Aisle Be Seeing You

Notes on Hatto-mania

William Barrington-Coupe

I never met Joyce Hatto...have nothing against her...what her husband did is dismaying, disheartening, disreputable, disingenuous, distasteful, and disgusting, and apparently/supposedly it was done largely out of love and compassion...what her husband did makes me wonder if anyone else has ever done what her husband did...

I didn't want to add to Hatto-mania (but I guess I am) because so many others are covering the fiasco so very well. But I do want to pass on two items: 1. One needn't wonder about the authenticity of live performances (hint) 2. If you want to know how many or which recordings have been unmasked, the wikipedians are keeping a tally.

UPDATE: Wondering what the Sam Hill this post is about? Follow this link and catch up.

Evgeny Kissin announces April 29 recital program

 
Evgeny Kissin

Pianist Evgeny Kissin has announced the program for his April 29 recital at Symphony Hall.

Mr. Kissin will be performing at 7pm. Yep, that's seven o'clock in the evening - a bit unusual. Usually we present concerts at 3pm and call them matinees, or at 8pm and call them, well, concerts. I'm not sure what to call a 7pm recital on a Sunday...a matinert? a concertee? a matinital?

Evgeny Kissin's photo is by Boston University alum Sheila Rock.

Dawn Upshaw cancels February 25 recital

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Jack Wright, [email protected]

Bank of America Celebrity Series Announces Cancellation
of Soprano Dawn Upshaw's February 25 Recital at NEC's Jordan Hall

(Boston) Bank of America Celebrity Series, Martha H. Jones, President and Executive Director, today announced that soprano Dawn Upshaw has canceled her Sunday, February 25 recital at NEC's Jordan Hall. Ms. Upshaw is recovering from a cold she developed during last week's West Coast tour. The Celebrity Series is attempting to reschedule the recital to take place during the current (2006-2007) season; therefore ticket holders are requested to retain their tickets until further notice.

Within the next 2 weeks ticket holders will receive a letter regarding the possible reschedule date and explaining the options for exchange or refund. For more information call Bank of America Celebrity Series at (617) 482-2595.

Bank of America Celebrity Series is New England’s leading presenter of music, dance, and the performing arts from around the world. Founded in 1938, the Series incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in 1989. Each year, the Celebrity Series brings to Boston’s major concert halls performances by instrumental and vocal soloists, symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, dance companies, jazz and popular music performers, folk and ethnic performance groups, and other performing artists. The Celebrity Series’ Arts, Education and Community program was initiated in 1984. It reaches over 20,000 students annually through more than 130 activities each year at 225 Boston area schools and organizations, including AileyCamp Boston, a six-week summer dance program for Boston middle school students. For more information on Bank of America Celebrity Series, call (617) 482-2595 or visit us online at www.celebrityseries.org.

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Peter and the Wolf Comes ALIVE!

Peter Frampton (yes, the Peter Frampton of Frampton Comes Alive! fame, see above) will provide the narration for Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with members of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra on March 3, the Cincinnati Post is reporting. Turns out he lives in the Cincinnati area. What? Think I'm making it up?

My question is, will he use that voice modulator thingy so he really sounds like a duck...?

Mark Morris on electronic media

Lies, all lies!

"Video is a lie. The compact disc is a lie. The internet is a lie. Television is a lie. I love them all. All are the past masquerading as the present. All are dead, electronically feigning life. They fool us into thinking that they are contemporaneous with our lives, that they are entertaining us and connecting us, right now, all together.

But they're not. Electronic media separate us, make us live in the past. Strip the electronic gloss from your Trinitron and you realize you're staring at the equivalent of crumbling parchment."

-Choreographer Mark Morris, excerpted from his address at the Midwest Arts Conference, Cleveland, Ohio, September 17, 1998. Source: Mark Morris Dance Group, Celebrating Twenty-five Years.

"Take That, Adolf!" The Royal Ballet's formative years during WWII

Members of the Sadler's Wells Ballet leave Victoria Station for Holland in 1940

It has been nearly 8 months since The Royal Ballet visited Boston with Manon, but I've come across two articles from London papers on the Royal that I find too fascinating to pass up. The occasion for them is the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms exhibit, Dancing Through the War. The exhibit tells, through photographs, letters, descriptions and a short documentary film by Lynne Wake, the story of The Royal Ballet's intense and formative period during World War II. First from The Guardian:

"...in the spring of 1940, the dancers were given their most perilous mission. With Britain still battling Germany for the hearts and minds of mainland Europe, the Vic Wells Ballet was sent off on a propaganda tour of the Netherlands, France and Belgium. Before a cheering public wearing full evening dress, the dancers performed in The Hague on May 6. Four days later, German soldiers parachuted into the streets. In extreme danger, the company remained trapped in their hotel for three days before they could be smuggled out in the stinking hold of a cargo boat, crowded in among refugees and bombed most of the way home by German planes. Later, the Foreign Office admitted that, just days before the tour was due to start, they had become aware of Hitler's intention to invade; they had refused to cancel the tour for fear of compromising military intelligence." Read all of Take That, Adolf!

And from The Telegraph: As Bombs Fell, They Dance On

Ailey announces April program

Linda Celeste Sims in Alvin Ailey's Pas de Duke

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has announced they will perform the following works over the course of their April 26-29 engagement in Boston at Citi Performing Arts Center's Wang Theatre. To find out which pieces are being done on which days, visit the Ailey Boston performance page on our web site.

The Saturday April 28 performance is in honor of Renee Robinson’s
25th anniversary with the Company.

The River (1970)
Choreography: Alvin Ailey
Music: Duke Ellington

The Golden Section (1983) Boston Company Premiere
Choreography: Twyla Tharp
Music: David Byrne

Reminiscin’ (2005)
Choreography: Judith Jamison
Music: Various Artists

Portrait of Billie (1959)
Choreography: John Butler
Music: Billie Holiday

Pas de Duke (1976)
Choreography: Alvin Ailey
Music: Duke Ellington

Grace (1999)
Choreography: Ronald Brown
Music: Various Artists

Sweet Bitter Love (2000) (excerpt)
Choreography: Carmen de Lavallade
Music: Van McCoy

Existence Without Form (2006) Boston premiere
Choreography: Uri Sands
Music: Christian Matjias

Revelations (1960)
Choreography: Alvin Ailey
Music: Traditional

Macaulay named NY Times chief dance critic

Musical America is reporting that Financial Times theatre critic and former chief dance critic of The Times Literary Supplement, Alastair Macaulay, has been named the new chief dance critic for The New York Times. Macaulay will succeed John Rockwell, who is retiring.

Viewing MusicalAmerica.com stories requires a subscription, so I won't torture you by putting up a link. Once someone else covers the story, I'll post a link.

The word is out, Dawn is back

Dawn Upshaw sang a recital a week ago in Oregon. It was her first since completing treatment for breast cancer. David Stabler reviewed her performance for The Oregonian, read The Bald Soprano.

Other posts and current news on Upshaw's return to the stage can be found on The Standing Room.

Keep your shirts on, it isn't summer, yet

Yes, I know it was TRUCK DAY, yesterday, and I'm as excited as anyone that the Red Sox bats, Theo's guitar and those "Eat. Spit. Be Happy" buckets are all on their way to Ft. Myers in a jolly eighteen wheeler. But let me remind you that the home opener (it's Seattle, but don't distract me while I'm making my point) is 57 days away, and during that time there will be cold, and snow (um, maybe) and at least 15 reasons in March alone to hole up at a performance venue near you. So read up on the Grapefruit League in a newspaper or blog (or whatever) for the next 57 mornings and save some quality time for the ahts.