With so much going on culturally speaking in our region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising events happening this weekend …
Two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and founding member of Crosby Stills & Nash and the Hollies Graham Nash is playing in our region twice the weekend: at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., tonight at 8, and at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday night at 8. Nash is expected to perform songs from his days in the Hollies through his years with Crosby, Stills & Nash plus songs from his solo career. (July 22-23)
One of the great things about summer in the Berkshires - actually, all year round in the Berkshires -- is you never know who is going to show up where. Here’s a perfect example: Two of the world’s greatest soloists, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax, team up to perform at April Hill Conservation and Education Center in Egremont, Mass., on Sunday at 6 p.m., in a recital to benefit Greenagers. (Sun, July 24)
Karina Canellakis returns to the BSO podium to lead the orchestra and Emanuel Ax in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 plus works by Wagner and Rachmaninoff at Tanglewood today at 2:30 p.m. And on Saturday at 8 p.m., the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, under the direction of Andris Nelsons, performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. (July 22-23)
Internationally renowned and Grammy-Award nominated jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen will be accompanied by one of Brazil’s most acclaimed seven-string guitarists, Marcello Gonçalves, at the Mount in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday at 5 p.m. as part of the Jazz & Classics for Change series. The duo combine for a remarkable and unique world-music fusion.
Aston Magna concludes its summer season of weekly performances with its Double Apotheosis: Francois Couperin’s Tributes to Corelli and Lully program, tonight at Hudson Hall in Hudson, N.Y., and Saturday night at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass. (July 22-23)
Bard SummerScape continues its program of reviving important but neglected operas with “The Silent Woman” by Richard Strauss. Director Christian Räth’s colorful, fast-paced new staging runs at Bard’s Fisher Center for five performances beginning tonight with a performance again on Sunday. The opera, described as “an intricately plotted screwball comedy,” represents the first and only fruit of the composer’s collaboration with celebrated Austrian-Jewish novelist Stefan Zweig. (July 22, 24, 27, 29 and 31)
Guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and all-around amazing musical talent Rob Sanzone brings his new band, The Familiars, to the Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Saturday at 7:30. Rob says he draws inspiration from a deep love of classic horror and sci-fi films that collide with David Byrne/Randy Newman-like introspection and Tom Waits-like experimental tomfoolery. (July 23)
Bill Ware and the Upstate All Stars bring their modern jazz to Senate Garage in Kingston, N.Y., tonight at 8. Joining Ware, a master on vibes, are Matt King on piano, John Menegon on bass, Matt Gerrity on drums, and special guest vocalist Teri Roiger. (July 22)
Speaking of modern jazz, the Daniel Bennett Group brings the saxophonist’s highly entertaining mix of jazz, rock, funk, and avant-pop to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Saturday at 7 p.m. (July 23)
At Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Allyn Burrows and Jonathan Epstein portray the developing relationship between two arms limitation negotiators, one Russian and one American, over the course of a year, at the height of the Cold War, in “A Walk in the Woods” by Lee Blessing, running now through September 4 outdoors at Shakespeare’s Roman Garden Theatre. Indoors at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, the new play “Hymn” opens this weekend and runs through the end of August. And “Much Ado About Nothing” continues its run at the company’s New Spruce Theatre through August 14. (July 22-Sept 4)
The Brother Brothers, an identical twin duo whose harmonies recall the Everly Brothers and Simon and Garfunkel, bring selections from their upcoming album, “Cover to Cover,” featuring songs by the likes of Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Hoagy Carmichael, Richard Thompson, and Tom Waits, to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., next Thursday at 7. (Thu, Jul 28)
Pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist David Wong play Bach, Bud Power and Roland Hanna at Tannery Pond Concerts at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, N.Y., on Saturday at 6 p.m. (Sat, Jul 23); and roots music guitarist Happy Traum is joined by Cindy Cashdollar, David Mansfield and others at Maverick Concerts in Woodstock on Saturday at 8 p.m. (Sat, Jul 23)
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com
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