece band, featured on Better Angels, is almost entirely reunited for this record. They are: bassist Matt Aronoff, saxophonist Andrew Gutauskas, pianist Justin Kauflin, saxophonist Stantawn Kendrick, trombonist Cameron McManus, trumpeter Bill Mobley, drummer Jared Shooing and saxophonist Daniel Ian Smith. This is a cool record!

Those are my selections of the best of what’s New In Music This Week: May 26th. What are you listening to? Drop us a line in the comments. Enjoy the music and enjoy your weekend!

Main Photo: Part of the album art for Tubular Bells

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for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf – Booth Theatre – New York – Now through May 22nd

Ntozake Shange’s “choreopoem” first opened on Broadway in 1976 and ran for 742 performances and also earned a Tony Award nomination as Best Play. 7 Black women, nameless but identified by the color of the clothes they wear, explore their lives and experiences through poetry that has been choreographed to music.

Camille A. Brown makes her directorial debut with this revival. She recently co-directed and choreographed Terence Blanchard’s opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones at the Met. The ensemble of women appearing in the show are Amara Granderson, Tendayi Kuumba, Kenita R. Miller, Okwui Okpokwasili, Stacey Sargean, Alexandria Wailes and D. Woods

For tickets and more information please go here.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Geffen Playhouse – Los Angeles  – Now – May 29th

Edward Albee’s Tony Award and Pultizer Prize-winning 1962 play about marriage as seen through the eyes of a hard-drinking and embittered middle-aged couple  and a younger couple with mixed motivations for being their guests after a faculty party gets a new production in Los Angeles.

Zachary Quinto and Calista Flockhart play George and Martha – the older couple. Nick and Honey, the younger couple, are played by Graham Phillips and Aimee Carrero. Gordon Greenberg directs.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

A Strange Loop – Lyceum Theatre New York – Now playing

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama went to Michael R. Jackson’s musical A Strange Loop. It’s an aptly named meta-musical about a gay Black man who’s writing a musical about a gay Black man.  Reviews were through the roof when it ran off-Broadway.

Last week’s reviews were even stronger for the Broadway production. This is going to be a very hot ticket this season and quite possibly the musical to beat for the Tony Awards.

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

For tickets and more information, please go here.

An Evening with Fran Lebowitz – Multiple Venues – April 28^th – May 6^th

It probably surprises no one more than Fran Lebowitz that after the Netflix series Pretend It’s A City debuted she would be a hot ticket around the world. But here she is participating in conversations – exactly what she did with Martin Scorsese in that series.

April 28^th – May 1^st will find her at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. On  May 2^nd she’ll be at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego. On May 5^th she’ll be at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto and on May 6^th she’s at St. Jean Baptiste Church in Montreal. A European tour launches in late June.

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

MJ The Musical – Neil Simon Theatre NY – Now – September 4th

It was, of course, inevitable that there would be a jukebox musical showcasing the countless hit songs by Michael Jackson. What may set this musical apart from failed attempts to use songs by The Beach Boys, Cher John Lennon and more is that the book is by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage and the show is directed and choreographed by Christopher  Wheeldon.

Myles Frost makes his Broadway debut as MJ. Walter Russell III (so good in Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the  Metropolitan  Opera) and Christian Wilson alternate performances as Little Michael. Interestingly Tavon Olds-Sample is listed as playing “Michael” in the show. 

Will this musical be a Thriller or will audiences tell this show to Beat It? Either way it’s bound to be interesting.

For tickets and more details, please go here.

American Ballet Theatre on Tour – Now – May 15^th

ABT is on tour with two different programs. Opening this week at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa is ABT Forward. Leonard Bernstein is celebrated in Bernstein in a Bubble; Alonzo King premiere’s Single Eye with music by Jason Moran and Tony Bennett is front and center in Zig Zag. This same program will be performed at the Kennedy Center March 29^th and March 30^th.

Don Quixote is on the program for performances at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, VA; the Kennedy Center and the Mahalia Jackson Theatre in New Orleans.

For tickets and more information click on each venue’s names.

Take Me Out – Hayes Theater New York – Now – October 2^nd

Richard Greenberg’s 2003 play Take Me Out won the Tony Award for Best Play. It tells the story of a professional baseball player (Jesse Williams) who comes out as gay. His doing so reveals a lot about his teammates and their prejudices about his sexuality and his race.

Also appearing in the play are Patrick J. Adams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. This is a very adult show that features a nude shower scene with most of the cast. So few professional athletes on major teams have come out in the 19 years since this play was first performed on Broadway. That means Take Me Out is just as topical today as it was then.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

Plaza Suite – Hudson Theatre (NYC) – March 28^th – June 26th

Neil Simon’s comedy about relationships and marriage opened on Broadway on February 14, 1968. The show ran for 1,097 performances and featured George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton as three separate couples who all visit the Plaza Hotel in New York at different times. 

This first-ever revival of the play stars Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. John Benjamin Hickey (Tony Award-winner for his performance in The Normal Heart) directs. Danny Bolero, Molly Ranson and Eric Wiegand round out the ensemble.

This limited engagement is scheduled to close on June 26^th.

For more information, please go here.

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

Cyrano – Brooklyn Academy of Musc – April 5^th – May 22^nd

The recent Joe Wright film of Edmond Rostand’s play presented a variation from tradition in telling the story of the man with a large nose who falls in love with Roxanne. Get ready for an even more radical approach.

James McAvoy stars in this new version by Martin Crimp. Gone after the period costumes and pleasantries. This Cyrano is more interested in the love of language than in unrequited love.  Modern clothes, hand mics and stand mics are the tools at the cast’s disposal.

Directed by Jamie Lloyd, this production earned the Olivier Award for Best Revival.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater –multiple venues –  April 6^th – May 8^th

For over 60 years the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has celebrated what it is to be an African American through innovative dances that utilize a wide array of musical styles. 

They are on tour to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of Artistic Director Robert Battle. Amongst the pieces on the program are 2004’s Mass; Ella from 2008 and For Four from 2021. Also on the program is Revelations created by Ailey in 1960.

This tour takes them to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles (April 6-10); The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara (April 13^th and 14^th); Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee on April 20^th; KeyBank State Theatre in Cleveland (April 22^nd – 24^th); The University of Massachusetts on April 26^th; Boston’s Boch Center Wang Theatre (April 28^th– May 1^st); University of North Carolina (May 3^rd and 4^th) and concludes at Prudential Hall in Newark (May 6^th – 8^th). Click on each venue’s name for more information and tickets.

Sheku & Isata Kanneh-Mason Tour – April 19^th – May 8^th

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason and her brother, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, launch a recital tour on April 19^th at Campbell Hall in Santa Barbara. The core repertoire finds the duo performing works by Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten, Karem Khachaturian and Dmitri Shostakovich. The Khachaturian is replaced by a work by Beethoven at a few concerts.

The tour takes them to Los Angeles; Costa Mesa; La Jolla; San Francisco; Ann Arbor; Princeton; Kansas City, MO; Baltimore; New York; Toronto; Boston and Atlanta.

For tickets and more information, click on the name of the city above.

Funny Girl – August Wilson Theatre – Now playing

It’s been 58 years since the musical Funny Girl opened on Broadway and turned Barbra Streisand into one of the world’s greatest stars. Since then producers have long considered a revival, but let’s face it, those are big shoes to fill.

Enter Beanie Feldstein who is tackling the role of Fanny Brice. Like Streisand, Feldstein has only played a supporting role in one musical before this one (Hello, Dolly!). Joining her are Ramin Karimloo as love-interest Nick Arnstein and Jane Lynch as Mrs. Brice. Michael Mayer directs the show which has a revised script by Harvey Fierstein.

People, people who need tickets and more information should go here.

Top Album Choices

Jeremy Pelt: Soundtrack

Jazz composer and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt releases his new album this week. It features 10-tracks with Vicente Archer on acoustic & electric bass; Victor Gould on piano; Chien Chien Lu on vibraophone; and Fender Rhodes and Allan Mednard on drums. Anne Drummond plays flute on two tracks and Brittany Anjouy plays Mellotron on two track.

Pelt is a terrific musician and his previous two albums, The Art of Intimacy Vol. 1 and Griot: This Is Important!revealed an incredible range and are essential listening.

Spencer Day: Broadway by Day 

These two albums couldn’t be more different, but both are immensely satisfying works. Vocalist/songwriter Spencer Day offers his interpretations of songs from some of Broadway’s greatest musicals including A Chorus Line, Follies, My Fair Lady and South Pacific on Broadway By Day. His unique stylings provided a new way of hearing these classic songs.

Gerald Clayton: Bells on Sand

Composer/pianist Gerald Clayton’s new album is one we’ve been listening to for over a month. It’s a quiet and gentle album that is filled with inventive music that requires your concentration. That commitment will be deeply rewarded with an inner-peace that Bells on Sand brings to your ears.

Main Photo: Stacey Sergeant, Amara Grandson, Okwui Okpokwasilli, Tendayi Kuumba, Kenita R. Miller, D. Woods and Alexandria Walles in for colored girls who considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (Photo by Marc. J. Franklin)

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Sheku is a cellist and his sister Isata plays the piano. This tour will find them performing works by Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten and Dimitri Shostakovich at all of their performances. Either a work by Karen Katchaturian or Beethoven will be the other piece performed on the program depending on the city in which you see them. Their tour begins in Santa Barbara on April 19th and continues to Walt Disney Concert Hall on April 20th. You can see the full itinerary here.

I spoke via Zoom with the Kanneh-Mason siblings last month. You can see the full interview on our YouTube channel. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Shostakovich, whose Sonata in D Minor you are performing on this tour, said “Real music is always revolutionary for it cements the ranks of the people; it arouses them and leads them onward.” Do you agree with Shostakovich and, if so, do you see yourselves as revolutionaries arousing audiences and leading them forward? 

Sheku: I think it’s a fantastic quote from a composer I’ve always really admired. I think as performers it’s a wonderfully powerful position to be in. We have spent lots of time thinking about that music that we’re playing and the emotions in the stories and things that we can convey; to have an audience of people in the room and to be able to show these thoughts and dealings with them and hopefully inspire them or move them to feel or to provide them with an escape from what’s going on outside in their lives.

Q: When you’re putting a recital tour together, what are your priorities in terms of how you program that tour? 

Isata: It usually is based on pieces that we loved at that time, that we feel inspired to learn and then also pieces that we think would be great for audiences to hear. Many of the pieces in this program are often not played – the Bridge and Britten, in particular, are not played much outside of the UK. We think they’re wonderful pieces and were very inspired to learn them and play them.

Q: The Frank Bridge Sonata in D Minor for Cello and Piano was written at a time when he was very concerned about what was going on in the world because that was written around the time of the first world war. There’s no way you either of you could have known what was going to be going on in the world when you went on tour. Given Bridge’s concerns and even Shostakovich’s history of commenting on the Soviet government, do you think that now, given everything that’s going on in Ukraine, that this music allows you to also make some commentary on what’s going on now beyond what your original intention was with these pieces? 

Sheku: I think, of course, yeah. Frank Bridge wrote this music in relation to what he was thinking and feeling at that time, but I don’t think he wrote it solely for that time. But also I think as humans we have gone through many different times and lots of events. But I find when I look back in history we haven’t changed so much in the way that we relate to each other. So I think music written 100 years ago is still at the core very relevant now and probably will always be in some way. And I find playing the Bridge Sonata very powerful at this time. Of course, it wasn’t written in relation to anything that’s going on at this moment, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t move us and move us to think about that.

Q: Isata you said previously that when you record a piece it’s a portrait of how you how you play it now and how you both play it now. You go on to talk about how that perspective might change in five, ten or twenty years. I’m wondering how much does your perspective change over the course of a tour between when you first start performing it and when you give your last performance as part of that recital tour? 

Isata: That’s also a really good question. I don’t know if we have a massive perspective shift on the pieces in the space of a tour, but I think they become more spontaneous. I think you get more …

Sheku: Confident…

Isata: It’s the confidence.

Sheku: …if the first ones go well.

Q: Historically how do you find your your relationships with the material you’ve chosen to perform change over the course of even a small tour like this?

Sheku: The most enjoyable thing about what we do is investigating music often that has so many layers and so much to investigate in so little time in our short lives. So I think it’s a constant journey and a constant development. Often the perspective of a piece can change based on stepping back and looking at it from farther away. It’s always a very intense relationship with a piece of music and I find that to be very special.

Q: Clara Schumann, in discussing composing, said, “There is nothing that surpasses the joy of creating, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.” That seems like it could easily apply the two of you when you are performing.

Isata: When you’re playing or rehearsing chamber music and you’re really into something you really can lose yourself for a few hours. And I also felt that watching a concert as well. I think that is the wonderful thing about music and that’s kind of the experience you want to give audiences as well when you’re giving a concert. That’s definitely the idea. 

Q: If you both were to look forward twenty-five years, where would you like your careers to be?

Isata: I would like to have lots of recordings of the kind of repertoire that I love doing and also new interesting repertoire I’ve played. I love doing chamber music, so I think the same with Sheku. We really want to look back and feel like [we’ve] had a fulfilling career when you’ve kind of done many of the things that you like to do.

Sheku: I haven’t even been alive 25 years, so I don’t know what that feels like. But I would say I hope to be performing. I hope to have a fairly big list of works that have been written for me. That’s something I’m very keen on doing and I hope to be able to look back and say that I’ve explored, to the best of my ability, everything that was possible to explore in terms of styles of music, people to collaborate with, the repertoire and that I explored it to the maximum.

Be sure to check back with Cultural Attaché for more interviews with the leading artists in the performing arts and also for our weekly Best Bets.

Main Photo: Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason (Courtesy Universal Music Group)

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Barber Shop Chronicles – National Theatre Live – May 14th – May 21st

This play by Inua Ellams was incredibly popular. Barber Shop Chronicles had two sold-out runs at the National Theatre in London and then went on a world tour.

Ellams’ play takes place in six different cities on the same day: Lagos, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; Accra, Ghana; Kampala, Uganda; Harare, Zimbabwe and London, England.

What unites these locations is the relationship between barbers and their clients. What’s universal about them is they all serve as a safe haven for discussing what’s going on in the world.

This film of a 2018 performance features the original cast: Fisayo Akinade, Hammed Animashaun, Peter Bankolé, Maynard Eziashi, Simon Manyonda, Patrice Naiambana, Cyril Nri, Kwami Odoom, Sule Rimi, Abdul Salis, David Webber and Anthony Welsh. Barber Shop Chronicles was directed by Bijan Sheibani.

The Tempest – Stratford Festival – May 14th – June 4th

The second trilogy of Shakespeare’s plays from Canada’s Stratford Festival kicks off this week with The Tempest. This is the first of three plays in the “Isolation” trilogy that also includes Timon of Athens and Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Propsero (Martha Henry) and her daughter, Miranda (Mamie Zwettler), have been trapped on an island after her brother, Antonio (Graham Abbey), cast them out to sea. Once she was seated on the throne, now Propspero rules in exile over the island’s unique inhabitants. This includes the bizarre and monstrous Caliban (Michael Blake) and a spirit named Ariel (André Morin). With word that Antonio and Alonso, the King of Naples (David Collins) are at sea and not far away, she conjures up her powers to force a confrontation.

Antoni Cimolino directed this production of Shakespeare’s last solely written play.

Martha Argerich/Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – May 15th – May 18th

The collaboration between Carnegie Hall and Medici.tv continues with this Carnegie Hall Fridays concert from 2017. The Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, under the direction of Sir Antonio Pappano, performs. Legendary classical pianist Martha Argerich joins for a performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

The orchestra opens the program with a performance of Verdi’s Sinfonia from Aida. After Argerich’s performance the orchestra continues with a performance of Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome.

Three encores are part of this program. Ravel’s Laideronnette: Impératrice des Pagodes from Ma mère l’oye is performed on one piano with four hands by Argerich and Pappano. It is safe to assume this encore took place immediately after the Prokofiev.

The remaining encores are Valse triste, Op. 44, No. 1 by Sibelius and the Allegro vivace from William Tell by Rossini.

The concert does not require a subscription to Medici.tv.

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – San Francisco Ballet at Home – May 15th – May 22nd

San Francisco Ballet is making filmed performances available for free streaming each Friday beginning at 3 PM EDT/12 PM PDT. This week’s offering is the 2019 production of Justin Peck’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.

Set to the music of M83 (an electronic music ensemble headed by Anthony Gonzalez), Peck’s work finds the dancers dressed in street clothes and sneakers. Thematically Peck has said that Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is about “how we dream as children, how we dream as young, coming-of-age adults, and how we dream as fully matured adults. I thought that would be an interesting thing to explore through dance.”

Peck, who is the acting Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet, has created over 40 ballets. He won the Tony Award for his choreography for the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel. He’s also the choreographer of Steven Spielberg’s upcoming remake of West Side Story.

Pipeline – Lincoln Center Theater in partnership with BroadwayHD – May 15th – May 22nd

Dominique Morriseau’s play, Pipeline, is the second Lincoln Center Theater production to be available for viewing for free on Broadway HD. Last week’s The King and I was the first.

Pipeline refers to the pipeline that finds youth going from public school to to prison, a situation that disproportionately impacts minorities and underprivileged young men.

Morriseau is the writer of the Skeleton Crew, Detroit ’67 and the book for the musical Ain’t Too Proud. She depicts this situation through the eyes of a mother (Karen Pittman) trying her best to stave off what she fears is an inevitable outcome for her teenage son (Namir Smallwood) who is having issues in school. In the process she has to come to terms with her own decisions as a parent and challenge the very same institutions where she’s made her career as a teacher.

The rest of the cast in Pipeline includes Tasha Lawrence, Morocco Omari, Jaime Lincoln Smith and Heather Velazquez. Lileana Blain-Cruz directed this production.

Fridays at Five with Monsieur Perin̩ РSF Jazz РMay 15th

SF Jazz has launched a weekly online series called Fridays at Five. Every Friday afternoon they open up their archives of filmed performance to give happy hour a lift. This week’s performance features Colombian Gypsy jazz ensemble Monsieur Periné. This performance was the opening concert of the 2018 San Francisco Jazz Festival.

Monsieur Periné won the Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2015. They have received six additional Grammy nominations since then. Their albums are Hecho a Mano (2012), Caja de Musica (2015) and Encanto Tropical (2018).

As NPR says in the description of this Tiny Desk Concert, “Words don’t do this band justice. Play the video and discover Monsieur Periné’s magic for yourself.”

SF Jazz’s Fridays at Five are not free. They require either a monthly fee of $5 or $60 annually to view these concerts. Next week we will have a detailed preview of upcoming Friday at Five concerts.

Leonard Bernstein’s MASS – Great Performances on PBS – May 15th

Jacqueline Onassis commissioned Leonard Bernstein to write a new work for the opening of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Mass is that work and it had its world premiere in 1971.

This performance took place at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Marin Alsop, music curator for the Ravinia Festival 2018-2019 and conductor, music director for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Bernstein’s Mass tells the story of a celebrant who goes from being challenged by members of his congregation to having his own doubts about the role of faith in the world. The work employs a variety of styles including classical, Broadway, jazz, blues, rock, gospel and more. Assisting Bernstein in the creation of Mass was an up-n-coming composer named Stephen Schwartz (Wicked).

Heading the company as The Celebrant is opera singer and Tony Award-winning actor Paulo Szot (South Pacific).

This is one of my personal favorites amongst Bernstein’s compositions. It is a truly powerful and emotional, albeit messy at times, work. As with all PBS Great Performances broadcast, check your local listings for exact times.

WHEW! We’re halfway through your Best Bets at Home: May 15th – 17th.

Impro Theatre – May 15th – May 17th – various times

Impro Theatre is a comedy/improvisation company that takes well-known genres or authors or playwrights and, with the audience’s help, creates completely improvised new works in those styles.

This weekend they are doing two live-streamed performances and will be streaming two archived performances. The schedule is as follows:

May 15th: 8pm PDT – The Main Company’s Chekhov UnScripted LIVE
May 16th: 7pm PDT – The Portal re-broadcast of a 2019 performance from the Impro Studio (this work is in the style of The Twilight Zone)
May 16th: 8pm PDT – The Main Company’s Jane Austen UnScripted LIVE
May 17th: 1pm PDT- The Main Company’s L.A. Noir UnScripted re-broadcast of 2016 performance from Los Angeles’ John Anson Ford Amphitheater

The Capulets and the Montagues – San Francisco Opera – May 16th – May 17th

You obviously know what story this is by its name. As the Capulets and the Montagues were the warring families in Romeo and Juliet. But rather than using Shakespeare’s play as the inspiration, librettist Felice Romani reworked the libretto he had written for another opera based on the star-crossed lovers by Nicola Vaccai entitled Giulietta e Romeo. That opera was based on an 1818 play by Luigi Scevola.

The Capulets and the Montagues was composed by Vincenzo Bellini and had its world premiere in Venice in 1830. It is a two-act opera with a small cast.

Romeo is sung by Joyce DiDonato; Giulietta by Nicole Cabell. Tybalt is sung by Saimir Pirgu. Eric Owens sings the role of Capellio, the father of Giulietta. Ao Li sings the role of Lorenzo, the physician to the Capulets.

This San Francisco Opera production comes from 2012 and was a co-prodution between SF Opera and Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Vincent Broussard directed. Riccardo Frizza conducted.

This is the second opera production made available for streaming by San Francisco Opera. It will become available at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT on Saturday and remain available until 2:59 AM EDT Monday/11:59 PM PDT Sunday.

Jaime, Sheku + Beethoven – May 16th – 11:00 PM EDT/8:00 PM PDT

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will be streaming a 2016 performance of Beethoven’s Symphony #3 (Eroica) conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. This will be followed by a conversation between LACO’s Music Director, Jaime Martín, and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. If his name isn’t immediately familiar, he performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Following the conversation, Kanneh-Mason will be joined by his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, for a performance of the third and fourth movements of Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19.

This event will conclude with a preview of Derrick Spiva Jr.’s Prisms, Cycles, Leaps Part III: “To Be a Horizon.”

There will be an encore performance of this entire event on Sunday, May 17th at 10 PM EDT/7 PM PDT.

Malpaso Dance Company – May 17th – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

This presentation is part of the Los Angeles Music Center’s Inside Look program. This particular event features members of the contemporary Cuban ensemble Malpaso Dance Company. During this streaming event interviews and conversations with Malpaso’s founders and leaders will be combined with a behind-the-scenes look at link between Cuban and American artists. There will also be an exclusive streamed performance of Face the Torrent.

Face the Torrent was commissioned by The Music Center where the work had its world premiere in 2017. Sonya Tayeh choreographed this work for eight dancers.

Laura Bleiberg, writing for the Los Angeles Times, of Face the Torrent. “Tayeh’s premiere took Malpaso to a much darker place, an unspecified inky, secret world of tension, whispers, quivering, fear and lineups. Karen Young’s beige and black costumes and designer Nicole Pearce’s dim lighting pierced by spots suggested dystopia. Ultimately, individuals endured, but oppression never went away.

If you are unable to catch this as it goes out live, it will be available on demand on the Music Center’s website for a limited time afterwards.

Reminder:

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to experience The Encounter by Simon McBurney.

Saturday has the reunion of the original Broadway cast of Grand Hotel at Feinstein’s/Studio 54.

That’s a wrap on your Best Bets at Home: May 15th – 17th

 Main Photo: Paulo Szot and company in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass (Photo by Patrick Gipson/Courtesy of Ravinia Festival)

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