Celebrity Series of Boston Blog

Welcome to the neighborhood, Central Square Theater

There's a new kid on the theater block (please make him feel welcome, class). Have a look at the Central Square Theater.

Mikis Theodorakis turns 83

Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates dance to the music of Mikis Theodorakis in a scene from Zorba the Greek

Today is the birthday of Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. He began his remarkable life in 1925 on the island of Chios. Most Americans know Theodorakis for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek, Z and Serpico, but he is also a prolific composer, having written numerous symphonies, chamber works, hymns, cantatas, operas and music for various stage productions.

Theodorakis is also known for his political activism and controversial statements on issues of the day. He was imprisoned by the Greek junta, The Regime of the Colonels in 1967, and only released after intense international pressure was brought to bear on the government. He has also served several terms in the Greek parliament.

In honor of his birthday, here are some relevant links:

Mikis Theodorakis official web site

Mikis Theodorakis wikipedia page

Theodorakis sings Romiosini Part I, Part II

Theodorakis sings Ki esi lae vasanismene at a 1974 concert, shortly after the fall of the Regime of the Colonels

Zorba live (2001)

Zorba the Greek wikipedia page

Z wikipedia page

Serpico wikipedia page

Intuition Records (Schott Music)

Orchestra Mikis Theodorakis

Patricia Zander, 1942-2008

Pianist, educator and longtime New England Conservatory faculty member, Patricia Zander has died after a long battle with cancer. Ms. Zander performed for a decade with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, though she only appeared with Mr. Ma on the Celebrity Series once, a Symphony Hall recital in March 1986 (when we were the Wang Celebrity Series). A greater, but perhaps less obvious impact of Ms. Zander's life and work are her many accomplished former students. Former Boston Globe classical music critic, Richard Dyer, thought Zander to be, "Probably the most influential music teacher in the city." Among Ms. Zander's former students, baritone Sanford Sylvan, pianists Judith Gordon and Max Levinson, and violinists Stefan Jackiw and Irina Muresanu, have all appeared on Celebrity Series stages.

Boston Globe obituary

New England Conservatory Announcement

Wish Leon Fleisher a Happy 80th Birthday

The venerable pianist Leon Fleisher turns 80 this year. The Celebrity Series will be celebrating with an all-star lineup of Mr. Fleisher's former students on October 3.

Mr. Fleisher's management has set up a way for the public to post personal birthday wishes for the birthday boy. You can read the posts here. At the bottom of the page is the link to post your own.

Six figures

 

I'm not bragging (boasting? yes, bragging? no), but this blog recently registered its 100,000th page view.

It will also celebrate its third anniversary on August 15 (OK, I'll celebrate, the blog will do whatever it does when I'm not looking). Maybe I'll hire a clown or something...

Stunning dance pics available online from Jacob's Pillow

Dance, compared to the other performing arts, does a great vanishing act. It lives in the moment (most of the time) and then is gone. But in an under appreciated symbiosis between art forms, dance has inspired a steady stream of unforgettable photography since shutters first began clicking in the 19th century.

Now a small slice of one of the dance world's finest collections of historic photography has just been made available for purchase in print form on the Jacob's Pillow web site. Follow the link to the Jacob's Pillow Online Custom Photo Store and click on thumbnail images for each of five categories: 1) Ted Shawn 2) Ruth St. Denis 3) The Men Dancers 4) Around the Pillow and 5) Pillow Artists.

And the livin' is easy . . .

Dateline: June 26, 2008, Boston Massachusetts, The Athens of America

Summer is here (more or less). The long days . . . the warm nights . . . the blast of hot air entering the subway (or, if you prefer, the blast of cold air from your air conditioner as you idle in Cape traffic). Our many venues are empty and now that we aren't (for the moment) careening from one brilliant concert presentation to the next, things are theoretically moving a little slower here at Celebrity Series Towers. The list of possibilities as to how to spend all this idle time is seemingly endless . . .

One might meditate on the past season of memories and championships: Kiri Te Kanawa's Boston Farewell performance in October, Ben Heppner and Thomas Quasthoff's "Das Lied" Best-of-Six series with the Berlin Philharmonic, Sarah Vowell and David Rackoff's National Spoken Word finals triumph, Sir Neville Marriner's gutsy contributions off the bench for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, or Mark Morris' (Boston) conducting debut less than month ago . . .of course, some of us have been meditating all along.

In any case it's time to clean up our rooms, have a nice glass of lemonade in a lawn chair on the roof, have a nice glass of iced tea in a lawn chair on the roof, start that office whiffle ball tournament, spin straw into gold, take a little vacation time while we still can. I know you're wondering what you will do while I'm away,, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten you. Here are a few video appetizers in advance of our 2008-2009 season (Leon Fleisher Celebrates his 80th birthday with us in just 99 days!). Each link is followed by the artist's Celebrity Series performance date:

David Sedaris on Letterman (October 12, 2008, Symphony Hall)

Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian in Armenia (October 19, 2008, NEC's Jordan Hall)

Violinist Chee Yun plays Scherzo from Fritz Kreisler's Recitativo and Scherzo (Rob Kapilow's What Makes It Great? November 15, 2008, NEC's Jordan Hall)

Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder at the Festiwal Ludwiga van Beethovena in Warsaw (Dresden Staatskapelle, November 19, 2008, Symphony Hall)

Soweto Gospel Choir (November 30, 2008, Symphony Hall)

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company (December 12 & 13, 2008, Tsai Performance Center)

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (February 6-8, 2009, Cutler Majestic Theatre)

Golden Dragon Acrobats (February 8, 2009, Symphony Hall)

Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau plays "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (with Anne Sofie von Otter, February 13, 2009, Sanders Theatre)

The Chieftains (March 13, 2009, Symphony Hall)

Blind Boys of Alabama (with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, March 27, 2009, Symphony Hall)

Tenor Ian Bostridge sings Schubert (April 3, 2009, NEC's Jordan Hall)

Bernadette Peters sings "Not a Day Goes By" (April 4, 2009, Symphony Hall)

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, excerpt from "Blues Suite" (April 28-May 3, 2009, Opera House)

There are many more performers appearing in 2008-2009, you can read about all of them (and lots of other swell stuff) here:

http://www.celebrityseries.org

Bye for now . . .

Angela Hewitt plays Bach

Pianist Angela Hewitt plays Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester (that would be Manchester, England, not New Hampshire). Ms. Hewitt makes her Celebrity Series debut on February 22:

David Sedaris on The Daily Show

David Sedaris returns to the Celebrity Series this coming October 12 at Symphony Hall (www.celebrityseries.org). Here is Sedaris promoting his latest book on The Daily Show with John Stewart.

Way to go, Green

Congratulations, Celtics!