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Music Review: VíKINGUR ÒLAFSSON: THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS (Colburn Recital at Disney Hall)
FINDING GOLD IN GOLDBERG VI once said in a review of pianist Víkingur í“lafsson that if you want to see a modern-day Glenn Gould-like master at the keys, here’s your chance. Well, the test really came the other night when í“lafsson returned to Disney Hall for his rendition of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which many claim…
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Recommended Cabaret Series: SUMMER CABARET SERIES, MAY 2024 (Coachella Valley Rep)
CV REP’S 2024 SUMMER CABARET SERIES STELLAR LINE-UP FOR MAY A summer of great music, charismatic personalities and unspoken theatre insider-only stories galore starts when COACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY’s 2024 SUMMER CABARET SERIES begins on May 15. Cabaret headliners for May are “America’s Tenor” MAXIMO MARCUSO (May 15), Broadway Tony Award-winner FAITH PRINCE (May 16), Broadway’s…
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Jazz Concert Review: DUETS: DIANNE REEVES, CHUCHO VALDÉS, JOE LOVANO (International Tour at Berklee)
TWO MEN AND A LADY: JAZZ ROYALTY TIMES THREE Celebrity Series of Boston’s 2023–2024 season is drawing to a close and among the final performances was the excellent Duets, featuring Dianne Reeves (vocals), Chucho Valdés (piano), and Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone). The evening began with Valdés alone with his grand piano on the stage of…
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Concert Review: ANNA LAPWOOD (Organ Recital at Disney Hall)
LAPPING UP LAPWOOD British organist Anna Lapwood brought gold sparkles to her LA Phil debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the final stop of her 2024 US tour (her international tour continues). She could hardly contain her excitement, calling the hall’s organ “so much more than I ever hoped it could be!” Lapwood, the 28-year-old…
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Concert Review: NO MORE WATER / THE FIRE NEXT TIME; THE GOSPEL OF JAMES BALDWIN (Meshell Ndegeocello presented by CAP UCLA at United Theatre on Broadway)
MESHELL, MY BELL “Free like a bird,” the Swahili meaning of the eclectic singer-songwriter and rapper Meshell Ndegeocello’s last name (pronounced N-dee-gay-o-cello), describes the essence of her No More Water/The Fire Next Time; The Gospel of James Baldwin performance at The United Theatre on Broadway presented by CAP UCLA. Inspired by American writer and civil rights…
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Event Review: AN EVENING WITH DAVID SEDARIS (Tour)
WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN SEDARIS Storyteller and humorist David Sedaris began by “walking us through” his outfit: a pair of plaid culottes and a jacket that “looks like I lost a fight with a bear.” It did indeed consist of a lot of strips, like a wearable vertical blind. He then introduced the ASL…
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Highly Recommended Cabaret Theater: TIERGARTEN (Death of Classical at the Great Hall under St. Mary’s Church)
WEIMAR, YOU ASK? HERE’S THE ANSWER Cabaret the musical, opening on Broadway in a transformed theater, may sound exciting, but here’s a highly recommended event for those who crave complete immersion in a 1920s Berlin Speakeasy with period-themed food and drinks, vintage dress, and more. In partnership with Carnegie Hall as part of their Weimar…
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Music Review: ELGAR AND VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (LA Phil; Simone Young, conductor; Gautier Capuçon, cellist)
STUDY WAR NO MORE Last night’s program at Disney Hall began with a subdued but clear strike on the chime. It came in without warning. The atmosphere is austere and solemn, and under the clear and watchful eyes of Maestro Simone Young, the LA Phil slowly unfolds the lush colors of Arvo Pårt‘s Cantus in…
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Cabaret Review: KEN PAGE (“Right Here, Right Now” at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood)
PAGE BY PAGE Anyone who gets a standing ovation merely by entering the room has undoubtedly accomplished something great. Ken Page’s illustrious career and sterling character earned him such a welcome from a room full of friends, colleagues, and admirers at the top of his cabaret show Right Here, Right Now, presented at the Catalina…
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Cabaret Review: APRIL FOOLS (Birdland Jazz Club)
FEAST OF FOOLS Nobody knows when April Fools’ Day started, but sure as shooting, on April 1st, someone is going to tell you your zipper is open or they just heard your number called on television and you won the lottery. Some say April Fools’ Day goes back to a Roman festival called Hilaria, celebrated…
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Music Review: MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS LEADS TCHAIKOVSKY (LA Phil)
The third and final performance of this program by the LA Phil with guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas took place March 30 at Disney Hall. The orchestra was in standard setup as MTT entered the stage to very warm applause. He cheerily addressed his audience and his musicians as he set to work. First on…
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Concert Review: PATTI LUPONE: A LIFE IN NOTES (Tour)
A NIGHT OF HIGH NOTES The beloved and versatile award-winning musical theater star Patti LuPone delighted those who packed Boston’s Symphony Hall last evening with a series of high notes, low notes, and everything in between with her musical memoir, A Life in Notes, conceived and directed by Scott Wittman and written by Jeffrey Richman. Accompanied…
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Concert Review: A BROADWAY BIRTHDAY: SONDHEIM, LLOYD WEBBER AND FRIENDS! (Segerstrom Concert Hall)
A BITTERSWEET BIRTHDAY In the luminous world of musical theater, two names stand as colossi, casting long shadows across Broadway and the global stage. Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber, though walking parallel paths, have carved their legacies with distinct artistic chisels, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of audiences and the annals of…
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Music Review: CAMERATA PACIFICA (March 2024 Program)
STRING THEORY Arnold Schoenberg‘s Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed in 1899. Love him or hate him (some of his challenging later music is impenetrably inaccessible given his twelve-tone technique), there are times when Schoenberg’s system of composition can reach through your soul, creating an otherworldly sound….
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Music Concert Review: MAGIC HOUR IN LOS ANGELES: AMERICA’S CULTURAL RENAISSANCE OF 1974 (MUSE/IQUE at the Mark Taper Forum)
1974: THE YEAR THAT WAS Still haven’t heard of MUSE/IQUE, Los Angeles? I first discovered this prestigious outfit in 2012 on stage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in a program called Ebony Meets Ivory, a celebration of the piano. Since then, I have thrilled at dozens of MUSE/IQUE events, and they just get more and…
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Music Review: BERNSTEIN AND WOOTEN (LA Phil; Thomas Wilkins, conductor; Victor Wooten, bass)
WOO-HOO, WOOTEN The idea behind this past weekend’s program at the Los Angeles Philharmonic was the influence of jazz on the orchestra, featuring three pieces that cover a span of nearly 125 years. For these two performances, the Phil brought in Thomas Wilkins, Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, to conduct. First up was…
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Highly Recommended Concert: KRONOS QUARTET & GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA PLAY MOONDOG (The Town Hall in New York City, Tuesday April 16, 2024 at 8pm)
FLY ME TO THE MOONDOG Kronos Quartet and the jazz-chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra will perform Music of Moondog at The Town Hall on Tuesday, April 16 at 8 p.m. The concert will be the first time both ensembles collaborate to present their album Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog live in New York City. The performance will also feature David Byrne, and…
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Concert Series Review: STAVE SESSIONS (Celebrity Series of Boston at the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville)
LIGHTS! SOUND! MUSIC! Now in its eighth season, Celebrity Series of Boston offered four nights of innovative music in Somerville’s Crystal Ballroom with the Stave Sessions. Each evening offered a single intermission-free ninety minute performance. The first three evenings included virtuoso real-time performances of singing, flute, guitar, and keyboards mixed with impressive light shows, electronic…
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Cabaret Review: EVERYTHING THE TRAFFIC WILL ALLOW (Klea Blackhurst’s Tribute to Ethel Merman)
BLOW, BLACKHURST, BLOW! When Klea Blackhurst burst onto the stage at Chelsea Table & Stage on March 10 to perform Everything the Traffic Will Allow, one might have well imagined the original Ethel Merman had come to life. Then Blackhurst belted out her first note and it was hard not to be convinced the diva…
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Cabaret Review: MAX RAABE & PALAST ORCHESTER (“Dream a Little Dream” Tour at Symphony Hall, Boston & Carnegie Hall NY)
SMOOTH AS SILK Max Raabe & Palast Orchester brought its “Dream a Little Dream” tour to Boston last night, transporting the Symphony Hall audience to an era of Big Band swing and “hot jazz” in the Berlin and beyond of the 1920s and 1930s. (The show hits Carnegie Hall on March 21.) Bandleader Raabe, who…
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