SMUIN REVIVES BROKEN OPEN

LAST WEEKEND in Carmel, Smuin danced two world premiere productions and revived choreographer Amy Seiwert’s masterpiece. (Photo of Terez Dean and Mengjun Chen by Chris Hardy.) For our review, click HERE

COMING UP THIS WEEK

CHANTEUSE LAYNE LITTLEPAGE (right) opens, “The show that puts the comedy back in ‘musical,’” at Carmel’s Cherry Center. She sings Rodgers & Hart, Flanders & Swann, Ivor Novello, Anna Russell, Noel Coward, Cole Porter and a bunch more. FESTA ITALIANA celebrates songs and dances of Renaissance Italy at All Saints’ in Carmel. ALI RYERSON, jazz flute, and ELAINE DOUVAS, classical oboe each have a concert go at Hidden Valley. AVANT GARDEN AFRICA brings new African music to Aptos. “UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MONTEREY POP” raises funds in support of music therapy for children in hospitals, a musical celebration at Folktale Winery. BORN YESTERDAY opens at The Western Stage in Salinas. For details and links, click our CALENDAR

OPERATIC BASS-BARITONE ERIC OWENS

IN CANDID CONVERSATION with Jim Cotter. Click HERE

ABT DANCER RESCUES MAN FROM TRACKS

DANCER GRAY DAVIS lifted an unconscious man from subway tracks then jumped clear of an oncoming train. Professional dancers, like all athletes, must always be in great physical condition. Click HERE

CONCORD BICYCLE BUYS IMAGEM

BEVERLY HILLS FIRM acquires a major trove of musical treasure including Boosey & Hawkes. Forbes suggests a price tag in the neighborhood of $600m. Click HERE

SKY DANCING

BANDALOOP shows how.

IN YOUR FACE

VETERAN DANISH COMPOSER Poul Ruders’ 27-minute Fifth Symphony of 2012-13 gets its world premiere recording by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Olari Elts. This fine new release makes for an excellent introduction to the 68-year-old Ruders’ music, which occupies a unique sound world while honoring the classical tradition of clear formal logic. (He is a favorite of Bridge which has released many CDs of his music.) The first movement shouts a fanfare then, with cops’ whistles, explodes with high energy and masterfully wrought musical rhetoric. The second movement, Tranquillo sognante—including a brief violin solo of personal intimacy—is a polar opposite, circumspect, slow-paced and hypnotic. This gives way to a riotous Avanti danzante, terpsichore on steroids that ends in a sigh. The orchestration is brilliant and the short performance time seems to fly by.

FIVE YEARS FOR TRUMPETEER

DAVID SOLIZ, JR , 42, of Marina was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing trumpets from a Salinas storage unit, trying to fence them back to the owner, a music store in Santa Cruz, then pleading guilty. The sentence, with enhancements, was announced by the Monterey County District Attorney’s office last week.

RON HOWARD TO DIRECT PAVAROTTI DOC

IS THIS REALLY a good idea? Could be Howard’s end. Click HERE anyway.

FRESH DANCE REVIEW

SMUIN BALLET’S “Summer of Love” tribute. Click HERE

Scott MacClelland, editor; Rebecca RC Brooks, associate editor