The blog for the Celebrity Series of Boston- a Boston based arts organization which presents an annual concert series. Here you can find news about our season, local and international arts, and much more! www.celebrityseries.org
Here they are performing a work by another Celebrity Series artist, Daniel Bernard Roumain (always nice to see that sort of thing), but the Claremont Trio will join Rob Kapilow for a What Makes It Great? outing examining Beethoven's "Archduke Trio" on November 7
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Hvorostovsky and Radvonovsky
Would it surpise you to learn that uber-smoldering Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is a practical joker? A cutup? A guy who will do anything to get a laugh out of a costar, even onstage? According to a New York Magazine interview with Hvorostovsky and pal/costar soprano Sondra Radvanovsky this is the real Dmitri. Here's an excerpt:
"Any other startling secrets you’d like to share?
S.R.: We are both goofballs. Every show of Trovatore, he’s done something to me onstage.
D.H.: Anything, you know, to make her laugh in front of the audience.
S.R.: He blacked out a tooth. He painted a devil the size of a fist on his chest—and right when I’m singing to him, he pulls his shirt open and shows it. I lost it.
D.H.: Eyeballs!
S.R.: Oh, yes, he drew eyeballs on his eyelids. I mean, seriously."
Read all of Conversation: Daffy Divas.
The Celebrity Series brings Hvorostovsky and his wacky hijinks to Symphony Hall in February.
Keith Powers reviewed the opening night performance by the Mark Morris Dance Group for Saturday's Boston Herald.Here is a snippet:
"'Petrichor,' for eight female dancers, was the real deal. Set to the impressionistic second Heitor Villa-Lobos string quartet, the four sections filled the stage like a mystical nocturne. The dancers wore alluring diaphanous nighties and the movement, rather than centered onstage, moved in lines from right to left or vice versa, suggesting a story line but never revealing one. In fact, much of 'Petrichor' was like a dream - filled with stark images of clarity that quickly vanished or morphed. One signature gesture recurred: a kind of surfing pose, with arms extended horizontally, the body poised for action, but merely rocking in place."
Read Mark Morris Group's 'Petrichor' is dream come true.
Due to illness, Liza Minnelli has canceled her November 7 performance in Boston.
We are attempting to reschedule the date and patrons should hold on to their tickets until further notice.
We will be contacting all ticket holders and the public once the status of the engagement has been determined.
Amber Star Merkens (foreground) dances in last
night's world premiere of Petrichor
Thea Singer's review of last night's opening night performance by the Mark Morris Dance Group is in late editions of the print edition, but it is online. Here is an excerpt:
"'Petrichor,' a world premiere for eight women, is danced to Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’s 'String Quartet No. 2,' for violin, viola, and cello. The title describes the scent arising after a rain, especially on dry ground. It’s apropos, because the dancers seem to dance not on but between the notes, as if dodging raindrops."
Read all of Thea Singer's review.
The Mark Morris Dance Group performs through this Sunday at the Cutler Majestic Theatre.
Soprano Joan Sutherland has died at age 83. Dubbed "La Stupenda," the Stupendous One, following her Italian debut in Venice in 1960, she was one of the most acclaimed singers of the 20th century.
Joan Sutherland performed only once on the Celebrity Series, at Symphony Hall in February 1963. Her program included works by William Boyce, Handel, Giovanni Paisiello, Johann Christian Bach, Dr. Thomas Augustine Arne, Luigi Boccherini, and Ambroise Thomas. She did appear in Boston numerous times with the Metropolitan Opera on tour, engagements typically managed by then Celebrity Series director Walter Pierce.
New York Times (Anthony Tommasini)
Washington Post (Ann Midgette)
Los Angeles Times (Mike Boehm
Fresh Air (Lloyd Schwartz, National Public Radio)
The Wall Street Journal (Heidi Waleson)
San Francisco Chronicle (Joshua Kosman)
The Australian
Sydney Morning Herald
Peter Gelb & James Levine's obituary in New York Times classified section
BBC News
Laura Collins-Hughes spoke with choreographer Mark Morris for Boston Sunday Globe about his new Celebrity Series of Boston commission, Petrichor:
"I love making up titles. You know, it's interesting because it makes people tempted to think that something has a relevance that it either does or doesn't have. There's a dance we do called 'A Lake,' and I just called it 'A Lake' because it occurred to me that I should call a dance 'A Lake.' There’s no lake in the dance. But, you know, 'petrichor,' it's a fabulous word that I'd never heard before. The dance is, first of all, it's for all women. There's eight women in the dance, and it's this amazing piece of music that’s very under-known and a very tricky, beautiful piece of music. And, you know, Villa-Lobos was very devoted to his Brazilian heritage. He says that all of his music is Brazilian; it all contains the rain forest. I’m not Brazilian, the dance isn’t a rain forest, and the title seemed to work."
Read the complete article.
Mark Morris Dance Group dances October 14-17 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. On October 14, Petrichor will receive its world premiere performance at the Cutler Majestic Theatre.
Liza Minnelli chats with the gals and sings I Must Have That Man. Liza comes to Symphony Hall on November 7.
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Though the pieces the company is performing for their Berkeley engagement are completely different than our Boston program, I feel that a glimpse inside Mark Morris' world is always worth the effort and usually illuminating in general. Morris recently had a chat with San Francisco Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman.
You'll want to read it all, but here is a sample:
Q: Now that you've almost completely retired from dancing, you have this body of work that is being danced by other people. Does that change your relationship to the pieces?
A: My company just keeps getting better - I don't think I could have done "Socrates" in the past because it's so difficult. The dancers in my company are doing roles that I used to dance, and some of them, for me, were almost impossible conceptually.
One of the most complicated pieces I ever made was to a little Mozart piano rondo. I recently taught it to some women in my company, and they learned it in half an hour. So as long as I stay out of the way, everything works.
Read the complete article.
The Mark Morris Dance Group opens the Celebrity Series of Boston season on October 14 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. The engagement includes the world premiere of Petrichor. That's right, I said world premiere.
One more reason to love analog ...
From The Associated Press:
"New digital recordings of events in U.S. history and early radio shows are at risk of being lost much faster than older ones on tape and many are already gone, according to a study on sound released Wednesday.
Even recent history — such as recordings from 9/11 or the 2008 election — is at risk because digital sound files can be corrupted, and widely used CD-R discs only last three to five years before files start to fade, said study co-author Sam Brylawski."
Read all of Study: Audio recordings of US history fading fast
