Music
Updated: Brazilian jazz vocalist Leny Andrade performs at the Deer Isle Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 28.The first half of July, dominated by Independence Day festivities, is–fireworks aside–pretty quiet in New England. But then the festival season really kicks into gear.
Under the baton of its Artistic Director, Susan Davenny Wyner, Boston Midsummer Opera has become an annual highlight of Boston’s classical music line-up during the summer.
Through the years, the Green River Festival has grown and I found this year it was harder to get into some of the smaller stages. It might be time to bump up the size of some of the smaller tents, so that people outside the tent can see what’s happening on the stage inside the tent, too.
According to former WGBH Jazz DJ Steve Schwartz, “In retrospect, the writing was on the wall. About a year and a half ago, our shows were cut by an hour; before that, we were told we could no longer use the names of our shows or our theme songs.”
John Mayer’s “Born & Raised” departs from the melancholy-ridden songs of youth, providing a subdued, folksier vibe that reflects an artist going on 35.
Tired of glitz and looking for a transformative musical experience? You can do no better than to hear this relatively unheralded musician play some of the most sublime music ever written.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but in Boston this summer (and throughout the year) free concerts are as easy to find as upset fans at Fenway Park.
Irving Berlin fans will be pleased to see such items as the complete Jerome Kern letter, (written in 1925!) in which Kern writes: “Irving Berlin has no place in American music. HE IS AMERICAN MUSIC.”
After several years of frustrating cancellations and artistic challenges, Tanglewood and the Boston Symphony Orchestra seemed to be saying that there’s still much to celebrate. And they were right.
Avi Avital, a young virtuoso determined to expand the repertoire, is the first mandolinist ever to be signed to a contract with Deutsche Grammophone. His recording of Bach for the label is an important milestone for the mandolin.
Classical Music Commentary: Boston’s Lost Opportunity — How the BSO Board Chose Charles Munch over Leonard Bernstein