A previous performance of Crystal Pite’s The Season’s Canon, which the Boston Ballet reprises, beginning March 5 in the Opera House. Brooke Trisolini photograph
A few notes. Leonore Overture has only gotten sporadic attention lately, and I’m always hoping that will change. And it will, deliberately.
I was in Symphony Hall Jan. 8 to review Samuel Barber’s Vanessa with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Classical Voice North America. It wasn’t a complete success, mainly because of balance. I wasn’t the only reviewer who thought so. But after listening to dozens of BSO semi-stages—usually one at Symphony Hall and one at Tanglewood each year—I still appreciate the effort. It has only sometimes been an incomplete artistically; it has always been an honest attempt to place the music in the foreground.
The scores always deserve the attention, and with Vanessa, every note of the instrumental score seems liberated out of the pit. But that was last month, and you can read more elsewhere. If you think likewise, look forward to Figaro in the Shed this summer.
Zahira Nur Truth, Grandmother, 2019. Collage Mixed Media, 23x17in. Courtesy the artist
At the end of January I saw Sarah Bob’s New Gallery Concert Series program at Longy. I’m happy to have known about NewGal since the beginning, and it’s no secret I admire the artistry and integrity of each presentation.
NewGal explores an area I wish I had written more about: the intersection of the arts. Specifically, visual art and music. To do so, Sarah Bob presents an organizing principal—Women of Valor this time—invites a visual artist to share the stage, commissions/finds/learns new music or just new things, and then puts it together.
The evenings are never didactic; space gets shared, simply put. It’s a personal delight to be among those people, both performers and audience.
As usual these days I wasn’t reviewing, so no prep, no outlet and no notes. I was just experiencing. Zahira Nur Truth, Boston-based painter/collagist, was the featured artist. Go find her work, at ZNT, and absorb her story. She spoke briefly, and her work was displayed.
Amanda Shea mesmerized with two long poem performances. Francine Trester, Cole Reyes and Anthony R. Green contributed chamber works, and Bob began the evening musically with Mary Kouyoumdjian’s set of piano miniatures Aghavni.
I wish I could articulate what makes this all work so well. I too frequently fall back on “organic,” but now that seems lazy to me. In any case, cheers to everyone involved, and thanks.
Courtesy photo above for Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s upcoming three-pact of monodramas by Bolcom, Perera and Floyd. Feb. 21 at Jordan Hall.
Upcoming: some nice assignments, and a spectacular dance. For CVNA, I’ll be at the BSO again for Salonen’s appearances Feb. 12–14, and the following week for Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s three-pack of monodramas by Bolcom, Perera, and Floyd. First week in March: Boston Ballet’s program, including Crystal Pite’s sinuous The Seasons’ Canon.