Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings is a warhorse — a piece of classical music that is played so repeatedly, it ought to get old. But it doesn’t. Partly because of […]
Music
GOING LIVE
From a Distance, Trying to Connect
Outer Cape performers reflect on a muted summer and chilly times to come
The summer came and went. And against all odds, we had live music, cabaret, and drag. Performers and venues acclimated to an entirely new way of performing — outdoors and […]
LIVE MUSIC
Thea Hopkins Creates Her Own Americana
Her stark lyrics draw on imagist poetry
This Friday, singer-songwriter Thea Hopkins will be performing on the Payomet Performing Arts Center’s Drive-in stage, offering the rare pleasure, these days, of experiencing a live musician in concert on […]
OPERA
Goethe’s Tortured Hero, Set to Massenet’s Music
Werther was originally rejected by the Paris Opera as too ‘gloomy’
Jules Massenet’s music has never moved me. It’s too thickly orchestrated, and his choice of dramas too extreme. Werther, easily Massenet’s best opera, filled with romantic melodies and dissonant outbursts, bears the […]
PAST PERFORMANCES
Discovering Thelma Given, Provincetown’s Paganini
A rare recording is a window into another era
It begins with the crackling sound of vinyl. The violin strums its highest strings, then tunes to the piano. An audience member coughs. These are the opening sounds of a […]
OPERA
Met’s Falstaff Is a Feast for Eyes and Ears
Verdi’s complex score is perhaps his greatest
Giuseppe Verdi was 77 when he began work on Falstaff, his last and arguably his greatest musical achievement, and his only successful comedy. More than 50 years earlier, he had lost […]
BACH TO BASICS
Get Ready to Baroque and Roll
Music of the 18th century thrives in Provincetown
PROVINCETOWN — Boston may be a mecca for it, but there is authentic Baroque music happening right here on the Outer Cape. Great Music on Sundays @5 is presenting two […]
ARTS DURING COVID
Chamber Music Ensembles Attune to the Pandemic
Breathing together, with and without a mask
Could this be a new age for chamber music? With small ensembles and limited audiences, chamber music certainly seems more Covid-friendly than, say, Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand.” But what […]
MUSICIANS
Eleanor Dubinsky’s Songs Speak Volumes, in Several Languages
Streaming from the Cape, she aims her art for the social good
Eleanor Dubinsky is a polyglot in every sense of the word. She sings in four languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English. She plays the cello and the guitar. She’s lived […]
PHASED AND CONFUSED
Local Performers Are in the Dark on Reopening Rules
Towns diverge on indoor and outdoor guidelines
Currently in Massachusetts, you can dine indoors at a restaurant, you can attend church and even sing there, but you’re still not officially permitted to attend an outdoor performance of […]
RECORDINGS
Alex Brewer Explores the Poetry of Cape Musicians
His new album features his songs performed by others
Wellfleet singer-songwriter Alex Brewer’s new album, Unquoted, is a tribute to his community. Brewer is fascinated by artistic scenes — Paris in the ’20s, Laurel Canyon in the ’60s — […]
MUSIC
Friends Virtually Celebrate a Joe Cocker Classic
The Star Island Shoal Survivors perform together alone
Every September since 2014, a group of friends — Malcolm Pollack, Kemp Harris, Carl Sturken, Ray Castoldi, Gary Lue, and others — journey to Star Island, one of the Isles […]
MUSIC
Something New From the B.J.Q.
Bert Jackson and his jazz quartet release a soulful new album
One day a few years back, during a particularly snowy winter, jazz musician Bert Jackson sat on the couch in his Brewster home, picked up his guitar, and composed a […]
HEAVENLY CUTS
Local Musicians Mourn the Passing of John Prine
His sharp lyrics were buoyed by a smoke-and-whiskey twang
On April 7, America lost singer-songwriter John Prine to Covid-19. He was a giant in the world of country and folk music — genres that, it may surprise some to […]
MUSICAL VIRTUALITY
Creating a Work of Multi-Chamber Music
Elena Ruehr’s new string quartet maintains its social distance
“Begin staggered, play as written, see what happens.” These are the instructions at the beginning of Elena Ruehr’s most recent composition for string quartet. Titled Zoom, it’s intended to be […]
