The list begins with performances that have specific dates and start times. After those listings are performances you can discover at your leisure with their end dates included.

Here are my Classical Best Bets for the Holidays:

Bang on a Can Marathon 2020 – December 22nd – January 1st

For classical music fans who like very contemporary composition, you won’t want to miss this marathon streaming of all 90+ performances that were part of the four Bang on a Can Marathons this year.

Bang on a Can’s marathon presented 31 world premieres during their online festivals held in May, June, August and October of this year. If you didn’t catch the marathons as they happened, you ordinarily wouldn’t get a second chance to view them. Now you can.

You can also catch all of the other performances which include pianist/composer Vijay Iyer; works by John Adams, Philip Glass, Ted Hearne, Missy Mazzoli and Steve Reich; pianists Jeremy Denk and Conrad Tao; composer/musician Tyshawn Sorey and dozens more. The complete list is on the event’s website.

There is no charge to view these performances. However, Bang on a Can is encouraging donations.

New York String Orchestra – Carnegie Hall – December 24th – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST

A fifty-year traditions continues with this popular Christmas eve concert that finds the young musicians of the New York String Orchestra performing with established soloists. This year they are joined by pianist Emanuel Ax.

Jaime Loredo conducts. Not much is known about the program, but half-a-century of this tradition means they must be on to something. There’s no charge to watch this concert.

Peter and the Wolf – Teatro alla Scala – December 25th – 5:00 AM EST/2:00 AM PST

You’ll have to be up late or get up early if you want to experience this Christmas Day concert from Milan’s legendary Teatro alla Scala, but it will be worth it. And for those restless kids eager to see what Santa brought them, they’ll enjoy this, too.

Eun Sun Kim leads the La Scala Orchestra in a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Mozart’s Concerto in A Major K. 622 for clarinet and orchestra will also be played with Fabrizio Meloni on bass clarinet.

Illustrations are part of the presentation of Peter and the Wolf.

The concert will stream on Teatro alla Scala’s website and also on their Facebook and YouTube channels.

Salute to Vienna and Budapest New Year’s Concert – December 27th – January 3rd

In a newly-filmed concert in Europe, operettas and waltzes are on the program. This Salute to Vienna and Budapest has been annual tradition for 25 years.

The concert has three premiere performances on December 27th: 5:30 PM EST/2:30 PM PST; 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST and 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST.

Tickets are $20 and that allows for re-streaming the concert to your heart’s content through January 3rd.

United in Song: Celebrating the Resilience of America – PBS Great Performances – December 31st 

In this concert airing on PBS soprano Jamie Barton, violinist Joshua Bell, opera singers Renée Fleming and Denyce Graves, Josh Groban, Juanes, R&B legend Patti LaBelle, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, 6-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet perform. The theme is celebrating Americans and their strength that has been required of us all throughout 2020. 

The concert was filmed at Mount Vernon and the Kennedy Center and opens with LaBelle singing Lady Marmalade. She also closes the concert and everything in between is a total delight.

As with all PBS programming, check your local listings for exact broadcast times. 

The Carnival of the Animals & Eine kleine Nachtmusik – Teatro alla Scala – January 1st – 5:00 AM EST/2:00 AM PST

Once again, the early riser or night owl will be able to watch this concert from Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.

As with their Christmas Day concert, Eun Sun Kim leads the La Scala orchestra. On the program are Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals and Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik.

The concert will stream on Teatro alla Scala’s website and also on their Facebook and YouTube channels.

Live with Carnegie Hall at Home – Carnegie Hall – Available now

If you haven’t taken a look at Carnegie Hall’s Live with series, luckily it’s still available for streaming. Amongst their guests during the year have been The Kronos Quartet, a celebration of violinist Isaac Stern; pianist Daniil Trifonov; pianist Emanuel Ax; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; violinist Joshua Bell and more.

Each program runs approximately one hour. There are also sessions with opera singers, Broadway stars, folk singers, conductors, world music singers and cabaret stars.

While you’re there you might want to check out their 2020 Opening Night Gala which combines new interviews and performances with archival footage from the venerable hall’s long history.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Watch & Listen – LA Phil – Available now

In addition to their Sound/Stage performances (click on the link built into Sound/Stage to read details on that series), the Los Angeles Philharmonic has a lot more to discover on their website.

Amongst the highlights are pianist Yuja Wang performing the first movement of John Adams’ Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? from a November 2019 concert; Thomas Ades’ Darkness Visible performed by LA Phil pianist Joanna Pearce Martin; timpanist Joseph Pereria performing Magnificent Obsession, a piece he wrote inspired by Buzz Aldrin’s experience on the moon; violinist Gabriela Peña-Kim performing Eugène Ysaÿe’s Obsession and more.

There’s plenty to entertain you and there’s no charge to watch the videos. If you haven’t watched Sound/Stage, I strongly encourage you to do so.

Handel’s Messiah – Oratorio Society of New York – Now – January 10th

Every year since 1874 the Oratorio Society of New York has performed the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah for the holidays. In spite of the pandemic, they are presenting a virtual version to keep that tradition alive.

Kent Tritle conducts chorus, orchestra, and soloists Susanna Phillips, Heather Petrie, Joshua Blue, and Sidney Outlaw in a safely-performed and filmed concert.

Oratorio Society of New York received a Grammy nomination earlier this year for Best Choral Performance for their recording Sanctuary Road.

There is no charge to watch this performance.

Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus – The Philharmonia Orchestra of London – Available Now

In February of this year, the Los Angeles Philharmonic had one of their most exciting concerts when Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon McBurney and Gerard McBurney collaborated on The Weimar Republic: Salonen Conducts The Seven Deadly Sins.

Salonen and Gerard McBurney have once again collaborated on a concert. The Philharmonia Orchestra of London is performing Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus.

Most concertgoers are familiar with the work’s overture; far fewer are familiar with the complete score Beethoven composed for this ballet that had its world premiere in Vienna in 1801.

McBurney has written a new script for this concert. There will be animation by Hillary Leben whose work has been seen in performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Silk Road Ensemble and more.

When you add that the narration will be performed by Stephen Fry, what else do you need?

The link takes you directly to The Philharmonia Orchestra of London’s YouTube page where this performance can be seen for free.

Throughline: San Francisco Symphony From Hall to Home – San Francisco Symphony – Now available

This ambitious and exciting concert features performances of works by John Adams, Ludwig van Beethoven, Kev Choice, Ellen Reid and presents the world premiere of Throughline by Nico Muhly.

Joining Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen for this program are soprano Julia Bullock; composer/guitarist Bryce Dessner; Muhly on piano and conducting; bassist Esperanza Spalding and more.

Reid’s Fear/Release opens the nearly one-hour program. That is followed by Adams’ Shaking and Trembling from Shaker Loops; Movements by Choice; Beethoven’s Allegro con brio from String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Opus 95 and the concert concludes with Throughline.

There is no charge to watch this concert.

Jeremy Denk Recital – 92nd Street Y – Now available

If you didn’t get a chance to see pianist Jeremy Denk‘s recital from Caramoor in October, he’s performed the same program from New York’s 92nd Street Y earlier this month and it is still available for streaming.

The program is scheduled to include: Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Minor, K 457; Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins’s The Battle of Manassas; Joplin/Chauvin’s Heliotrope Bouquet; Tania León’s Ritual; Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 32 in C Minor, Op. 111.

You’ll get two classical period compositions, ragtime, the work of a young Black man during The Civil War and the work of two contemporary composers. How’s that for diverse?

Tickets are $15.

Those are my dozen recommendations for Classical Music Best Bets for the Holidays. I also have recommendations for Dance, Jazz and Musicals/Cabaret if you want even more choices.

Enjoy the music and the season.

Photo: Yosemite Trees (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)

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McDonald made her solo concert debut at Carnegie Hall in 2002. She has subsequently performed as a solo artist there in 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2015.

Of course, most people know her from her Broadway career. She made her Broadway debut in the musical The Secret Garden. That was a minor stop before her career hit the fast lane with her performance in the 1994 revival of Carousel. She won her first Tony Award (for Best Featured Actress in a Musical) for her performance as Carrie Pipperidge.

Look at how nervous she was at her first Tony Awards ceremony:

That was followed by Terrence McNally’s Master Class and the musical Ragtime. She received Tony Awards as Best Featured Actress in both those shows.

A dry patch soon set in where she only received a Tony nomination for the musical Marie Christine. Her next Broadway show was a Lincoln Center production of Shakespeare’s Henry IV.

Things starting looking up again when McDonald received her fourth Tony Award for her performance as Ruth Younger in the 2004 revival of A Raisin in the Sun.

The 2007 revival of the musical 110 in the Shade yielded another nomination. When she starred as Bess in 2012 revival of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, she received her fifth Tony Award (for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical).

Her most recent nomination (and also her most recent win) was for her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. With this sixth Tony Award she not only become the most awarded actress in Tony Award history, she now has won at least one Tony Award in all four categories for an actress.

On the big screen she’s been seen in such films as Hello, Again, Beauty and the Beast, Ricki and the Flash and Cradle Will Rock. Her small-screen credits include The Good Fight, The Good Wife and Private Practice.

She’s received one Emmy Award and two Grammy Awards (both Grammys for her performance in Los Angeles Opera’s production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.)

In her spare time (and when live performances were happening), she has appeared in concerts in just about every major performance venue. She has also released six solo recordings.

To boot she’s long been active in social issues including homelessness, LGBTQ rights and more.

All of this well-documented and perhaps perfunctory information is just a way of saying this should be a truly fascinating 60-75 minutes.

Joining McDonald for Live with Carnegie Hall: Audra McDonald will be Andy Einhorn on piano and serving as music director. Mo Rocca (CBS Sunday Morning correspondent) will be the moderator.

If you cannot watch this event live, Carnegie Hall archives these events for later viewing at your convenience.

Photo of Audra McDonald courtesy of her Facebook page.

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We have ten options for you and each and every one is a winner. They include Lorraine Hansberry’s last play, a highly-acclaimed new ballet based on the writings of Virginia Woolf, two one-act operas by Ravel and one of a jazz legend’s final concerts. Oh…and a little show called Hamilton.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th:

Hamilton – Disney Plus – Begins July 3rd

You pretty much have to be living under a rock not to know that the smash musical Hamilton becomes available for viewing on Disney Plus this weekend.

Before the original Broadway cast left the show, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail filmed the show. They shot a couple performances and then shot on-stage and close-ups with the cast without an audience.

This film was originally going to be released theatrically, but Disney has added it to their Disney Plus service realizing that no one was going to see Hamilton on stage for quite some time. Let’s also be honest, the pandemic has slowed down new content for the service. Both factored into the decision to release Hamilton this weekend.

Hamilton won 11 Tony Awards including Best Musical and also the Pulitzer Prize.

The cast includes Tony Award winner Daveed Diggs as “Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson”; Tony Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry as “Angelica Schuyler”; Tony Award nominee Jonathan Groff as “King George”; Tony Award nominee Christopher Jackson as “George Washington”; Jasmine Cephas Jones as “Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds”; Lin-Manuel Miranda as “Alexander Hamilton”; Tony Award-winner Leslie Odom, Jr. as “Aaron Burr”; Okieriete Onaodowan as “Hercules Mulligan/James Madison”; Anthony Ramos as “John Laurens/Philip Hamilton”; and Tony Award nominee Phillipa Soo as “Eliza Hamilton.”

If you want to have the room where it happened come alive in your room, you will need to subscribe to Disney Plus. One month is $6.99 or you can get an annual subscription for $69.99. They are not currently offering one week free-trial memberships.

Les Blancs – National Theatre Live – Now – July 9th

The National Theatre staged Lorraine Hansberry’s last play, Les Blancs, in 2016. This is the film of that production.

Hansberry is best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun.

After 30 previews Les Blancs opened at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway in November of 1970. It closed in mid-December of that year after 40 regular performances. This production came five years after Hansberry’s death. The text was adapted by her husband Robert Nemiroff and it is that text that is used for the National Theatre production directed by Yaël Farber.

Les Blancs, which Hansberry considered to be amongst her most important works, addresses colonialism bridging the time from the late 19th century into the 20th century. Tshembe (Danny Sapani) has returned home to his African country as its struggles with an impeding civil war over the issue of independence from colonial rule. There for his father’s funeral, he finds himself in the middle of the two warring factions.

Michael Billington, writing for The Guardian, said of Les Blancs, “…an epic production by Yaël Farber of a text that explores both the divided individual soul and the bitterness of the colonial legacy…An imperfect play…has been given a near-perfect production.”

Woolf Works – The Royal Ballet – Now – July 9th

If I offer you the combination of Virginia Woolf, choreographer Wayne McGregor and composer Max Richter, would you really need to know more? That alone is a compelling trio.

In this 2015 work created specifically for The Royal Ballet, McGregor used Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves as inspiration.

He then combined them with excerpts from her diaries, letters and essays. The end result won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Classical Choreography and the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.

The company performing Woolf Works is Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli, Edward Watson, Francesca Hayward, Sarah Lamb and Akane Takada. They are joined by soprano Anush Hovhannisyan. Koen Kessels leads the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Antony and Cleopatra – Stratford Festival – Now – July 23rd

This 2014 Stratford Festival production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra was directed by Gary Griffin. Starring as the titular couple are Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh.

One of Shakespeare’s historical dramas, Antony and Cleopatra tells of the love affair between Mark Antony (one of three men ruling the Roman republic) and the passionate and seductive queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.

Their affair leaves them vulnerable to political intrigue that will change their lives and their relationship dramatically.

This begins the final trilogy of Shakespeare productions from Canada’s Stratford Festival. Called Relationships, this trilogy will continue in the next couple weeks with Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew.

Still available for streaming are Shakespeare’s King John and The Adventures of Pericles.

Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges – -Glyndebourne – Now – July 5th

Two one-act operas by Maurice Ravel are paired together in this 2012 production by Laurent Pelly at Glyndebourne.

L’heure espagnole had its world premiere in Paris in 1911. Franc-Nohain wrote the libretto based on his own play of the same name from 1904.

The opera tells the story of an unfaithful Spanish woman who tries to make love to multiple different men while her husband is away. When he shows up, the men try hiding in the many clocks her husband owns and sometimes find themselves getting stuck inside them.

The cast of L’heure espagnole features Elliot Madore, François Piolino, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Alek Shrader and Paul Gay.

The second opera, L’enfant et les sortilèges, had its world premiere in Monte Carlo in 1925. The libretto is by Colette who apparently wrote the libretto in eight days. (Did you see Wash Westmoreland’s 2018 film about her? You should. And classical music fans will enjoy Thomas Adés’ score for this wonderful film.)

In the opera a petulant young child, prone to throwing tantrums and destroying the toys and animals around him, is surprised when they come to life to give him a lesson about kindness.

The cast of L’enfant et les sortilèges features Khatouna Gadelia, Elodie Méchain, Madore, Gay, Julie Pasturaud, Piolino, Kathleen Kim, Natalia Brzezińska, Hila Fahim, d’Oustrac and Kirsty Stokes.

Kazushi Ono conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Declassified Memory Fragment – Joyce Theater – July 2nd – July 31

Burkina Faso is a small, landlocked country in Africa. From it comes musician and choreographer Olivier Tarpaga who created Declassified Memory Fragment. This 70-minute piece had its world premiere in 2015. It is a work that features dancers and live musicians sharing the stage.

New York’s Joyce Theater will stream Declassified Memory Fragment for the first time during the month of July.

Tarpaga was inspired by the various political issues his own country faces as well as other countries like Kenya, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe. Information from The Joyce Theater states that “Declassified refers to living in a society where aspects of everyday life are subjected to restrictions and cultural expectations of secrecy and privacy, even within the family. The act of declassifying is a process of revealing, exposing what is hidden from view and obscured, not spoken.”

Marina Hars, writing in the New York Times said Tarpaga’s piece, “is an extraordinary, distilled piece of music and dance. As the title suggests, it conjures fragmented memories, images and stories, often from childhood, gathered and transformed through movement and music by Mr. Tarpaga, three fellow dancers, and four musicians.”

Allen Toussaint with Preservation Hall Jazz Band – SF Jazz – July 3rd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This 2014 performance was one of the last concerts performed by jazz singer and pianist Allen Toussaint. He died one year after this performance at SF Jazz. He appears with Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Toussaint’s concert is part of SF Jazz’s Fridays at Five. That means the concert will stream only once at 5:00 PM PDT/8:00 PM EDT.

If you like jazz you won’t want to miss this one. New footage from the concert has been added for this presentation. To watch Fridays at Five requires either signing up for one month of concerts for $5 or signing up for a year at $60. With upcoming concerts by John Scofield, Cécile McLorin Salvant and their ongoing Wayne Shorter Celebrations plus this rare performance by Toussaint, it seems like an easy decision.

New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall – Medici.tv – July 3rd- July 5th

This 2015 Carnegie Hall concert finds Alan Gilbert leading the New York Philharmonic. The highlight of this performance was the world premiere of Vivo by Magnus Lindberg. Carnegie Hall co-commissioned the work from Lindberg.

Pianist Evgeny Kissin joins for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s crowd-pleasing Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23.

As an encore, Kissin performs Méditation from Tchaikovsky’s 18 Pieces.

Kissin made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1990. That performance also marked his US recital debut.

The concert concludes with Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2.

Susannah -San Francisco Opera – July 4th – July 5th

American composer Carlisle Floyd wrote this opera during his tenure as a member of the faculty at Florida State University. Floyd wrote both music and the libretto. Susannah had its world premiere in 1955 at the University.

His inspiration was a story in the Book of Daniel in certain bibles. Floyd updates the story of Susannah and the Elders to a more contemporary story of a teenage girl whom many in her isolated religious community accuse of being a sinner. Her journey into womanhood is challenged by the residents in a small mountain town in Tennessee.

This San Francisco Opera production was staged in 2014. Michael Cavanagh directed the production and the performance is conducted by Karen Kamensek.

Patricia Racette sings the role of “Susannah.” Brandon Jovanovich sings the role of “Sam Polk”; Raymond Aceto sings the role of “Reverend Olin Blitch”; the role of “Elder Ott” is sung by Timothy Mix; Catherine Cook sings the role of “Mrs. McLean” and the role of Little Bat McLean is sung by James Kryshak.

This was the first time one of Floyd’s operas had been performed by San Francisco Opera. Critics hailed the production and Racette’s performance in the title role.

Melissa Errico with Seth Rudetsky – July 5th – 8:00 PM/5:00 PM (rerun July 6th 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT)

Melissa Errico hasn’t had the Broadway career her many fans and admirers feel she deserves. A 1993 revival of My Fair Lady was followed by roles in High Society, Amour, Dracula the Musical and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Those subsequent shows had short runs.

Off-Broadway has been far kinder offering Errico a chance to shine in productions of Finian’s Rainbow, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Stephen Sondheim’s Passion.

You can experience how talented she is when she appears as Seth Rudetsky’s Concert guest in his online Concert Series. The live performance takes place on July 5th. There is a second streaming of the concert on July 6th. Tickets for each performance are $25.

Those are your Best Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th. But before we go, a couple reminders:

Metropolitan Opera offerings Friday – Sunday are Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Rossini’s La Donna del Lago.

All Live with Carnegie Hall events-to-date are archived and available for viewing at any time. They include pianist Daniil Trifonov, opera singer Isabel Leonard, Yannick Nézet-Séguin discussing opera, Michael Feinstein celebrating composer Irving Berlin, opera singer Renée Fleming, violinist Joshua Bell and many more.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Be healthy. And enjoy your Bets Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th and your holiday weekend.

Photo: Lin-Manuel Miranda in a scene from the film of Hamilton (Photo courtesy of Disney Plus)

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We’ve written several times about Trifonov. He is easily amongst the finest, most adventurous and ambitious classical pianists currently performing, recording and in his case, sometimes composing.

For this online event he will be in discussion with pianist Emanuel Ax. Joining them will be another pianist, Sergei Babayan, who was also one of Trifonov’s teachers at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

The subject of this conversation will be Trifonov’s amazing career.

Trifonov is only 29 years old, but he has impressed critics and fellow musicians alike. During the 2010-2011 season he did quite well in three prestigious piano competitions. He won Third Prize in Warsaw’s Chopin Competition, First Prize in Tel Aviv’s Rubinstein Competition, and both First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition. 

That latter honor is particularly prestigious as the second prize goes to the best overall competitor in any category.

Ten years later and he’s considered amongst the great classical pianists of our time. His album, Transcendental, a collection of compositions by Franz Liszt, won the Grammy Award in 2018 for Best Instrumental Soloist.

Hopefully you were able to catch his Carnegie Hall recital when it was recently available for one weekend through the venue’s association with Medici.tv.

This Tuesday’s conversation should be a fascinating one. Remember, if you cannot watch Live with Carnegie Hall: Daniil Trifonov live as it happens, Carnegie Hall archives these programs for later viewing.

In fact, you can catch all the previous programs including sessions with Ute Lemper, Emanuel Ax, Renée Fleming, Isabel Leonard and many more.

Photo of Daniil Trifonov courtesy of Opus 3 Artists

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Berlin wrote more than 1,000 songs. Amongst his best-known works are “White Christmas,” “Always,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “Blue Skies,” “How Deep Is the Ocean” and “I Love a Piano.”

He was also the composer of the musicals Annie Get Your Gun and Call Me Madam.

Feinstein is America’s finest advocate for the Great American Songbook which makes him the perfect person to host this show.

Cheyenne Jackson appeared on Broadway in Finian’s Rainbow, Xanadu and All Shook Up. Television audiences might known him from American Horror Story, 30 Rock and Watchmen.

Kelli O’Hara won a Tony Award for her performance in the 2015 revival of The King and I. She also received Tony nominations for her performances in The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, South Pacific, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Bridges of Madison County and Kiss Me Kate!

Tony Yazbeck received a Tony nomination for his performance in the 2015 revival of On the Town. He also appeared on Broadway in the revival of A Chorus Line, the 2008 revival of Gypsy and will open in the new show Flying Over Sunset next season. He also appeared in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas on Broadway in 2009.

If you are unable to watch Live with Carnegie Hall Irving Berlin as it is streamed live on Tuesday, the video will be archived for later viewing on Carnegie Hall’s website.

Photo: Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin during rehearsal for Call Me Madam in 1950 (Photo by Vandamm Studio/Courtesy of the New York Public Library Archives)

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Joining Fleming for this conversation is singer, songwriter and opera composer Rufus Wainwright (Prima Donna). The conversation will be moderated by Elliot Forest of WQXR Radio New York.

Amongst the topics to be discussed is Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, a work Fleming has made a central part of her repertoire. The 84-year-old Strauss wrote these songs in 1948. They were first performed in 1950, one year after his death.

The songs are Frühling (Spring), September, Beim Schlafengehen (When Falling Asleep) and Im Abendrot (At Sunset). 

Fleming was most recently seen in the Adam Guettel musical, The Light in the Piazza. She appeared on Broadway in the most recent revival of Carousel and appeared opposite Ben Whishaw in Norma Jeane Baker of Troy.

If you’ve been following the weekly streamed operas from the Metropolitan Opera, she is regularly featured in the productions they have selected.

Wainwright is the perfect person for this conversation. Not only are he and Fleming friends, but one could argue that in addition to writing pop songs, he composes 21st century art songs. He just released an EP called, appropriately enough for our times, Alone Time. His next album, Unfollow the Rules, is scheduled for release in July.

As a reminder, if you cannot watch Renée Fleming Live with Carnegie Hall as it happens, you will be able to see it archive on Carnegie Hall’s website approximately 90 minutes after its conclusion.

Photo of Renée Fleming courtesy of her website.

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Feinstein, who performs around the world, believes so passionately in the Great American Songbook (songs by the likes of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer), that he founded the Great American Songbook Foundation 13 years ago.

In addition to his work as a performer, Feinstein is the Principal Pops Conductor for the Pasadena Symphony. He’s also a nightclub entrepreneur with Feinstein’s at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco, Feinstein’s at Vitellos in Studio City and Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York.

Ebersole is the two-time Tony Award winning actress (42nd Street and Grey Gardens) whose most recent appearance on Broadway was the musical War Paint with Patti LuPone. She regularly appears in film and television shows. Little known fact, she was a cast member of Saturday Night Live during the 1981-1982 season. She regularly tours with her cabaret act around the country.

Mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran appeared on Broadway in The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and also lead the national tour in the role of Bess. She collaborates with her husband, jazz musician and composer Jason Moran. She can been found on stages performing classical music and performing jazz.

Remember that if you cannot watch Michael Feinstein: Live with Carnegie Hall as it happens live on May 12th, you can always catch it on Carnegie Hall’s website approximately 90 minutes after the live stream event.

Photo of Michael Feinstein by Gilles Toucas/Courtesy of MichaelFeinstein.com.

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If you caught any of the recent Live with Carnegie Hall events (with Tituss Burgess, Ute Lemper, Emanuel Ax, Angélique Kidjo) you know that each event has a combination of conversation and performance. You also know that even if you miss the live stream, you can always catch the videos on the Live with Carnegie Hall page approximately 90 minutes after they conclude.

These three men have been performing together for years. There will be both an ease of performance and perhaps most importantly, an ease in conversation.

When I spoke to Bell last October, he told me what he finds appealing about performing chamber music versus his appearances as a soloist.

“Going in and playing Mendelsson is enjoyable, but you are there for 30 minutes and you leave and you usually have one or two rehearsals with the orchestra, but it doesn’t allow for the level of depth of rehearsal that chamber music does. I love that we can work hours and hours exploring the music and going on a tour and performing night after night and each time we work to see what we can improve.“

Bell first appeared at Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1985. Denk had his first solo recital at Carnegie Hall in 2008. Isserlis first performed at Carnegie Hall in 1993 where he gave the New York premiere performance of The Protecting Veil by Sir John Tavener. The trio first performed at Carnegie Hall together in 2006.

The current crisis obviously makes the opportunity to perform live for an audience impossible right now. So this live stream of Joshua Bell: Live with Carnegie Hall joined by Jeremy Denk and Stephen Isserlis should be quite entertaining for fans of chamber music.

Photo of Joshua Bell by Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of Carnegie Hall

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Previous Live with Carnegie Hall events have combined conversation with performance. Time will tell what Kidjo has in mind for this live event. Perhaps this performance last week online with Yo-Yo Ma will give us some idea of what part of it might be like.

When I interviewed Kidjo in 2014, she was amazed at the path her life and career had taken.

“Well to tell my own story for me the purpose of doing that is to empower people to live their dreams fully. When I started singing in Benin when I was 6 years old if someone had told me I’m going to be where I am today, I would have told that person…the dream I’m dreaming is way beyond my capacity. It’s about empowering people to see their own potential and unleashing their own potential.”

In 2019 Kidjo released an album celebrating the music of Celia Cruz. The year prior she released an album recording The Talking Head’s landmark album, Remain in Light, in her own style. The results were pure joy.

That’s the bottom line with Kidjo. Even when she tackles socio-political material, there is always a generous helping of joy infusing every note.

Whatever the limitations of social-distancing and its impact on these live-stream events, expect that joy to permeate the distance and go straight to your soul.

If you are unable to watch Angélique Kidjo: Live with Carnegie Hall on April 28th, Carnegie Hall, so far, has kept all archived live-stream events available on their Live With Carnegie Hall page.

Photo of Angélique Kidjo by Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello/Courtesy of Carnegie Hall

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