Month: September 2010
By J. R. Carroll. The festivals are winding down, but in the performance spaces of New England, the fall season is already in high gear. And, on several occasions, the phrase “take a bow” will have a double meaning. On Friday, October 1, the Acton Jazz Cafe has a nice double bill to start off…
Read MoreBy Caldwell Titcomb. October 2: The Longwood Symphony Orchestra opens its 28th season, the sixth under conductor Jonathan McPhee, with a program of Sibelius and Delius. Award-winning Zina Schiff will be soloist in the demanding Sibelius Violin Concerto. Also on the program are Sibelius’s “Karelia Suite” and Delius’ lovely “Walk to the Paradise Garden.” At…
Read MoreOpera on Tap is designed to be surprising and fun – what other opera performance encourages its singers to walk right up to your table warbling high C notes? Opera on Tap at Oberon, September 26 and 27 By Chantal Mendes World famous opera master Luciano Pavarotti wouldn’t have been caught dead performing on a…
Read MoreThe Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard. Directed by Jonathan Croy. Presented by Shakespeare & Company at the Bernstein Theatre, Lenox, MA, through November 7. Reviewed by Helen Epstein. If you are looking for a light, literate, zany evening of entertainment, you can do no better than Shakespeare & Company’s current production of Tom Stoppard’s…
Read MoreOnce again we are indebted to Wellesley College for bringing to town Actors From the London Stage (AFTLS). This is the fifth visit the 35-year-old institution has made here. Each fall five seasoned Shakespeareans from England take up residence at U.S. colleges for a week, conducting workshops and seminars with students. Reviewed by Caldwell Titcomb.
Read MoreScreening at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on October 2nd, the Bolshoi’s Bolt is a curiosity worth exploring, a meditation on the Russian past that could only be produced after the nightfall of Stalinism. After all, in some eyes composer Dimitri Shostakovich may have been a stooge, but he was never an obtuse one. Reviewed by…
Read MoreSnobby and sober no more! Made up of singers who perform arias and duets in bars, Opera on Tap currently presents its innovative songfests in Chicago, New York, New Orleans, and Ann Arbor. Now the concept comes to Boston, with performances tomorrow and Monday night (September 26 and 27) at Oberon in Cambridge. Anne Ricci,…
Read MoreI’m willing to risk this statement: Dave Liebman’s 2009 CD Turnaround, as yet unreleased in the US, is a masterpiece. Turnaround. Jazzwerkstatt CD; currently not distributed in the US; obtainable through amazon.de, €10.16 + shipping); live performance at Scullers at the DoubleTree Guest Suites, Boston, MA, September 16, 2010. Reviewed by Steve Elman I can…
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By J. R. Carroll. The final installment in our jazz festival preview series picks the best bets for the outdoor Beantown Jazz Festival and then checks out what’s happening in Falmouth and Pittsfield as the leaves begin to turn.
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Music Commentary: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest versus French Quarter Fest