Music
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Aida is Grand Opera Under James Conlon
Ravinia Brings Out Everyone's Best.
By: - Aug 04th, 2013Maestro Conlon promised that the audience would be thrilled, chilled, dazzled and besotted by his Aida, even though he could not bring on the elephants. Maestro Conlon delivers on his promises.
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Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre in Cambridge, NY
Barber of Seville August 16 to 25
By: - Aug 02nd, 2013Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre is located at 25 E. Main St. in Cambridge, NY. HHOT’s performances of Barber of Seville— Aug. 16, 17, and 22 at 8 pm and Aug. 24 and 25 at 2 pm — will be fully costumed and staged, sung in Italian (with supertitles), and accompanied by a 19-piece orchestra conducted by Hubbard Hall favorite, Maria Sensi Sellner (Don Pasquale, La Traviata).
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Steve Miller Rocks Tanglewood
40th Anniversary Joker Tour
By: - Jul 30th, 2013On a Monday night The Steve Miller Band drew an audience of hipster pensioners for a two hour rock show in the Shed at Tanglewood. Lenox was a one nighter of Miller's 35 venue Joker Tour in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the seminal rock album.
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The Merry Wives of Windsor at BU's Tsai
Nicolai's Rarely Done Opera Worth Waiting For
By: - Jul 29th, 2013The familiar story of the fat knight Falstaff's comeuppance by the two married women he attempts to seduce takes on a new complexion in Otto Nicolai's best known work. Boston Midsummer Opera’s production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor" was given three performances at Boston University's Tsai Performance Center.
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Music from Exile by James Conlon at Ravinia
A Ravishing Case Made for Squelched Music
By: - Jul 27th, 2013James Conlon, music director of the Ravinia Festival, laughs as he points out that the three B’s of music, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, actually top a long list of musical Bs. Some composers who are not prominent on the A list of Bs should be.
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More Tanglewood Withdrawals This Weekend
Programs Continued as Scheduled with Substitutes
By: - Jul 23rd, 2013Because of a freak accident at home yesterday the BSO announced that newly appointed conductor, Andris Nelsons, will not be able to make his only Tanglewood appearance this season. Ironically this is an all too vivid reminder of the ongoing cancellations of James Levine. Today the other shoe dropped with more cancellations and substitutions of the pending programs this weekend.
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Eric Owens to Sing Bass Role in Verdi Requiem
Tanglewood Subbing at the Last Moment
By: - Jul 23rd, 2013Make no mistake. Eric Owens is one of music's leading ambassadors today. Despite a demanding schedule as the go-to bass for roles ranging from Alberich to Handel's Hercules, Eric Owens is everywhere. Now he steps in for Ferruccio Furlanetto to heal the wounds of Andris Nelsons absence at Tanglewood. Bravo Eric Owens.
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Andris Nelsons Withdraws from Tanglewood
New BSO Director Suffers Concussion
By: - Jul 22nd, 2013One of the most anticipated Tanglewood concerts this summer was the only scheduled appearance of the newly appointed BSO director Andris Nelsons. Accordingly his conducting Verdi Requiem on July 27 has been cancelled. He was scheduled to meet with the media on Friday. The concert will be presented with a yet to be announced guest conductor.
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Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend
Downtown Lee July 25-28
By: - Jul 16th, 2013The jazz weekend kicks off at 6pm on Thursday, July 25 with the screening of “A Life in E Flat,†a biographical profile of the legendary alto saxophonist, NEA Jazz Master and 4-time Grammy winner Phil Woods. Through a special arrangement with Jazzed Media, producers of jazz films and CDs, the screening at the Lee Library on Main Street is free and open to the public.
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EarSay: A Plea for Diction, Plus
CDs by Darlingside, Alistair Olgivy, Joe Johnson
By: - Jul 14th, 2013When I write anything, be it an email or an installment in this series, my primary purpose is, as I presume is that of most writers, to clearly as possible express my ideas for you to consider. I would suppose that a songwriter has the same purpose, expressing clearly their ideas within the reinforcing framework of melody, rhythm and instrumental accompaniment.
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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Opens Ravinia
Dohnányi, Ax and the Orchestra Entrance in Beethoven
By: - Jul 13th, 2013You would never know that symphony orchestras are having a tough time if you sit in the hall or the shed of a Ravinia event. Like Tanglewood orchestras are fighting back for their place in the musical sun. And they are succeeding in their efforts to make classical music relevant for our times.
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Wagner's The Flying Dutchman in Zurich
Anja Kampe, Bryn Terfel and Matti Salminen Star
By: - Jul 06th, 2013A clock ticks on stage. We are in real time. The opera, through composed, is through produced. Kampe, Terfel and Salminen head a superb cast. Young conductor Alain Altinoglu brings forth all the glories of the score. Zurich, under music director Fabio Luisi, is an opera house you can count on.
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Scorching BSO Tanglewood Opening Night
Joshua Bell and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos’s Tchaikovsky
By: - Jul 06th, 2013The Koussevitzky Music Shed and lawn were packed for the opening last night of the 76th season of BSO's renowned Tanglewood Music Festival. Solo violinist Joshua Bell and conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos’s performed an all Tchaikovsky program. While heart warming, under sauna like conditions, the musicians and audience were over heated and drenched by the end of a muggy, oppressive evening.
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Has Anybody But Me Even Noticed - A Rant!
Ear Say- CDs by Deanna Bogart and The Mannish Boys
By: - Jun 30th, 2013Here I unburden my soul regarding some of the shortcomings I perceive in the cultural memory of contemporary artists, or maybe I am just making mountains out of molehills. After that, I share my pleasure in my cd discovery of Deanna Bogart and The Mannish Boys.
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Terence Blanchard Returns to Tanglewood
Supports New CD Magnetic on Blue Note
By: - Jun 29th, 2013In 2008 Terence Blanchard was a headliner for the now cancelled annual Tanglewood Jazz Festival. His quintet performed with the 34 oiece Tanglewood Jazz Orchestra in his A Tale of God's Will for the Spike Lee HBO documentary When the Levees Broke. He returned to Tanglewood last night with his quintet in a concert of hard bop straight ahead jazz.
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Joan Baez and Indigo Girls Captivate Tanglewood
Mesmerizing Music on Sun Drenched Berkshire Afternoon
By: - Jun 24th, 2013Fifty years ago I first heard Joan and Bob at the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge. Much has changed since then but a regal Baez, accompanied by The Indigo Girls demonstrated why she remains the queen of folk music. It was a stunning Tanglewood concert during a gorgeous afternoon in the Berkshires.
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Wilco Day Two
Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA
By: - Jun 23rd, 2013Opening the festival on Friday night Wilco performed a set of requests. Last night they returned to Joe Thompson Field, under a moonlit sky, to deliver a set of 28 songs. Fans came from far and wide for the third and most successful of the Solid Sound Festivals which concludes this afternoon.
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Wilco By Request at Mass MoCA
Third Solid Sound Festival
By: - Jun 22nd, 2013Last night Wilco returned to Mass MoCA to headline the third Solid Sound Festival this weekend. Under a big bright moon on a perfect evening they performed a set of requests for some 4,000 mellow fans. We got a contact high as pungent skunk weed perfumed the Berkshire air.
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Tanglewood Trails
Annual Return to Boston Symphony Violin Section
By: - Jun 21st, 2013In an annual trek from the Utah Symphony to Tanglewood violinist and author Gerald Elias opts for the scenic route. It is always exciting to rejoin the Boston Symphony Orchestra with its many perks of which he writes "For me, at the top of the list was Tanglewood."
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Nina Stemme Triumphs as Isolde in Vienna
A Highlight of 200th Anniversary of Wagner's Birth
By: - Jun 21st, 2013Stemme made her mark in the role of Isolde earlier this year in Houston, but her performance with a tender and often inspired Tristan in Vienna honored Richard Wagner in a very special production.
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The Boston Early Music Festival Just Smashing
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center June 21-23
By: - Jun 18th, 2013Handel wrote his first opera, "Almira," when he was only 19. Although it is no masterpiece, it shows at an early stage his gift for melody and his love of the high female voice. The renowned musical event comes to the Berkshires and Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center June 21-23.
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Some Thoughts on Evolving Media
CDs by The Deadly Gentlemen, Ian Tyson, Eric Bibb and Hayley Reardon
By: - Jun 16th, 2013Each month of late as my contact with recording artists expands, I am more and more often asked if I prefer a cd or a download. I generally prefer the experience of a physical cd in my hand. There is something more organic about finding the package in the mailbox, reading the return address and trying to guess what is inside and what pleasure the contents might bring. I like, while listening, having access to track listings and descriptions, personnel and even lyrics when they are included. On top of that, I find a cd is always easier to manipulate and access when driving, no doubt the result of years of practice.
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Tanglewood 2013
Complete Schedule of Concerts
By: - Jun 14th, 2013Here is a complete listing of scheduled concerts for the 2013 Tanglewood season.
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A Sprightly Rusalka in Zurich
Attention Must be Paid: Ekaterina Scherbachenko, Pavel Cernoch
By: - Jun 13th, 2013The design of the Zurich Opera House comes straight from Brno, Czechoslovakia so it does not surprise that Zurich creates just the right feeling and tone for Dvorak's great opera.
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Chris Smither at Eagle Hill Cultural Center
Plus new CDs by, Jack (Jackie Washington) Landrón & Spider John Koerner
By: - Jun 02nd, 2013So here is my take on the final performance of the 2012-13 Eagle Hill Cultural Center season and two exceptional recent recordings.
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