Music
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Dido and Aeneas Composed by Henry Purcell
Produced by Opera San José
By: - Nov 15th, 2021Rarely has an esteemed opera endured the ignominy of its birth as “Dido and Aeneas.” Although its composer, Henry Purcell, would reign as the preeminent producer of serious British music from his death in 1695 until the 20th century, his only pure opera borrowed slavishly from a crypto-opera, John Blow’s “Venus and Adonis,” that has not even remained in the canon.
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Composer Marcus Shelby's Harriet's Spirit
Produced by Opera Parallèle and Bayview Opera House
By: - Nov 15th, 2021Commissioned by Opera Parallèle as part of their Hands-On-Opera program, a series of operas for youth, “Harriet’s Spirit,” is performed appropriately at the Bayview Opera House, which operates as the hub of the San Francisco African American Arts and Culture District. The production energizes and provides a beacon of hope for the communities that its story represents.
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A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim
Produced by 42nd Street Moon at Gateway Theatre
By: - Nov 09th, 2021Although Sondheim’s music and themes often have sharp edges, “A Little Night Music,” which is based on Ingmar Bergman’s film “Smiles of a Summer Night,” is written predominately in waltz time and is highly melodic.
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Iphigenia at MASS MoCA
An Opera by Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding
By: - Nov 07th, 2021Iphigenia, an opera is a cross generational collaboration between 88-year-old jazz legend, Wayne Shorter and the much younger and widely acclaimed performer/ composer esperanza spalding. It was an eight year project that was particularly intensive this past year. After a residence it was presented as "an open rehearsal and work in progress" at MASS MoCA over two nights. It's debut will occur in Boston at ArtsEmerson on November 12 and 13. It will travel from there.
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Metropolitan Museum of Art Presents Arvo Part
The Temple of Dendur is a Location Favored by the Composer
By: - Nov 03rd, 2021Arvo Pärt has celebrated birthdays at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His music is often performed at the Temple of Dendur where one wall dances with reflections from a pool of water, reflections that seem to move with the beat of the music. They soothe and elevate, a mood captured by the Nile River in the temple’s original Egyptian location.
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Thomas Wilkins Conducts the BSO
Coleridge-Taylor, Victor Wooten and Duke Ellington At Symphony Hall
By: - Oct 31st, 2021Across the country arts organizations are making a concerted effort to include Americans of color in their presentations. The concert at Symphony Hall in Boston this week was a highly successful concert of inclusion.
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Berkshire Jazz, Dawning and Jeff Holmes
Saint James Place, Great Barrington, Saturday, Nov. 27
By: - Oct 28th, 2021Known for her impassioned ballads and exciting up-tunes, vocalist Dawning Holmes was first heard in the Berkshires during the 2017 tribute to Buddy Rich. She returned the following year to perform with her husband Jeff Holmes' big band at the Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend in Lee.
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Cuban Pianist and Composer Harold López-Nussa
New England and NY Tour Dates
By: - Oct 25th, 2021On his vibrant and spirited third recording for Mack Avenue Records, Havana-based pianist and composer Harold López-Nussa sets out to capture that stirring sensation with an exhilarating marriage of jazz and Cuban pop music. On a global tour there are dates for Florence (near Northampton), Boston and NY.
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M. Butterfly, the Opera, to Premiere in Santa Fe
Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang Join Forces
By: - Oct 25th, 2021The world premiere of M. Butterfly, the opera, will take place on July 30,2021 at the Santa Fe Opera. We got a taste of its music, its story and the sound of the delicious man/girl Song. Kangmin Justin Kim is a countertenor with special tremulos and vibratos which suggest the feminine voice. Many layers weave through the new telling to the tale made famous in its first iteration as a Tony and Pulitzer-finalist play by David Henry Hwang. He is the librettist for the new work by composer, Huang Ruo.
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Faure's Consoling Requiem at Greenwood Cemetery
Angel's Share Concludes Its Season
By: - Oct 22nd, 2021Andrew Ousley has just the right touch as he presens music from all time and places in surprising venues across the city of New York. Earlier concerts at the Greenwood cemetery in Brooklyn took place in catacombs. For the performance of Gabriel Faure’s Requiem by Cantori, Ousley moved outside. The audience sits among the dead, consoled by a requiem at peace.
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Todd Haynes Documentary Evokes The Velvet Underground
Is There More to the Story of Lou Reed and His Band
By: - Oct 21st, 2021Steve Nelson was the foremost producer/promoter of concerts by The Velvet Underground in the period 1967-1970. He managed the legendary rock club The Boston Tea Party and produced shows in western Mass. at his club The Woodrose Ballroom and at the Paramount Theater in Springfield. He also designed several of the posters promoting those shows. He was an Archival Consultant to the Haynes film and provided visual materials for it.
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Jazz at the Gateways Inn
Music in Lenox Starts October 21
By: - Oct 20th, 2021A special concert will cap this weekend on Sunday, Oct. 24, when pianist Ted Rosenthal performs his unique interpretations of George Gershwin compositions. Highlighted by his innovative treatment of the legendary Rhapsody in Blue, Ted’s repertoire for this first “tea time jazz special,” is collectively known as Rhapsody in Gershwin.
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Die Dreigroschenoper at the Berliner Ensemble
By Bertold Brecht, Music by Kurt Weill
By: - Oct 19th, 2021It turned into a shocking success, the opening of the Dreigroschenoper (Three Penny Opera) in November 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin. Now, almost 100 years later, Bertolt Brecht's work with the music by Kurt Weill, is back at its original showing, now called the Berliner Ensemble at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin.
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Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
Presented by San Francisco Opera
By: - Oct 19th, 2021San Francisco Opera’s current production maximizes the values of the piece through excellent casting, fine musical direction by Eun Sun Kim, and the addition of what amounts to another character, the stunning scenic design by Alexander V. Nichols, under the purview of Director Matthew Ozawa.
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Mussorgsky's Original Boris Godunov at the Met
How Do we Assess Versions
By: - Oct 18th, 2021Alternate versions of an opera arouse controversy.The multiple versions of Verdi’s grand opera Don Carlos (Don Carlo) were a response to different productions. Terrence Blanchard adapted his opera Fire Shut up in My Bones for the Metropolitan Opera’s stage. Now we have the magnificent, original Boris Godunov.
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Diversity at The Metropolitan Opera
Composer Terrence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones
By: - Oct 14th, 2021The Metropolitan Opera got a public relations boost when they mounted Terrence Blanchard’s ""Fire Shut up in My Bones" as their season opener. An unusually packed theater sweetened the Met's premiere. No question "Fire" is a wonderful piece of orchestral work. Elements of black folk music like gospel, jazz, and stepping, fit seamlessly into the overall scheme.
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Letter to the Editor
Re: "Miroirs" by Wataru Iwata
By: - Oct 13th, 2021This is Wataru Iwata emailing from Japan. I’ve been working as a pianist, music composer, visual artist and recently putting more time into digital art.
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Mahagonny, Komische Oper, Berlin
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
By: - Oct 11th, 2021What startet 1930 as the first opera cooperation between the playwright Bertolt Brecht and the composer Kurt Weill may well turn out to be the last big opera in the 2021/22 season. Mahagonny is being presented at the Komische Oper Berlin with Barrie Kosky as director.
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The Porch at Windy Hill
At Ivoryton Playhouse
By: - Oct 11th, 2021Blue grass and Appalachian music usually isn’t my thing, but my toes were tapping while enjoying the play-with- music, The Porch at Windy Hill now at Ivoryton Playhouse through Sunday, Oct. 17.
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A Crossing: A Dance Musical
Barrington Stage Presents Powerful New Work for All of America
By: - Oct 02nd, 2021While focused on a group of migrants this is the story of all of us. It conveys an America rooted in exclusion, violence and intolerance. This is a stunning new musical for all Americans.
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Gateways Inn in Downtown Lenox
Announces Jazz Series
By: - Oct 01st, 2021The Gateways Inn in downtown Lenox has announced a new jazz series, starting in October and running Thursdays through Saturdays, with a special concert on Sunday, Oct. 24. Presented in association with Berkshires Jazz, Inc., the series underscores the venue’s ongoing dedication to live music.
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Yehuda Hanani and Close Encounters Return
Classic, Jazz, Whimy and Bee Bop in One Splendid Evening
By: - Sep 30th, 2021An invitation to a close encounter with very special music. Paul Schoenfield’s runaway classical hit, Café Music for piano trio, sets the tone for a celebratory re-opening. Combining elements of classical, jazz, klezmer and whimsy, Café Music is caffeine-fueled and irresistible.
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Shout! The Mod Musical
At South Bay Musical Theatre
By: - Sep 28th, 2021“Shout! The Mod Musical” is a musical revue of the ‘60s shown through the experiences of five young adult women living in London, as conceived and curated by three American men (of course)! The songbook draws from tunes of the era, predominantly those popularized by English songbirds, especially Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark (“Wishin’ and Hopin’” and “Downtown” for starters.)
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Young Composers at the Ojai Festival
Free to Be an Individual in Sound
By: - Sep 23rd, 2021John Adams writes about his release from the shackles binding him as a Northeastern composer in the US. Coming to California as a young man, he was at last able to write the music he heard, whatever shape it took. He was free to be an individual. Each of the young composers featured prominently in Ojai 2021 has clearly benefited from Adams’ experience.
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The Ojai Music Festival Is Now
John Adams Mixes a Potent Broth
By: - Sep 22nd, 2021The annual Ojai Music Festival is arguably the most exciting music event in this country. It “monitors the everchanging mood and directions of our musical atmosphere.” A challenge to be sure. A challenge which is richly met and then some.
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