Aisle Be Seeing You

Busch & Serkin: Schubert

Presented many times by CS, rarely heard anymore, via Rest is Noise blog: http://tinyurl.com/pccuq7

Stephen Hough's dandy blog: Cadenza

Just to prove that Aisle Be Seeing You takes your intellectual needs seriously and isn't only about shilling for the Celebrity Series (I mean, it is, of course, just not exclusively), I want to share with you a funny, informative, and gently irreverent little blog I just found by pianist Stephen Hough (who isn't even on the Series this season, though he has been on it before and will likely be on it again at some point though I'm not in charge of that so don't ask me).

Cadenza, as the blog is titled, is housed on the web site of the Telegraph newspaper and  has recently wrestled with (or merely pointed at) such topics as the sign banning guns in a Minneapolis concert hall, a poem composed about pronouncing Hough's surname, the pianists Shura Cherkassky, Glenn Gould and Vladimir Horowitz, and the relative merits of sparkling vs. still water.

If you think this blog is the best thing you have ever read (hi, Mom) then you will want to seek medical advice before reading Cadenza to be sure you can handle the upgrade ...

Fliter's joke piano

 

Ingrid Fliter overcame an apparent joke-piano at London's Wigmore Hall. We'll be having none of that when Fliter makes her Boston debut on November 1 at NEC's Jordan Hall (ahem!). Read Times (UK) review.

UPDATE: OK, so it wasn't an actual joke piano, it just did "funny" things...

Suzanne Vega, blogger?

Yup. Suzanne Vega (Nov. 6, Sanders Theatre) has a blog: http://tinyurl.com/q62dwl.

Aisle Be Seeing You is all a-Twitter...

Now feeding you at: http://tinyurl.com/pvg8wk.

Globe: Dawn Upshaw is affable, memorable

Dawn Upshaw did it again. She proved herself a remarkable singer; a communicator of rare consistency and, apparently, a genuinely nice individual (not that that was why the audience was in the house). I'm working on a list of classical music performers that have unusual bonds with audiences and break down barriers to communication. IMHO, these performers are the future of classical music and the things they do, whether calculated or natural, are things I hope other performers will emulate. A case in point, was Ms. Upshaw's recital on Sunday, as recounted by Boston Globe reviewer David Weininger:

"... She is, indisputably, a great singer, with a voice that radiates power and unforced warmth. But her secret weapon is a casual, unpretentious demeanor that lessens the distance between stage and audience. Listeners in her presence experience music not as the inaccessible product of a holy art but as a thing of open, approachable beauty."

Read all of A memorable recital from affable Upshaw, and, remember to get tickets the next time Upshaw is in town for a performance. No matter the context or even the presenter (bite your tongue!) she is a treasure.

Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my SPAM friends

Today's comment spam:

"I am very enjoy your blog, your blog is very true of the bar, hoping to see you more exciting content! I wish you have a happy day!"

It is very true of the bar. It's about time somebody noticed.

The House

You don't leave THE HOUSE - something bad might happen!!

Globe: "Ailey troupe is as vital as ever"

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Sweet Honey In The Rock in Hope Boykin's "Go in Grace"

David Perkins reviewed Tuesday evening's Alvin Ailey American Dance theater performance at The Opera House:

"When Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returned to Boston on Tuesday, beginning a seven-performance run celebrating the company's 50th anniversary, two things were immediately apparent. One, this is no empty relic of a company: Twenty years after the founding genius's death, its spirit is vibrant, its dancers' commitment to every gesture total (down to the final extension of fingers and toes), and Ailey's choreography as fresh and moving as if it had been created yesterday. Two, it takes a lot of talent to add something of equal weight to a program featuring his work."

Read all of Ailey troupe is as vital as ever

Programs continue through Sunday - good seats available for all remaining performances - visit www.celebrityseries.org for programs, times and tickets.