Top things to do in Tampa Bay this week Sugar Sand Festival, dog athletes, blues festival
Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival: The annual sand sculpting festival opens Friday, April 11, and runs over three weekends through April 27. There are free activities for all ages, including a children's play area, street performers, artisans, live entertainment, fireworks each Saturday night, sand sculpting classes, speed sand demonstrations and the master sand sculpting competition. It's $14 to see the exhibit of more than a dozen sand sculptures, age 3 and younger free. The exhibit is open Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; and Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Located next to Pier 60 at 1 Causeway Blvd., Clearwater Beach. sugarsandfestival.com.
Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge: Some of the nation's top canine athletes representing 10 states will compete in an array of events from high-flying disc routines, head-to-head weave pole racing, large, medium and small dog agility courses, and the fan favorite diving dog competition. Free and open to the public, including well-behaved dogs on leashes. 1 p.m. Friday, April 11; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 12. Coachman Park, 300 Cleveland St., Clearwater.
The Florida Orchestra: The Soldier's Tale: This groundbreaking work by Stravinsky tells the story of a soldier who makes a deal with the devil in disguise. Chelsea Gallo conducts. Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m. at New Tampa Performing Arts Center; Friday, April 11, 7:30 p.m., at Church of the Ascension in Clearwater; and Saturday, April 12, 2 p.m., Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg. Tickets start at $25. floridaorchestra.org.
Tampa Bay Blues Kickoff Party: Ronnie Baker Brooks and North Mississippi Allstars; Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m., at the Palladium at St. Petersburg College, 253 Fifth Ave. N., St. Petersburg. Tickets start at $30. tampabaybluesfest.com.
Tampa Bay Blues Festival: With Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram, Tab Benoit, JJ Grey & Mofro as headliners, the festival, which debuted in 1995, has become one of the area's top blues gatherings. April 11-13, at Vinoy Park, 701 Bayshore Drive NE, St. Petersburg. Single day tickets are $75. A 3-day pass is $180. tampabaybluesfest.com.
Kathleen Madigan: One of the premiere stand-up comedians, Madigan returns to the Mahaffey on her Day Drinking Tour. Saturday, April 12, 7 p.m., at the Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg. Tickets start at $41.50. TheMahaffey.com.
Chris Tucker: Wednesday, April 9, 8 p.m., in the Hard Rock Event Center at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 5223 Orient Road, Tampa. Tickets start at $103. Visit ticketmaster.com or seminolehardrocktampa.com.
Carin Leon: Thursday, April 10, 8 p.m., at Amalie Arena, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. Tickets start at $45.75. Visit www.ticketmaster.com.
Opera Tampa: Opera Tampa presents Puccini's 'La Boheme,' which takes you back to Paris in 1830, where penniless, cold and starving characters thrive on tunes that come from the heart. 8 p.m. Friday, April 11, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 13. The Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa. 813-229-7827.
The Millennium Tour featuring Trey Songz, Omarion and more: Saturday, April 12, 8 p.m., at the Yuengling Center, 12499 USF Bull Run Drive, Tampa. Tickets start at $69.75. ticketmaster.com.
18th annual Pinellas Pepper Fest: The festival of flavorful explosion includes specialty exhibitors and food trucks that will tantalize your taste buds with special dishes and desserts, fiery sauces, salsas, rubs and more. Try hundreds of samples, from mild to wild, and explore pepper plants, local arts and crafts, gadgets and kitchenware. Free. facebook.com/PinellasPepperFest. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13. England Brothers Park, 5010 Dave McKay Way, Pinellas Park.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival: Guests can sip and savor their way through flavorful eats and mouthwatering treats each weekend of the event. This weekend also brings Michael Ray on Saturday, April 12, known for hits like 'Think a Little Less' and 'Whiskey and Rain,' And Sunday, April 13, brings Fuel, the award-nominated multi-platinum rock band and Lit, which came comes out of the post-grunge era of the late '90s with hits like 'My Own Worst Enemy' and 'Miserable'. Runs weekends through May 18. 10165 McKinley Drive, Tampa. buschgardens.com.
Record Store Day: The annual holiday for music fans returns on Saturday, April 12, with special vinyl releases and events at participating record stores. More than 370 special vinyl LP releases are coming to store shelves, featuring hits from Taylor Swift, Gorillaz, Charli XCX, Sting and other prominent artists. You can find a participating store at recordstoreday.com.
Tampa Bay Rowdies: The Rowdies home opener will be Saturday, April 12, against Loudoun United FC at Al Lang Stadium in St. Pete. In honor of its 50th anniversary, the team will hold theme nights. Tickets are $20-$81 at Al Lang Stadium, 230 First St. SE, St. Petersburg. rowdiessoccer.com.
Invisible Immigrants: The Tampa Bay History Center is the first museum is in the U.S. to host this exhibit, which had a four-year run in major Spanish cities. 'Invisible Immigrants. Spaniards in the U.S. (1868–1945)' is on display through Aug. 3. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets are $18.95, students $15.95, age 6 and younger free. 801 Water St., Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org.
The Lion King: Disney's six time Tony Award winning musical featuring stunning backdrops and recognizable music by Elton John and Tim Rice. TBA 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa. (813) 229-7827.
National Geographic Live: Untold Story of Sharks with Jess Cramp: Dr. Jess Cramp taps into the National Geographic archives to discover the work of 20th-century women leading shark science and storytelling before she dives into her own cutting-edge research and conservation. Swim alongside her under the vibrant waters of the South Pacific to find out what it truly means to save sharks. Starting at $25. 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 15. The Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa. 813-229-7827. strazcenter.org
Blueberry Festival: Join Keel Farms for its annual festival with fresh blueberry U-pick, a blueberry shortcake eating contest and family-friendly activities like camel rides. Fridays and Saturdays April 6-7, 13-14, 20 and 27-18. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Keel Farms, 5202 W Thonotosassa Road, Plant City.
Trail Fun Run: This is a free walk/run. Join Healthy St. Pete and the St. Pete Running Company the second Saturday of every month. 8-9 a.m. Saturday, April 12. Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. 1101 Country Club Way S., St. Petersburg.
Carmen Ciricillo: April 11-12, 8:30 p.m., at Clearwater Comedy Club, 483 Mandalay Ave., Clearwater. Tickets are $20. 727-435-0327. clearwatercomedyclub.com.
Art in Bloom: From Thursday, April 10, to Sunday, April 13, visitors are invited to view floral interpretations inspired by masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts collection. This event features the stunning creativity of floral designers from across the state and beyond. Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg.
Chicago: Friday, April 11, 8 p.m., at The BayCare Sound at Coachman Park, 255 Drew St., Clearwater. Tickets start at $39. rutheckerdhall.com. 727-791-7400.
Puppy Hamlet: To bark or not to bark? That's never a question in this improv version of Hamlet starring a cast of adoptable puppies. $48 at American Stage Raymond James Theatre, 163 Third St. N, St. Petersburg. 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12.
Tampa Bay Rodeo: See a full rodeo and family festival with bull riding, bronco busting, barrel racing, calf roping, team roping and bull dogging at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds. Friday-Saturday, April 11-12. Gates open at 5 p.m., rodeo starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $40, $25 for children at the fairgrounds, 215 Sydney Washer Road, Dover. TampaRodeo.com.
Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival: Indulge in a variety of culinary experiences and dinners at this festival running April 8-12 at various locations. Restaurants on both sides of the bay will have tasting dinners and it will all end up in a Grand Tasting on Saturday, April 12, at 1 p.m. in Curtis Hixon Park, 600 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa, where $150 gets you all-inclusive admission with samplings from 40 of Tampa Bay's signature restaurants and complimentary cocktails and wine tastings throughout. Tickets are $150-$300 at tampabaywff.com.
American Stage in the Park: Hair: The Tony-winning musical set in the 1960s era of flower power, protests and free love, runs every Wednesday-Sunday through April 27 at Demens Landing Park at Bayshore Drive and Second Avenue S., St. Petersburg. This week features Pets in the Park Night (pets are encouraged to dress up as a flower child on April 12); . Tickets are $38-$58, with options for premium areas or reserved chairs at americanstage.org/shows/hair or by calling the box office at 727-823-7529. The show runs Wednesday-Sunday through April 27.
Glow Putt Putt Pop-Up: Sparkman Wharf and Water Street Tampa, Downtown Tampa. In celebration of The Masters, these two venues are transforming into a vibrant, after-dark mini-golf experience. Each location will feature a 9-hole illuminated course, filled with glowing obstacles, fun challenges, and an electrifying atmosphere. $10. tinyurl.com/3mfw8ny4. 6-10 p.m., April 11-12.
Sabor Cubano Fest: Immerse yourself in the vibrant rhythms, mouthwatering flavors, and rich traditions of Cuba at Sabor Cubano Fest, Tampa Bay's premier celebration of Cuban culture. General admission $7, children under 12 years old admitted free. saborcubanofest.com. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. April 12. Al Lopez Park, 4810 N Himes Ave., Tampa.
Lane 8: Saturday, April 12, 7 p.m., at The BayCare Sound at Coachman Park, 255 Drew St., Clearwater. Tickets start at $38.70. rutheckerdhall.com. 727-791-7400.
Mac McAnally: Saturday, April 12, 8 p.m., at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater. Tickets start at $43.25. rutheckerdhall.com. 727-791-7400.
Air Supply: Sunday, April 13, 7 p.m., at The BayCare Sound at Coachman Park, 255 Drew St., Clearwater. Tickets start at $30. rutheckerdhall.com. 727-791-7400.
Rumble 100 Car Show: Don't miss out on this fun, family-friendly event. Collector cars in several different categories will be judged and awarded prizes. Food and refreshments will be served. 8-11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 12. Hunter Memorial Park, County Road 233, Belleair.
Folly Faire: Visit Folly Farm's nursery for a plant sale and ask a master gardener questions. Come and enjoy music, participate in family friendly nature activities and kids crafts. Held the second Saturday of each month. 9 a.m.-noon. Saturday, April 12. Folly Farm Nature Preserve, 1538 Dr. MLK St. N., Safety Harbor.
Haiku Palozza at Jack's House: Held at the historic Jack Kerouac House, cohost Tim Huff will give a talk about the history of traditional haiku and will discuss Jack's intense relationship with haiku. There will be a reading of his haikus before an open mic session. Enjoy special Haiku pastries from Chef Shelley. 5169 10th Ave. N, St. Petersburg. $10 on Eventbrite. 3-6 p.m. Sunday, April 13.
Mickey Dolenz: Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m., at the Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, 405 Cleveland St., Clearwater. Tickets start at $69.50. rutheckerdhall.com. 727-791-7400.
Loquat Festival: The only festival of its kind in the U.S. focuses on the loquat tree. It opens at 10 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. at Sims Park in New Port Richey. The festival will have preserves, trees, brochures, scones, loquat-inspired crafts, lectures, seeds, poetry books and fresh fruit. Saturday, April 12. 6341 Bank St., New Port Richey. Free.
For Love or Money: Huey Lewis & Eddie Money Tribute: Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m., at the Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo. Tickets start at $29.50. LargoArts.com. 727-587-6793.
Matthew and Gunnar Nelson: Ricky Nelson Remembered: Friday, April 11, 8 p.m., at the Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo. Tickets are $24.50. LargoArts.com. 727-587-6793.
The Henhouse Prowlers: Sunday, April 13, 7 p.m., at the Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo. Tickets are $19.50. LargoArts.com. 727-587-6793.
St. Pete Beach Corey Area Craft Festival: Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Corey Avenue in St. Pete Beach. Admission is free. artfestival.com.
Ariella and Nicolaas: Wednesday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., at the Palladium at St. Petersburg College, 253 Fifth Ave. N., St. Petersburg. Tickets start at $30. mypalladium.org.
Leprous: Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m., at Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg. Tickets are $30 in advance. jannuslive.com.
Anjelah Johnson-Reyes: Friday, April 11, 7 p.m., at the Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg. Tickets start at $36. Visit TheMahaffey.com.
For Closure! April 11-May 11, at freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-498-5205. freefalltheatre.com.
Scotty Wright: Sunday, April 13, 3 p.m., at the Palladium at St. Petersburg College, 253 Fifth Ave. N., St. Petersburg. Tickets start at $10. Visit mypalladium.org.
Chiodos: Tuesday, April 15, 6 p.m., at Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg. This show is sold out. jannuslive.com.
Billy Strings: Wednesday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., at the Yuengling Center, 12499 USF Bull Run Drive, Tampa. Tickets start at $39.50. ticketmaster.com.
Trapt: Friday, April 11, 6:30 p.m., at the Brass Mug, 1450 Skipper Road, Tampa. Tickets start at $25. facebook.com/brassmugtampa.
Akaash Singh: April 11-12, at Side Splitters, 12938 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. Tickets start at $36. Call 813-960-1197 or visit www.sidesplitterscomedy.com.
Project Nine: Saturday, April 12, 7 p.m., at the Brass Mug, 1450 Skipper Road, Tampa. Tickets start at $10. facebook.com/brassmugtampa.
Kids Film Series: A Dog's Purpose: Saturday, April 12, 10 a.m., at New Tampa Performing Arts Center, 8550 Hunters Village Road, Tampa. Tickets start at $5. newtampaartscenter.org.
The Dollyrots: Sunday, April 13, 6 p.m., at Crowbar, 1812 N. 17th St., Tampa. Tickets start at $17. Visit www.crowbarybor.com.
Eddie Griffin: Sunday, April 13, 8 p.m., in the Hard Rock Event Center at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 5223 Orient Road, Tampa. Tickets start at $50. Visit Ticketmaster.com or seminolehardrocktampa.com.
Cheekface: Tuesday, April 15, 7 p.m., at Crowbar, 1812 N. 17th St., Tampa. Tickets start at $22. Visit www.crowbarybor.com.
Art in the Park: Explore a vibrant collection of artworks created and available for purchase by the talented members of the Creative Artists Guild of Dunedin. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, April 13. John R. Lawrence Pioneer Park, 420 Main St., Dunedin.
The Market Marie: Shop local with over 85 small business owners every second Saturday. Enjoy live music, delicious food, art, clothing, jewelry, henna, handmade candles, soap, pet treats, home goods and more. 10 a.m. Saturday, April 12. Coachman Park, 300 Cleveland St., Clearwater.
Largo Live: Gather up the family, grab your blankets and chairs, and enjoy an evening of live music, games, food trucks, and more every Friday. This month's performer is Samantha Jane Band. On-site parking is available. No personal alcohol is permitted. Pets on a leash are permitted. 7-9 p.m. Friday, April 11. Ulmer Park, 301 W. Bay Drive, Largo.
Also compiled by Lee Clark Zumpe, Tampa Bay Newspapers.
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Los Angeles Times
16-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Is there a Los Angeles musical style?
The composer and critic Virgil Thomson once defined American music as music written by Americans. There is no arguing with that. Less obvious, however, is figuring out what, if anything, describes L.A. music. Los Angeles is the home of film music. The two most influential classical composers of the first half of the 20th century, Stravinsky and Schoenberg, lived here. (In Stravinsky's case, the Russian composer spent more of his life in L.A. than in any other city.) The composer with the most radical influence on the second half of the 20th century, John Cage, was born and grew up here. Ferreting out L.A.'s bearing on jazz and the many, many aspects of popular music, as well as world music, is a lifetime's effort. Yet these seeming incongruities of musical life are what fascinate the most. Schoenberg and Stravinsky, for instance, flirted, if futilely, with writing Hollywood film scores. The money was a lure. The possibility of reaching the masses, irresistible. Picture Schoenberg, in 1935, in the office of Hollywood's prevailing film producer, Irving Thalberg, offering untenable requirements to score MGM's feature film adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's 'The Good Earth.' Picture the composer, considered by many the instigator of the most daunting music of all time, asking for $50,000 (more than $1.1 million today adjusted for inflation) and full control of the movie's sound, including having the actors recite their lines to his rhythms and suggested pitches. Picture, again, eight decades later and 3,000 miles away, the head of the Opera of the Future project in his office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's ultra-futuristic Media Lab, mulling over an idea for an opera based on that remarkable Thalberg incident as a way to examine the profound implications of art and entertainment had Schoenberg been given the green light. A new production of Tod Machover's 'Schoenberg in Hollywood,' which had its premiere in Boston seven years ago, finally reaches L.A. on Sunday afternoon for the first of four performances by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music at the Nimoy. Those very names — Schoenberg, who taught at UCLA from 1936 to 1944, Alpert and Leonard Nimoy — couldn't better illustrate the marvelous fantasy of L.A. musical juxtapositions. Also Sunday at First Lutheran Church of Venice, the Hear Now Music Festival concludes its 2025 season of three concerts. This festival is L.A.'s most dedicated resource for surveying local music. Over the last 14 years, it has featured more than 200 composers, from the most famous to the most obscure, from academia and from Hollywood, be they John Williams, an electronic wizard at CalArts or a kid fiddling away with a guitar in the garage. The idea of artistic place and physical place are at the heart of Hear Now. If L.A. music is anything, it is a music that challenges the notions of borders. The festival came about because its co-founder, composer Hugh Levick — who divides his time between France, Spain and Venice Beach — said the music that his L.A. colleagues were writing was easier to hear being performed abroad than in venues here. Composers in L.A. are far-flung. Looking at universities alone, UCLA, USC, CalArts, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, Pomona College and the Cal State campuses in Northridge, Long Beach and Fullerton are all centers of musical activity that have had widespread influence. The seeds of Minimalism, the most prominent style of late 20th century music as propagated most famously by Philip Glass and Steve Reich, can be traced to Los Angeles City College in the 1950s. That's where La Monte Young — while studying with, and finding encouragement from, pianist Leonard Stein (who had been Schoenberg's assistant) — began to consider what would happen if he radically slowed everything down. I sat down with Levick recently to discover what he had learned from the festival. Having coffee at a Santa Monica cafe, we were near a cottage where Cage had lived in the early 1930s, when he found his first music job. It was as an assistant to pioneering animator Oskar Fischinger, who came into artistic conflict with Walt Disney over 'Fantasia.' Cage didn't last long, falling asleep on the job and dropping a lighted cigarette on flammable celluloid. Levick has probably encountered a greater variety of composers in this part of the world than anyone else. The way Hear Now works is that any composer can submit scores, so I asked the obvious questions. Could he detect any commonality, as one might in, say, Paris or Berlin? Is there West Coast and East Coast music as there once seemed to be? Does L.A. have its own sound or maybe laid-back sensibility? 'Not really,' Levick said. 'There are people whom you could vaguely put together stylistically. They may have obvious influences, but mostly they have gone their own way. What is a little different about the West Coast and the East Coast is there is a certain fluidity and flexibility here and certain rigidity on the East Coast.' When asked what has surprised him over the years, Levick pointed to the fact that although John Williams, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Thomas Adès and Andrew Norman may attract audiences, curiosity also drives crowds. Of this year's festival, which features works by 28 composers, I've previously encountered only four. Even Levick was surprised by the great many submissions from composers he didn't know. Yet that turns out to be a draw. At this year's festival, the first two programs were sold out. I attended the first at 2220 Arts + Archives in March devoted to often arcane electro-acoustic music, and it attracted a diverse and enthusiastic audience taking pleasure in not knowing what to expect. No two works were remotely the same. If Levick shies away from generalization, he too is a composer not easily pinned down. He started out as a fiction writer who, while living in Paris, chanced upon avant-garde jazz and took up the saxophone. That led him naturally to classical avant-garde. The concert Sunday will feature his latest work, 'The Song of Prophet X,' for speaker/singer and piano quartet, a similar configuration that Schoenberg used in his antiwar 'Ode to Napoleon,' We cannot escape Schoenberg. This season has seen widespread celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth. Last year, on April 30, Hear Now ended its festival with a large-scale concert given at the UCLA music department's Schoenberg Hall and featuring the UCLA Philharmonia conducted by Neal Stulberg, the same forces tackling Machover's 'Schoenberg in Hollywood.' The campus was on edge from news of a violent attack on a Palestinian protest that day just across from Schoenberg Hall. Hear Now, nevertheless, went on as scheduled. The concert was not a political statement, the music had nothing to do with protest movements. Even so, the symbolism of the occasion was impossible to ignore. Schoenberg, who had fled Nazi Germany, wrote scores of protest music such as 'Ode to Napoleon' and 'Survivor From Warsaw.' He also dallied with Hollywood. Schoenberg might ultimately be seen as the great juxtaposition. Leonard Stein and John Cage were in Schoenberg's UCLA classes. Film composers David Raksin ('Laura') and Leonard Rosenman ('East of Eden') studied with Schoenberg. Both Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman brought up Schoenberg when I interviewed them, and it was their world of progressive jazz that led Hugh Levick to Hear Now. Could we then define L.A. music as simply be music of, and open to, juxtapositions?
San Francisco Chronicle
03-05-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: S.F. Symphony and Giancarlo Guerrero deliver orchestral showstoppers
Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero's two previous appearances with the San Francisco Symphony amply showcased his flair for colorful, dramatic music. After a two-year gap, he's back at Davies Symphony Hall with a program of glittering orchestral showpieces. The late Kaija Saariaho composed 'Asteroid 4179: Toutatis' in 2005 as a complement to a Berlin Philharmonic concert featuring Gustav Holst's 'The Planets.' The asteroid in question is tiny and irregularly shaped, and at about four minutes in length, the music matches the object's scale. In addition to the astronomical theme, there are the typical Saariaho trademarks: beautiful, ingeniously layered orchestration and power that wells up over the course of the work. The piece opens with crystalline transparency, a piccolo, percussion and celesta floating above the larger orchestra. Massed brass instruments interrupt, and after a brief climax, the orchestra dies away into silence. It was a thoughtful start to this flashy program heard on Friday, May 2, the first of two concerts at Davies, concluding on Saturday, May 3. Igor Stravinsky's great ballet score 'Petrushka' unfolds on a completely different scale, taking some 40 minutes to tell the story of three puppets brought to life by a magician. Guerrero led a taut, exciting account of the work, performed in Stravinsky's revised 1947 version. One of the Costa Rican conductor's superpowers is his ability to throw a spotlight on a piece's structure through knife-edge timing and control of dynamics. Another is knowing when to step back and let the musicians do their thing. Tight ensemble playing was a hallmark of this 'Petrushka.' At the same time, Guerrero gave associate principal flute Blair Francis Paponiu complete freedom in her beautifully played cadenza. The conductor's emphasis on sharply articulated rhythms paid off throughout the work, especially in 'The Grand Carnival' section, when competing bands seemingly play in different meters. Every crescendo and decrescendo was perfectly timed. Occasionally, a section or player was drowned out in the welter of sound. John Wilson's casual virtuosity on piano, positioned right in front of the conductor, was a highlight of the 'Russian Dance,' but Guerrero covered Wilson's playing too often in the opening tableau. The strings were sometimes obliterated by the brass. Nonetheless, this was a thrilling account of a great work. What do Stravinsky and Ottorino Respighi have in common? Both composers studied with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the great orchestrators of the 19th century, and both came away with enormous skill in handling huge forces. The second half of Friday's program was devoted to Respighi's 'Fountains of Rome' and 'Pines of Rome,' flamboyant blockbusters that have to walk a fine line to avoid turning into kitsch. (This is never an issue with Stravinsky.) Guerrero performed them with a straight face, and his enormous technical skill and ear for color and dynamics made this music sound better than perhaps it fundamentally is. The first work makes its way around Rome, picturing fountains in different locations throughout the day. The 'Valle Giulia' movement, with chiming winds and a prominent celesta part, seemingly pays homage to Richard Strauss' opera 'Der Rosenkavalier.' Special kudos to Marc Shapiro, whose celesta playing contributed beautifully to all four works on the program, and to principal oboe Eugene Izotov and principal flute Yubeen Kim for their work in both Respighi pieces. The brass, too, played brilliantly throughout. It's an oddity of 'Pines of Rome' that the splashy first movement, 'The Pines of the Villa Borghese,' sounds more like an actual fountain than anything in 'Fountains of Rome.' In 'Pines Near a Catacomb,' Guerrero finely judged every climax; principal trumpet Mark Inouye was magnificent in his moody offstage solo (and also in 'Petrushka'). Principal clarinet Carey Bell's long-breathed, introspective solo in 'The Pines of the Janiculum' was another highlight, as were the silken strings and oceanic sound Guerrero conjured. As for the last movement, 'The Pines of the Appian Way,' here Respighi generates excitement through some of the more obvious tricks in a composer's arsenal: antiphonal brass playing from the terrace, full-orchestra chromatic slides and an admittedly electrifying five-minute-long crescendo. The movement is intended to evoke marching Roman legions, but it might just as well be invoking Italian Fascists or Imperial Stormtroopers. We describe, you decide. San Francisco Classical Voice.
Boston Globe
29-04-2025
- Boston Globe
BSO triumphs with Shostakovich's 6th Symphony
The links between the Vrebalov and Stravinsky pieces are numerous and intentional. The BSO asked Vrebalov, who won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for composition last year, to score Biblical psalm texts and use an orchestra similar to the ingeniously odd one Stravinsky assembled for the 'Symphony of Psalms' – replete with winds and brass but omitting violins, violas, and clarinets. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up They make for an even more fascinating contrast, though. 'Love Canticles' has a numinous air to it, its laudatory texts set against largely dreamy, diaphanous textures. As God's virtues are enumerated, things begin to fragment, and the music becomes more muscular and martial. After a tremendous climax and dissipation, the closing 'Hallelujah' brings echoes of Byzantine chant, intoned by the chorus over flickering harmonics from the orchestra. This is a beautiful and mysterious piece, expertly orchestrated to create that impression. Advertisement Next to the Vreblaov's cosmic warmth, the 'Symphony of Psalms,' an apex of Stravinsky's neoclassical period, was bound to come across as even more rigorous and ascetic than it already is. If 'Love Canticles' offers the psalms as a mystical embrace, Stravinsky presents them as solemn statements of fact. The blocklike choral writing, the intricate counterpoint in the middle movement, and the oasis of calm with which it concludes create an atmosphere that is profoundly moving in its sheer austerity. Nelsons, the BSO, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus were equally good in both works. The clarity of the choral singing was notable, as were the perfectly managed balances between the two large forces. Occasionally during the Stravinsky one wished for more variation in the dynamics, as everything seemed to exist on the same plane of loudness. As for the Shostakovich, it is one of the composer's strangest symphonies. It opens with an immense slow movement — so slow as to border on stasis —followed by a fast scherzo and an even faster finale. Especially in comparison to the symphonies Shostakovitch composed before and after it, the 6th seems largely free of both a political program and the angst that colors so much of Shostakovich's other music. It is, as they say, a hard nut to crack. Sunday's performance didn't really shed any light on what the composer might have 'meant' with this unusual work. As a purely musical experience, though, it was a comprehensive triumph. It is difficult to imagine an orchestra playing this music better than the BSO did – a model of depth, transparency, and cohesive power. Nelsons' pacing was expert, especially in the first movement, which never lost momentum despite its span. In the finale, he pushed the tempos to an extreme to show how antic and unironically witty this music is, almost as if Shostakovich were taking his cue from Haydn, music's great comic master. If that was the 'decoding' intended, mission accomplished. Advertisement The final program of both 'Decoding Shostakovich' and the season – consisting of the Violin Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 8 – is this weekend. David Weininger can be reached at globeclassicalnotes@
