The cultural highlights in our region this weekend include opera, R&B, roots music, Chinese music … plus a whole lot more.
The Met Opera Live in HD broadcast of Verdi’s Rigoletto can be screened in a number of venues around the region on Saturday at 1pm, including the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, and at TSL in Hudson. Bartlett Sher’s bold new take on Verdi’s timeless tragedy resets the opera’s action in 1920s Europe, with Art Deco sets and elegant costumes. (Saturday, January 29)
The Orchestra Now presents its third annual Chinese New Year concert, The Sound of Spring, tonight at the Fisher Center at Bard College at 8pm. This authentic Chinese New Year concert features a program of Chinese music performed by The Orchestra Now, joined by a select group of top vocal and instrumental artists, and showcasing the wonderful diversity and artistry of Chinese symphonic music. Highlights include the spectacular Yellow River piano concerto, performed by Julliard’s rising star Ju Xiaofu; the gorgeous Apsaras of the Silk Road for pipa and orchestra, featuring N.Y.-based pipa soloist Zhou Yi; and the operatic medley From Jasmine to Turandot, which combines Puccini’s famous Chinese-influenced opera score with the main source of his inspiration, the popular folk song Jasmine Flower. (Friday, January 28)
Roots-folk band the Wood Brothers return to the region tonight at 8pm in concert at the Palace Theatre in Albany. Comprised of singer and guitarist Oliver Wood, bassist and singer Chris Wood (of Medeski, Martin and Wood fame), and drummer and keyboardist Jano Rix, the trio recently released Kingdom in My Mind, the band’s seventh album. Chris Wood says, “The idea for this group has always been to marry our backgrounds, to imagine what might happen if Robert Johnson and Charles Mingus had started a band together.” (Friday, January 28)
As part of its 2020 Winter Dance Residencies program, the Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, N.Y., will host a “Show, Tell, and Social Dance” by Jazz as Movement’s directors Gaby Cook and Nathan Bugh on Saturday at 7pm. For the program, Cook and Bugh will explore and develop new Lindy Hop and vernacular jazz choreographic works, blending approaches from jazz structure, classical music, and modern dance. Following the performance, the audience will be invited to learn the basics of Lindy Hop. Admission is free. (Saturday, January 29)
Rachael & Vilray will perform a benefit concert for the International Language Institute of Massachusetts tonight at 8pm at the Academy of Music in Northampton. Featuring Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive, the duo grew from a shared reverence for the pop music of the 1930s and ‘40s and its wide range of moods. With simple intimate arrangements, they perform original works and revive forgotten gems of radio’s golden age. (Friday, January 28)
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com
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