There’s also a terrific documentary about the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, In the Heights; 2017’s International Jazz Day Concert, a Baroque-era opera and some special live performances.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: August 7th – 9th:

Matthew Aucoin and Friends Living Room Recital – LA Opera – August 7th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

You might have seen the world premiere of Eurydice at LA Opera in February of this year. Or perhaps you attended Crossing at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2018. Both were composed by Matthew Aucoin.

On Friday Aucoin is assembling some of his friends for a living room recital of music he’s written and compositions by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Olivier Messiaen.

Joining him are soprano Erica Petrocelli (Musetta in LA Opera’s 2019 production La Bohème), countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (star of Metropolitan Opera’s Akhnaten), tenors Paul Appleby (appearing in Metropolitan Opera 2016-2017 production of Don Giovanni that streams on Sunday) and Barry Banks (seen in Metropolitan Opera’s production of Rossini’s Armida), baritones Davóne Tines (star of Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terence Blanchard) and Rod Gilfry (star of Crossing) and cellist Coleman Itzkoff

If you can’t watch it as it happens, this concert will be archived for viewing on LA Opera’s website.

Play Your Part – Los Angeles Philharmonic – August 7th – August 14th

If the Hollywood Bowl season had gone on as planned, Grammy Award-wining singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile was going to open this summer’s programming. The first official concert is always a fundraiser for the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA). Obviously that wasn’t possible, but that doesn’t mean the show won’t go on.

Play Your Part is both a concert and workshop that finds Carlile performing with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and members of YOLA in a concert that was filmed with social distance guidelines. Gustavo Dudamel and fellow conductor Thomas Wilkins both appear in the program.

This concert, which is free but still serves as a fundraiser for YOLA, will be available for one week.

My suggestion is you make a picnic outside, bring whatever you’d like to eat and drink and watch the concert under the stars and imagine being in the Cahuenga Pass. And don’t forget your credit card. YOLA is an important part of the cultural fabric of Los Angeles and deserves all the support it can get during these difficult times.

Great Performers in Recital at Tanglewood: Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax – Tanglewood Online Festival – Now – August 8th

Tanglewood in Massachusetts offers a full line-up of programming online. You have to sign up for their e-mails and then set-up a log-in with password to access the programming. There’s a wide array of primarily classical programming available. Much of it is free. Others, like the concert we’re suggesting here, has a fee.

In this particular concert cellist Ma and pianist Ax perform a program that includes Brahms’ Violin sonata in D minor, Opus 108: II. Adagio; Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words, Opus 109 and Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 in A, Opus 69. The price to view this performance is $12. You can sign up to get access to all performances for $100.

The link above takes you to the main page for Tanglewood Online Festival with instructions how to sign up and details of the full program.

Other concerts available this weekend include:

BSO Musicians in Recital from Tanglewood – August 7th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

The program includes works by Nico Muhly, Bonnie Bewick, Mark O’Connor and more. Ticket price: $5

Daniil Trifonov performs Bach’s The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080 – August 7th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT Ticket price: $12

Boston Symphony Orchestra performs Mahler’s Symphony #3. – August 8th – 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT – Free

Andris Nelsons conducts with Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano

Many of the concerts remain available for a week or longer after their original availability.

In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams – PBS – August 7th (check local listings)

On March 9, 2008, a musical called In the Heights opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York. Nominated for 13 Tony Awards, it won four including Best Musical. The musical made its creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, a household name.

This documentary follows the cast as they assemble the musical and get ready for their opening night.

Along the way are moving personal stories about many of the participants including Christopher Jackson and Seth Stewart.

I saw this documentary several years ago and loved it. It should be very entertaining and interesting to watch it now and see that Javier Muñoz, Krysta Rodriguez and Joshua Henry – all of whom have gone on to reach far greater personal heights – were part of the ensemble.

PBS has this scheduled for August 7th. Check your local listings for exact time and date.

International Jazz Day from Cuba – PBS – August 7th (check local listings)

International Jazz Day is an annual event that takes place in a different city every year and it features performances by many of the leading artists in jazz.

In 2017 the event took place at the Gran Teatro de La Habana in Havana, Cuba. Quincy Jones and Will Smith were the hosts.

The line-up included Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chucho Valdes, Barbarito Torres, Oscar Valdés, Kenny Garrett and Ambrose Akinmusire.

A film of that concert will air on PBS on Friday. As with all PBS programming, best to check your local listings for exact date and time.

Bach, Haydn and Golijov – LA Chamber Orchestra – August 8th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

In Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s ongoing Summerfest Concerts, this weekend’s filmed performances finds a small ensemble performing a mix of music of Baroque, Classical and Contemporary music.

Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 33 No. 3 “The Bird” opens the program. Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel is next. The performance concludes with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita #3 in E Major for solo violin, “Gavotte en Rondeau.”

Worth noting is that Bach’s composition has been transcribed for marimba.

The performers for this concert are violinist Sarah Thornblade and Maia Jasper White; violist Erik Rynearson; cellists Giovanna Moraga Clayton and Armen Ksajikian with Wade Culbreath on marimba.

Giulio Cesare – Glyndebourne – August 9th – August 16th

Seems like this is George Frideric Handel’s weekend. With the Metropolitan Opera showing the composer’s Agrippina on Saturday, England’s Glyndebourne makes his opera Giulio Cesare available on Sunday.

The classic story of the love affair and political intrigue that centers around Egypt’s queen and Rome’s ruler comes to life in this opera written by the composer in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym. His inspiration was the libretto written by Giacomo Francesco Bussani for composer Antonio Sartorio. 

This production took place in 2005 and was directed by David McVicar. Sarah Connolly sings the role of Cesare and Danielle de Niese sings the role of Cleopatra. The Glyndebourne website indicates that this production is Bollywood meets Baroque. Doesn’t that sound intriguing?

Those are your Best Bets at Home: August 7th – August 9th, but we always have some reminders for you:

In addition to Saturday’s Agrippina from the Metropolitan Opera, they are offering Wagner’s Parsifal on Friday and Mozart’s Don Giovanni on Sunday.

Fans of Tennessee Williams can still catch The Kindness of Stranger event through August 14th.

SFJazz offers John Santos’ 60th Birthday Concert on their Fridays at Five program on August 7th.

The Bill Frisell Trio offers up concerts from the Village Vanguard on August 7th and August 8th.

Terri Lyne Carrington and Danilo Pérez perform on August 8th.

That’s the complete list of Best Bets at Home: August 7th – 9th. I hope you enjoy your weekend. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Enjoy the performances.

Photo: Gustavo Dudamel at YOLA (Photo by Danny Clinch/Courtesy of LA Philharmonic Association)

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: August 7th – 9th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Click on the name of any event to go to a link of the event and/or about the event.

Here is this week’s Jazz Stream: August 4th – August 9th:

Tierney Sutton and Tamir Hendelman – August 5th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

When I spoke with vocalist Tierney Sutton in 2018, she was returning from a tour in Japan where she was performing with pianist Tamir Hendelman. Old habits die hard, or rather, good collaborators are tough to find and when you do, you keep them.

She said of her collaboration with him, “Tamir is a unqiue individual as anybody who has ever heard him play knows. He has a tremendous amount of energy and he’s a brilliant technician and an amazing player and arranger. It’s very free because he knows a bajillion songs. If I throw out a song we can do it on the spot.”

I wouldn’t expect too many random songs or audience requests when they perform a set focused on love songs on Wednesday. The selections will come from Brazil, the Great American Songbook and more.

Tickets to watch the show are $25 and require advance registration.

The Gil Evans Project Featuring Riley Mulherkar – Jazz Standard Facebook Page – August 6th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

I personally find it hard to believe that the amazing Miles Davis/Gil Evans album Sketches of Spain was released 60 years ago. To celebrate the anniversary The Gil Evans Project will perform Joaquin Ridrigo’s Adagio from Concerto de Aranjuez as it was arranged by Evans.

This performance serves as a fundraiser for the nearly two dozen members of the ensemble. The goal is to raise $15,000 so each member can receive $600 to help during these lean times for performing and recording musicians. In addition to the performance there will be a conversation about the Gil Evans Project, how musicians are managing during the pandemic and, of course, Evans and Davis.

There is no charge to watch the performance and conversation, but donations are encouraged.

Fred Hersch Solo Piano – Smalls – August 6th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

Last week we highlighted the Fred Hersch Trio performances from the Village Vanguard. This week, Hersch goes solo. Fifteen-time Grammy Award nominated jazz pianist Fred Hersch will perform one set from Smalls in New York City.

That he’s never won a Grammy yet is just another reason why major changes are necessary there, but that’s another story in and of itself.

Hersch has recorded over 50 albums as either a soloist and or band leader. I could fill this entire column with quotes about how highly-regarded Hersch is, but I’ll leave it to fellow pianist Jason Moran who said, “Fred at the piano is like LeBron James on the basketball court. He’s perfection.”

John Santos 60th Birthday Celebration – SF jazz – August 7th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This week’s Fridays at Five offering from SF jazz celebrates the 60th Birthday of Latin Jazz percussionist and composer John Santos. The event took place in November of 2015, so by now he’s almost to his 65th birthday.

Santos is a Bay Area fixture in the music scene. He’s been intricately involved with SFJazz since their opening in 2013 and served as a Resident Artistic Director there. He also performed at San Francisco’s first Jazz in the City Festival way back in 1983.

Joining Santos for this concert will be his sextet. He also had a few special guests show up including timbalero Orestes Vilató, violinist Anthony Blea and vocalists Destani Wolf and Rico Pabón.

Our usual reminder about Fridays at Five: these concerts are only played once – at 5:00 PM PDT. You must sign up for SFJazz’s Fridays at Five program with a payment of $5 which gives you access to a month’s worth of concerts. You can also sign up for a year of concerts for $60. Either way, it’s quite a bargain.

Bill Frisell Trio – Village Vanguard – August 7th and 8th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

For more than 40 years guitarist Bill Frisell has been one of the leading musicians in jazz. He has over 50 albums as a leader and his many collaborators include John Zorn, Allen Toussaint, Charles Lloyd, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon and many more.

He’s recorded many styles of music from Disney songs to the music of Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach to country to music he’s written for films. He’s been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards and won the Best Contemporary Jazz award for his 2004 album Unspeakable.

For these two shows from New York’s Village Vanguard, he will be joined by Thomas Morgan on Bass and Rudy Royston on Drums. Based on the clip above, they know how to make great music and social distance at the same time.

Tickets for each concert are $10.

Terri Lyne Carrington and Danilo Pérez in Concert – August 8th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

In November of 2019, Grammy Award-winning musician Terri Lyne Carrington released her most recent album, Waiting Game. An ironic title given what’s happened since has precluded the extensive touring an artist usually does to support new material. However, that hasn’t stopped critics and listeners from discovering the album.

In July she topped the DownBeat Critics poll when she was named Best Jazz Group, Best Jazz Album and Best Jazz Artist.

Joining Carrington for this social distance live stream event is pianist Danilo Pérez. The Panamanian musician has performed multiple styles of music which all invoke the many influences he’s had through his over thirty-year career.

He’s a two-time Grammy Award winner, most recently for 2018’s Emanon.

If you’ve been reading any of our jazz coverage, you know that he has long been a part of Wayne Shorter’s band and was involved with the many SFJazz Wayne Shorter Celebration concerts. (The next one will be shown on August 28th).

Amongst the other artists with which he has recorded or performed are Tito Puente, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Terence Blanchard, Jon Hendricks and Roy Haynes.

The combination of these two fine musicians should make for a terrific performance. This concert is free, but registration is required.

Those are our selections for Jazz Stream: August 4th – August 9th. Enjoy your week! Enjoy the music!

Photo of Terri Lyne Carrington by John Watson/Courtesy of her website

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