December 6, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Giacomo Puccini 1858-1924. Wikimedia Image.
This morning, I attended a symposium sponsored by the College of Fine Arts and the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center on the centenary of the world premiere of Puccini’s opera, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West). CFA Professor Deborah Burton joined scholars from other institutions in speaking on the composer and the opera.
Walfredo Toscanini, grandson of Arturo Toscanini, was in attendance. Toscanini and Puccini were collaborators and sometime rivals.
The Gotlieb Center will place original manuscripts, photographs, and scores on exhibit beginning today.
I look forward to seeing La Fanciulla del West later this week in New York at The Metropolitan Opera.
Puccini Centenary Celebration website
By krone
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Posted in CFA School of Music Event
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Tagged arturo toscanini, deborah burton, giacomo pucinni, La Fanciulla del West, Metropolitan Opera
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December 2, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Dance has come a long way at BU. More than 1,000 students from across the campus now participate in dance programs, clubs, and courses. Every undergraduate student, no matter their major, may select dance as a minor.
Image from BU Today
A premier showcase of the interplay of dance and light is the annual production Aurora Borealis, now in its ninth year. This collaboration between the School of Theatre and the BU Dance program is art directed by Judith Chafee and Micki Taylor- Pinney.
What better way to fend off the darkness that descends early this time of year than to let our spirits soar with the dancers?
Aurora Borealis 9: A Laboratory for Light and Dance
BU Dance Center
915 Commonwealth Avenue (entrance on Buick Street)
Monday, December 6, at 7:00 pm (open rehearsal)
Two shows on Tuesday, December 7, at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm
Free and open to the public.
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Theatre Event
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Tagged Aurora Borealis, BU, BU dance minor, BU dance program, BU School of Theatre, Judith Chafee, Micki Taylor- Pinney
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December 1, 2010 at 5:48 pm
"A significant contemporary play by one of the world’s leading Latino playwrights, José Rivera’s Obie Award-winning Marisol will be presented by the School of Theatre in the Boston University College of Fine Arts, December 10-17 at the Calderwood Pavilion. Marisol finds herself struggling to survive in an urban wasteland while her guardian angel leads an army against God. This production takes a surreal look at the future of New York City staged in a labyrinth within the Wimberly Theatre. Director and BU alumna Tara L. Matkosky reverses the playing space and seats patrons on stage in what promises to be a unique theatrical experience." --CFA Press Release
Boston University College of Fine Arts
School of Theatre presents
MARISOL
José Rivera, playwright
Tara L. Matkosky, director
Friday, December 10, 8:00pm
Saturday, December 11, 8:00pm
Sunday, December 12, 2:00pm
Tuesday, December 14, 10:00am and 7:30pm
Wednesday, December 15, 7:30pm (Post-show discussion with the company)
Thursday, December 16, 7:30pm (ASL interpreted)
Friday, December 17, 8:00pm
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
527 Tremont St., Boston
T Green Line, Copley stop; T Orange Line, Back Bay stop
Tickets: $12 general public, $10 BU alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability.
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Theatre Event
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Tagged BU School of Theatre, José Rivera, marisol, Tara L. Matkosky
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December 1, 2010 at 2:53 pm
TRIIIBE
In Search of Eden: A Work in Progress
Up until Sunday, December 19.
As the title suggests, In Search of Eden: A Work in Progress, is a show that delivers a new experience every time visitors see it. Repeat visits often offer new insights at exhibitions but in this case, they're all but certain. Of course, if you have never seen it, I recommend that you do.
From the CFA web site:
In Search of Eden: A Work in Progress is an evolving show by the Boston-based collective Triiibe. This growing collective was formed in 2006 by performance artists (and identical triplets) Alicia, Kelly and Sara Casilio and photographer and BU alumnus Cary Wolinsky. Triiibe has made work that explores and confronts a range of contemporary issues through a variety of media. This multi-faceted and collaborative project will explore various social constructs interpreted through metaphors of a present-day Garden of Eden. The installation will encompass photography, sculpture, painting and daily performances by the artists, who will be living in the gallery for the duration of the show.
Read Cate McQuaid's review in the Boston Globe.
See also: Facebook/triiibe
808 Gallery
808 Commonwealth Avenue
Gallery Hours
11 a.m.–9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Visual Arts Event
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Tagged triiibe
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November 30, 2010 at 12:22 pm
It is difficult to spend time in Russia without thinking back to the Soviet Union. After all, it was not that long ago that the decision was made to dissolve it at the Belovezh Forest meeting in December 1991.
One of the classic satirical novels of Soviet literature is Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita.
Mikhail Bulgakov Photo: Wikimedia Commons. This work was in the public domain in Russia according to Law No. 5351-I of Russia of July 9, 1993 (with revisions) on Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights
Copies of it made the rounds in intellectual and dissident circles despite the best efforts of the government to suppress it. Bulgakov's play, The Days of the Turbins offered a sympathetic view of the erstwhile Russian monarchy, which also displeased officials. Bulgakov's request to emigrate was denied personally by Stalin in a telephone call that must have shaken the writer. Though much of his work was banned, Bulgakov was never imprisoned and died in Moscow in 1940.
As it happens, BU Professor Katherine T. O' Connor published a translation of The Master and Margarita in 1995 (with Diana Burgin); Ardis Publishers, Dana Point, CA.
You can read The Master and Margarita free on Google Books, http://books.google.com. It is also available at the Mugar Library.
By bjuarez
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Posted in Books
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Tagged Katherine T. O'Connoor, Mikhail Bulgakov, Stalin, The Master and The Mistress
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November 28, 2010 at 4:27 am
College of Fine Arts Freshman Piano student Leon Bernsdorf at the Liszt Competition
The Central Music School in Moscow of the famous Tchaikovsky Conservatory held their Second International Liszt Piano Competition this past week. The School, founded in 1935 is recognized as a leading institution for musically gifted children. Many outstanding artists like Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Natalia Gutman, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and many more studied there.
Under the remarkable leadership of Alexander Yakupov, the School now has new facilities, dorms, classrooms and four concert halls. Young students from all over the world come to study here.
The competition had an outstanding artistic quality and we are very happy to report that our own Leon Bernsdorf, a student of Professor Boaz Sharon, won the Second Prize with a remarkable performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, the School's orchestra conducted by Maestro Yakupov was extraordinary in it's quality, commitment and enthusiasm. Young Russian musicians were invited to come to the BU Tanglewood Institute next year; one of them will come for the second time and is very interested in joining BU's School of Music. More soon...
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Music Event
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November 23, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Franz Joseph Haydn
Though I was unable to attend this concert due to travel, I did attend the rehearsal. I am therefore confident that the audience at Old South Church had a wonderful evening. Congratulations to Professor Ann Howard Jones and all the artists who worked on this event.
Hadyn's Paukenmasse (Mass in a Time of War) has always reminded me of my student days at the California Institute of the Arts in the 1960s. Like a lot of American campuses at that time, protests of American involvement in the Vietnam War were a regular occurrence there and in nearby Los Angeles. I recall seeing Jane Fonda at one and also a man who claimed to be Carlos Castaneda at another of the protests. It was around this time that I sang part of the Paukenmasse at a concert in Griffith Park. I cannot confirm that either Jane Fonda or Carlos Castaneda attended that performance!
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Music Event
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November 23, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Peter Zazofsky, solo violin; David Hoose, conductor. Photograph: Michael Lutch
On The Road
By the time you read this, I will be in Russia with School of Music director, Robert Dodson and Piano department chair, Boaz Sharon. Among other activities, we will meet with officials from the Moscow Conservatory on possible collaborations between our schools.
Even though I am 4,500 miles away, I am thinking of all of you who helped create a memorable evening at Symphony Hall in honor of Roman Totenberg. Thank you.
According to the Boston Globe, this was the first concert to be webcast from Symphony Hall (see article link below). My wife Marisa, watched it via webcast from Mexico City and a friend watched from Paris.
If you don't already know of the rich career and life of Roman Totenberg, who continues to inspire us, the Globe article provides fascinating details.
A Symphony Hall Tribute to Violinist Totenberg's Century
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Music Event
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November 18, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Photograph by Kalman Zabarsky
Roman Totenberg
I hope you will join me and the entire Boston University community at Symphony Hall on Sunday, November 21, at 7:30 p.m. to honor our own Roman Totenberg in celebration of his 100th birthday and the countless contributions he has made to music.
Each time a former student raises a bow in one of the world's concert halls, Professor Totenberg's impact on music is felt and heard. Please join us.
Boston University Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall
David Hoose, conductor
Peter Zazofsky, violin
Ludwig van Beethoven Prometheus Overture
Béla Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2
Edward Elgar Symphony No. 1 in A-flat
With a special tribute emceed by political commentator Cokie Roberts
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Music Event
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November 18, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Ronan Tynan Performance and Talk
Once again BU offered a full cultural menu last night. I attended a concert and talk by tenor, Ronan Tynan, at the Tsai Center sponsored by the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. Many know of Tynan as one of the Irish Tenors but there is a lot more to this talented and hardworking artist. He is a champion equestrian, 18-time Paralymbics Gold medalist, and a medical doctor. Tynan is the embodyment of a happy fusion of art and science.
Boston University Baroque Orchestra
Professor Martin Pearlman. Image from Bostonbaroque.org
I then ran to Marsh Chapel to hear the Boston University Baroque Orchestra conducted by Professor Martin Pearlman, music director of the acclaimed Boston Baroque. It was a marvelous evening.
By bjuarez
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Posted in CFA School of Music Event
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Tagged boston baroque, howard gotlieb archival research center, martin pearlman, ronan tynan
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