Music & Dance

Arts

Leon and Richard, Together Again

by Scott Baldinger Bard president and American Symphony orchestra conductor Leon Botstein (above left, in 1975 at the age of 29)  is also the numero uno champion of the 1940 opera Die Liebe der Danae, the gloriously coloristic but neglected work composed in Germany by Richard Strauss (above right, at

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Arts

Louise Lecavalier: Daredevil Dancing at Jacob's Pillow

Dance review by Bess J.M. Hochstein Photos: Andre CornellierLouise Lecavalier is petite, more than 50 years old, sinewy and muscled, and a dare devil dancer with a stage presence that grabs your attention and never lets it go – not only when she is moving with complete physical abandon, but

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Arts

From Cuba to Becket: DanzAbierta's U.S. Debut at Jacob's Pillow

Dance review by Bess J.M. Hochstein Photos by Carlos Furman In DanzAbierta’s hour-long  work, MalSon, the dancers wear gray and black and the sole scenic prop is a gray block, about the size of an super-deep mattress. All color comes from video intermittently projected on the back of

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Arts

Todd Reynolds on the 10th Annual Bang on a Can Festival

The rock band Wilco, which hosted the recent Solid Sound festival, was not the first musical group to commandeer MASS MoCA. In 2002—just three years after the museum was founded – Bang on a Can, a group of musicians and composers dedicated to commissioning, performing, creating, presenting, and recording contemporary

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Arts

Mark Morris Directs Milhaud's Operas-Minutes at Tanglewood

Berkshire audiences are long-accustomed to seeing Mark Morris Dance Group at both Jacob’s Pillow (since 1982) and at Tanglewood (since 2003). This year—MMDG’s 30th anniversary—the company bookends the season, with its pre-BSO-arrival Tanglewood performances last week and its season-closing appearance at Jacob’s Pillow August 24

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Arts

U.S. Debut of Carte Blanche at Jacob’s Pillow: Frosty Moves from Norway

Dance review by Bess J.M. Hochstein Ella Baff is a dance-world star-maker. Each year she travels the globe, reaching out to artists unknown in the United States, extending invitations for them to perform at Jacob’s Pillow. Each spring, in the Festival calendar, she presents the results of her

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Arts

This Week at Jacob’s Pillow: Jane Comfort and Company

Dance preview by Bess J.M. Hochstein “Dance theater,” like its cousin “performance art,” can be a weighted term. Purists of either discipline – dance or theater – tend to view it as a bastardization of both. In the hands of a smart, engaged choreographer/director such as Jane Comfort, who has

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Arts

Ragtime Concert Picnic, a Family Affair

“It’s amazing how many people don’t know what ragtime music is,” says Gwen Gould, Founder and Conductor of the Columbia Festival Orchestra.  “It’s full of energy.  It’s delightful,” says Ragtime expert Dan Paget.  “It’s syncopated sound,” says Webster’s Dictionary, the music considered modern when

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Arts

Larry Keigwin + Company: Sparkle and Sass

Review by Bess J.M. Hochstein Photos: Christopher Duggan courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow When putting together each summer’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Ella Baff ensures that the schedule includes something for everyone. This weekend’s pairing of Keigwin + Company in the Doris Duke Theater, while Ballet Genève

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Arts

Ballet Genève's Romeo and Juliet -- A Somber, Spellbinding Success

Review by Bess J.M. Hochstein Photos: Christopher Duggan courtesy of Jacob's Pillow Those who think about performing arts programming could be forgiven for scratching their heads to find Romeo and Juliet on this season’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival schedule. After all, just two years ago

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Arts

Tony Margherita: The Massachusetts Man Behind the Band Wilco

Tony Margherita has managed Wilco since the band first formed in 1994. The band arrives in North Adams for its second Solid Sound Festival, June 24 - 26, taking over the MASS MoCA campus with a stellar line-up of musical acts, including The Levon Helm Band and Thurston Moore in

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Arts

Melissa Auf der Maur, The Rock Goddess in Our Midst, Appearing at Club Helsinki

This Saturday, March 12, Hudson's own Melissa Auf der Maur (aka MAdM) performs at Club Helsinki Hudson in a rare, experimental show—Hunt for the Heart—a mix of her own repertoire and tributes to those who have influenced her.  Born and raised in Montreal,  where she got

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