Celebrity Series of Boston Blog

Giraffe Manor

Warning: This post has nothing to do with the Celebrity Series programming, mission, history, or anything of the sort, but I feel an obligation to share such a wonderful, Dolittle-esque tale lurking in the real world...

Not far from Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, is a hotel in which giraffes roam the grounds freely and lean in the windows to be fed - really. Giraffe Manor's back story, rates and other info can be found here.

Thanks, as so often in the past, to Boing Boing for the link.

Worcester Native to Visit Boston with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Isaac Spencer is that increasingly common item, a successful modern dancer from the Greater Boston area. Kirvin Boyd of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is from Boston, and David Leventhal and Marjorie Folkman of the Mark Morris Dance Group are from Newton and Brookline, respectively. All three dancers are seen regularly on Celebrity Series stages. Now Isaac Spencer, a native of Worcester, Mass., is coming to town with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (March 3-5, The Shubert Theatre). Spencer recently spoke with Richard Duckett of The Worcester Telegram & Gazette for a feature article: Dancing is 'something I have to do.'

I'm curious, can anyone out there come up with more Boston dancers (natives of Boston) that have visited with national or international companies? (They don't have to been presented by the Celebrity Series...)

Maurizio Pollini Revises April 30 Program

Italian piano master Maurizio Pollini has announced the program for his
April 30 solo piano recital at Symphony Hall:

UPDATE: Maurizio Pollini has updated the program for his April 30 recital.

The new program is listed below:

Chopin
Two Nocturnes, Opus 55
    No. 1 in F minor
    No. 2 in E-flat Major
Ballade in G minor, Opus 23
Two Nocturnes, Opus 48
    No. 1 in C minor
    No. 2 in F-sharp minor
Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Opus 44

Liszt
Nuages gris
Unstern: sinistre, disastro
La lugubre gondola I (Die Trauergondel)
R.W.—Venezia
Piano Sonata in B minor

David Sedaris in The New Yorker

OK, so he isn't coming to the Celebrity Series until May 3, but I can't pass up a chance to post on David Sedaris.

In this week's "Shouts and Murmurs" in The New Yorker, Sedaris gives us a glimpse of how his family caught the art collecting bug. In Suitable for Framing, A Family of Experts, he chronicles his own burgeoning hobby, how it was co-opted by his parents and, finally, the art he and his siblings ultimately came to treasure most:

"One by one, my sisters and I left home, and the back yard became a dumping ground. Snakes nested beneath broken bicycles and piles of unused building supplies, but on return visits we would each screw up our courage and step onto the patio for an audience with Mr. Toadstool. 'You and that lawn ornament,” my mom would say. “Honest to God, you’d think you’d been raised in a trailer.'"

Read the complete New Yorker essay.

Golijov and Souza at Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center is in the midst of a festival of music by composer (and Boston resident) Osvaldo Golijov (our own tribute took place over several performances during the 2003-04 season). His La Pasion Segun San Marcos (The Passion According to St. Mark), commissioned in tribute to J.S. Bach in 2000, received reviews this week from Cafe Aman (the blog of Billboard Magazine classical music critic Anastasia Tsioulcas), The Emory Wheel (by Rachel Zelkowitz), and The New York Times (by Anthony Tommasini).

Among those who have performed La Pasion Segun San Marcos regularly is vocalist Luciana Souza (she is a featured performer on the 2001 La Pasion recording linked above). The Celebrity Series has presented her before - when she was a Bostonian during the 1990s - and we are proud to be doing so again. Ms. Souza will perform with guitarist Romero Lubambo and share a double bill with saxophonist Joe Lovano at Sanders Theatre on March 18.

I also want to seize the opportunity to tell you to visit (and revisit) Cafe Aman. I know I will.

Andres Segovia, born Feb. 21, 1893

Today is the birthday of guitarist Andres Segovia, born on this date in 1893. The Celebrity Series presented Andres Segovia 22 times over the course of his lifetime, first in February of 1949 and for the final time in March of 1984. (from CLASSICALmanac.com)

The Cottars to Join The Chieftains

Those kids from Cape Breton are growing up. The Cottars, the teenage quartet (two brother/sister pairs) from Canada's musically rich Celtic enclave have just released a CD, Forerunner (link includes samples), on Rounder Records and on March 2 they will begin a 23-city tour with The Chieftains  that includes Boston (that's where we come in). They come to Boston and the Celebrity Series on March 11.

In a Boston Herald article back in early January, Dan Gewertz picked The Cottars as one of 2006's breakthrough folk acts:

"Together for five years, these Cape Breton teens will release their first American album on Rounder Records in two weeks and then join The Chieftains for a 23-city tour. The Cottars used to be prepubescent adorable. Now, ages 15 to 17, they're on the verge of teen sexy. Their brilliant Celtic folk has added a hint of pop, and their beseeching vocals offset the instrumental excitement." Full article.

Other special guests joining The Chieftains on March 11 will include harpist Triona Marshall, along with guitarist and vocalist, Jeff White; the fiddling (Jon) & step dancing (Jon and Nathan) Ottawans, The Pilatzke Brothers; and traditional Irish step-dancer and long-time Boston favorite, Cara Butler. And of course someone from the Boston musical community always shows up at the stage door for the encores...

UPDATE: Take a look at this post to see some photos from The Chieftains Symphony Hall show.

Ms. Podles's Encores and Mr. Dyer's Review

Contralto Ewa Podles brought down the house in her Celebrity Series debut recital at Jordan Hall Friday night. Ms. Podles sang two encores: Rossini's "Cruda sorte" from L’italiana in Algieri and Tchaikovsky's Zemphira's Song.

Richard Dyer reviewed the performance for The Boston Globe.

Murray Perahia Cancels Boston recital

Murray Perahia has canceled his Celebrity Series recital scheduled for Friday, March 31 at 8 p.m. at Symphony Hall due to a flare-up of an earlier finger injury. While he has recovered substantially, doctors advised that it was premature to undertake a ten-city national tour.

Ticket holders will be notified by mail of options to exchange tickets or request refunds.

For more information calll Bank of America Celebrity Series at (617) 482-2595.

February 16 birthdays from CLASSICALmanac

Today's birthday's - well, three of them (thanks to CLASSICALmanac).

• Pianist Alexander Brailowsky was born on this date in 1896 (Celebrity Series: 1946, '48, and '50)
• Composer John Corigliano was born on this date in 1938
• British Royal Ballet former dancer and artistic director Anthony Dowell was born on this date in 1943