Music
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Hair at Berkshire Theatre Group
Celebrating 50th Anniversary
By: - Jul 08th, 2018If you plan to see Hair at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, as well you should, a few tokes of medical marijuana will help to set the mood. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. On opening night we spotted a granny with a crown of woven daisys.
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Lang Lang Soars at Tanglewood
Triumphant Return for Injured Pianist
By: - Jul 07th, 2018Since April, 2017 the superstar pianist, Lang Lang, has been recovering from an injury to his left arm. In a scheduling coup he returned to performing last night during Opening Night of the BSO's 2018 season at Tanglewood., He was adored by the audience which was rewarded by sublime encore of Copin. Andris Nelsons conducted an evening of Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
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Van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic
A Beethoven Prelude to Action
By: - Jul 05th, 2018With all the secrecy that surrounds the arrival of a new music director for America's oldest orchestra, one must rely on live performances and recorded documentation to assess such a relationship. Happily, such documentation arrived earlier this year in the form of a DeccaGold recording of Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, made by the New York Philharmonic under the aegis of its new boss, Jaap van Zweden.
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James Taylor Is Alive And Kicking
Another July 4th At Tanglewood
By: - Jul 05th, 2018The traditional James Taylor July 4th Concert was like a high school reunion. Fans returned to see JT and his All-Star Band at Tanglewood. Yet again he was knee high on the Fourth of July and as corny as Kansas in August.
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Knot an Opera by Constantin Basica
Freshly Squeezed Opera Provokes
By: - Jul 03rd, 2018Knot an Opera is an amusing and provocative presentation by Freshly Squeezed Opera. The company is committed to genre pushing new works of the highest caliber that explore the depths of the opera form.
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An Afternoon With Audra McDonald
Perfection at Tanglewood
By: - Jun 25th, 2018A special concert with an unparalleled talent at her peak. Audra McDonald captivated the audience at Tanglewood with her voice, charm, wit and humor. A mother, storyteller and musical ambassador, McDonald prevailed at the nearly full house in Lenox, Massachusetts.
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Music Man at Canada's Stratford Festival
Not Just Shakespeare in Ontario
By: - Jun 25th, 2018When the performance is as admirably enjoyable as this one is, even a “Music Man” without a commanding Music Man is worth making a real effort to see.
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Harry Connick, Jr. at Tanglewood
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
By: - Jun 24th, 2018Harry Connick, Jr. was the real deal at Tanglewood. Backed by a fabulous eleven piece band over two and a half hours of non stop fun he explored a wide range of musical genres with a distinctly New Orleans flavored patois.
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Jeff Becker's Sea of Common Catastrophe
Irondale in Brooklyn Presents
By: - Jun 21st, 2018The Sea of Common Catastrophe by Jeff Becker is playing at Irondale, a dramatic and inviting space on South Oxford Street in Brooklyn. Becker was inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ short story and invites the audience to suspend disbelief and immerse themselves in the beautiful images and dance of the performers. The words of Marquez and poet Jessica Henricksen are spoken in snippets as lights dance and the waters of the ocean swirl around. This is immersion theater at its best.
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Die Nase at Komische Oper, Berlin
The Nose, a Surreal Opera, Delights
By: - Jun 21st, 2018This final opening of the 2017/18 season at the Komische Oper, Die Nase/The Nose, in Berlin is a typical Barrie Kosky production - eccentric, colorful, and totally entertaining in its over-the-top action on stage. It will be performed in June and July.
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Judy Collins and Stephen Stills Share Memories
Lost Love Rekindled at Tanglewood
By: - Jun 18th, 2018Fifty years ago Stephen Stills and Judy Collins met and had a relationship that lasted for two years. That breakup resulted in "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" the hit of the debut album of Crosby Stills and Nash. Not long ago they were booked for an AARP event. That chance encounter resulted in a tour that touched down at Tanglewood. On September 22 they will release a studio album "For What It's Earth" titled for a Leonard Cohen song.
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David Crosby Headlines at Tanglewood
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Chris Hillman and Herb Peterson Also on Bill
By: - Jun 18th, 2018It was a long but satisfying evening at Tanglewood. Chris Hillman, a founder of The Byrds, and Herb Peterson, one of The Dillards went on at 7 PM. They were followed by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Then David Crosby brought it on home at 10:30 PM. The hits just kept on coming.
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Roger Daltrey Brings Tommy to Tanglewood
See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me
By: - Jun 16th, 2018After nearly a half century lapse Tanglewood has doubled down on the vintage British rock group The Who. Last summer we heard Pete Townshend leading Quadrophenia with the Pops. Last night lead singer Roger Daltrey performed the entire 75-minute Tommy as well as three encores minus the orchestra.
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The Royal Family of Broadway at Barrington Stage
Is This All Star Production Headed for Broadway
By: - Jun 14th, 2018Barrington Stage Company has assembled a dream team for the world premiere of The Royal Family of Broadway. It is a musical makeover of the 1927 play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. When word gets out about the first smash hit of the Berkshire season tickets may be hard to come by between now and July 7. This production was home grown by Barrington's Musical Theatre Lab.
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The Rose Elf by David Hertzberg
Unison Media and Greenwood Cemetery Present Opera
By: - Jun 07th, 2018David Hertzberg's opera, The Rose Elf, opened The Angel Space series, a collaboration between Unison Media and Green-Wood Cemetery. After whiskey amidst gravestones, the audience took a walk through the glorious grounds, where ancient trees are thick, tall and promising. The production in the Catacombs was thrilling.
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Tilson Thomas Conducts the MET Orchestra
Ruggles, Mozart and Mahler
By: - Jun 07th, 2018Carnegie Hall ended its 2017-18 season Tuesday night with the last of three concerts featuring the MET Orchestra. This year, the pit band at the Metropolitan Opera has been playing under a succession of different conductors. This one was conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.
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An American Soldier at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang are Dynamite
By: - Jun 04th, 2018Huang Ruo in music and David Henry Hwang in words ask: What will you do to become American? What will you endure? In a seamless wrought tale of a first generation Chinese American from Chinatown, we watch the world rect to a young man's wish. It is a horrifying story whose conseuqences we have only begun to grapple with. Huang Ruo and Hwang make great opera out of the story.
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Kansas Symphony at Helzberg Hall
Everything's Up to Date
By: - Jun 04th, 2018The Kansas City Symphony is a superb group pf superb artists, who make their home in one the of the performance treasures of America Like Dallas and other smaller cities across the country, Kansas City community leaders decided to spiff up its arts’ presence, A decade ago they dtermined to build a new home for its Symphony Orchestra and somewhat larger hall for events on tour.
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Christopher Janney's Exploring the Hidden Music
At Boston University Dance Theater
By: - Jun 04th, 2018There is an upcoming concert by Christopher Janney, who will present with fellow dancer and musicians works that will again push boundaries. The event will occur on June 8 at the Boston University Dance Theater.
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Freaky Friday the Musical
Book by Bridget Carpenter, Music by Tom Kitt, Lyrics by Brian Yorkey
By: - Jun 02nd, 2018Based on Mary Rogers’ 1972 novel of the same name, Freaky Friday’s popularity is validated by the three film versions that have appeared, with each variant tweeking the storyline. This is the first stage musical effort, and award winning playwright Bridget Carpenter’s adaptation is well suited to the theater with integrated subplots and laugh lines throughout. Tom Kitt’s music is tuneful and bouncy in keeping with the musical theater pop idiom, while Brian Yorkey’s lyrics consistently drive the plot and are full of insight and humor.
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Brokeback Mountain by Charles Wuorinen
New York City Opera Finally Presents Its Commission
By: - Jun 01st, 2018Brokeback Mountain finally arrives at New York City Opera. The company originally commissioned the piece over a decade ago. It is a powerul and moving work.
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Bychkov Conducts the NY Philharmonic
Broad Swathes of Sound
By: - May 27th, 2018A special evening at the New York Philharmonic, in which Semyon Bychkov conducted widely diverse swathes of sound from compoers Luciano Berio and Richard Strauss.
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Backwards from Winter by Douglas Knehans
Center for Contemporary Opera at Symphony Space
By: - May 26th, 2018Backwards from Winter had its premier as part of the New York Opera Fest. All the parts that make up opera are unified on stage to create an enormously satisfying operatic experience.
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Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla Leads the Met Orchestra
Carnegie Hall Hosts
By: - May 22nd, 2018Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla, the Lithuanian conducting sensation who in 2016 at 29 years of age became the first woman to stand at the helm of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. This week she led the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
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Semyon Bychkov Conducts NY Philharmonic
Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Shostakobich
By: - May 20th, 2018Semyon Bychkov understands that no matter what the back story of a composition, it stands on its own in performance. The conductor deeply understands the music he performs. He conveys this to his orchestra. At the conclusion of a recent concert at David Geffen Hall, instrumentalists congratulated each other and the conductor, amazed and delighted that together they had reached incredible performance heights.
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