EVOLUTION OF POPULAR DANCE since 1950
NEW THIS WEEK
“FROM THE BALCONY”
MONTEREY SYMPHONY bass trombone, Will Baker, inaugurates a new Friday series in Carmel at Hampton Court (SW corner, San Carlos & 7th) for one half hour, this Friday, 3:45pm. Common social distancing requested. Click HERE
SUNSET CENTER UPDATE
AS REPORTED by executive director Christine Sandin. First public event, November 3, when polls open there for registered voters.
HOWARD BURNHAM LIVE ON LINE
HIS ONE-MAN recitation of His Shoes Were Far Too Tight: a self-portrait of Edward Lear, Saturday, 5:30pm. Register HERE
“IN THE SHADOW OF CORONA”
A LIVE POETRY READING from Carmel’s Cherry Center via Zoom, this Sunday, 3pm. Monterey County poets Jennifer Lagier Fellguth, George Lober, Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts and Patrice Vecchione will read recent poems drawn from the pandemic and shelter-in-place. $15 suggested donation. Login and password will be sent with reservation on or before Saturday, August 29th. For questions regarding this program call 624-7491. Click HERE
WATCH BERNSTEIN’S CANDIDE
THE KNIGHTS PRODUCTION AT TANGLEWOOD this afternoon at 4pm; will remain available through September 4. Click HERE
SF SYMPHONY “CURRENTS”
A NEW SERIES OF PODCASTS available now. Click HERE
LA PHIL TO STREAM FREE CONCERTS
STARTING September 25, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Phillharmonic will stream the first of nine concert videos filmed at Hollywood Bowl in a series called Sound/Stage. Click HERE
UP CLOSE WITH LANG LANG
IN THE GREENE SPACE in New York, interviewed by Clemency Burton-Hill
WYNTON MARSALIS’ SHORT LIST
THE ESSENTIAL jazz recordings of the last 120 years, including sample tracks. Click HERE
THE HYPERTRAGIC NOTCH
AQUARELLES brings together three world class musicians: flutist Bonita Boyd, cellist Steven Doane and pianist Barry Snyder, performing four classic rarities from their repertoire. Bonita Boyd began her career with the Rochester Philharmonic under David Zinman, becoming the youngest principal flutist of a major American orchestra. Steven Doane and Barry Snyder have recorded extensively. Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) led a peripatetic life and left an enormous body of music in all forms. Born on the border between Bohemia and Moravia, he absorbed stylistic features of most 20th century prominent composers. This trio, from 1944, is full of fun with a meditative theme and variations Adagietto between two cheeky allegrettos. The album takes its title from three “aquarelles” (water colors) by French composer Philippe Gaubert, well known to flutists everywhere. The movements cross a single day, titled ‘On a clear morning’ with rippling piano that grows in animation almost to the point of ecstasy; ‘Autumn evening’ which turns melancholy, and ‘Serenade’ which is laced with Spanish flavors from the Basque region. Jean-Michel Damase (1928-2013) is best known for his clear, neo-Classical technique and tonal subtlety. His Sonate en concert of 1952, originally for flute and piano, takes the form of a Baroque French suite, and welcomes in a cello ad libitum that adds the Baroque element of continuo bass line. Its final gigue is a merry steeplechase, echoing a loony, bouncing rigaudon from earlier on. The short-lived Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) completed his G minor trio in 1819. It’s a work of heroic character and ambition. The Scherzo, with its cavorting flute, is, well, cute. The third movement, titled Schäfers Klage (shepherd’s lament), borrowed its tune from a song composed by Wilhelm Ehlers to a popular poem by Goethe. The finale borrows material from the composer’s celebrated opera Der Freischütz which Weber was busy completing at the same time. For such a mixed bag of tricks, this new CD offers many gems. SM
THE ULTIMATE PAVAROTTI QUIZ
THINK YOU KNOW the great tenor’s trivia? Click HERE
WHAT THE HECK?!
A TROMBA MARINA (trumpet marine), one of the strangest instruments ever invented, was used during the European medieval and Renaissance periods yet actually retained some popularity in the first half of the eighteenth century. The tromba marina’s innocent ancestor was the monochord, a single-stringed instrument used in medieval monasteries to rediscover the physics of sound, and later to find pitches. At some point, the monochord acquired the tromba marina’s most distinctive feature: a vibrating bridge. When played with a bow, the vibration of the string causes one foot of the bridge to vibrate against the soundboard, creating a brassy buzz. Add to this the fact that when you play high harmonics on the long string you’ve got yourself a trumpet. (A little imagination helps.) It truly has to be heard to be believed. The trumpet marine has one string, typically tuned to the C three octaves below middle C. It is played entirely with harmonics which are produced by lightly touching one’s thumb to the string at nodal points. This concept of playing in the harmonic series is identical to playing a bugle.
JOHN WINEGLASS WITH DANIEL STEWART
SANTA CRUZ SYMPHONY PREMIERE of Bonny Doon: From the Misty Redwoods down to the Mighty Pacific.
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Scott MacClelland, editor; Rebecca CR Brooks, associate editor