Arts & Culture
Dual rebirths: Reinvigorated Sommerfest and a redesigned Peavey Plaza
The Minnesota Orchestra’s summer festival opens Saturday at Orchestra Hall — with an updated Peavey Plaza just outside.
Michael Anthony
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Arts & Culture
Ex-Minnesotan PJ Letofsky’s latest film, on architect Richard Neutra, to be screened at MSPIFF
“Neutra” will be shown Friday at 4:15 p.m. and Saturday at 2:10 p.m. at St. Anthony Main Theatre 3.
Arts & Culture
Minnesota Opera’s ‘The Fix’ recounts the World Series scandal of 1919
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson and seven teammates of the Chicago White Sox were accused of conspiring with gamblers to throw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. They were acquitted, but barred from professional baseball for life.
Arts & Culture
Mary Ann Feldman, longtime MN Orchestra program annotator and speaker, dies at 85
Unofficially, she was also for many years the chief “idea person” at Orchestra Hall. It was she who conceived the notion of a summer festival devoted to the music and personalities of Vienna. The result was the orchestra’s popular Sommerfest.
Arts & Culture
Vänskä to step down as Minnesota Orchestra music director in 2022
The Minnesota Orchestra’s annual board meeting also offered a flurry of positive news — increased attendance, successful tours and a balanced budget.
Prince ‘discoverer’ Owen Husney’s new book has some very good Prince stories
Upon meeting Prince Husney thought, “Oh, my God, I’m in love. He was a raw, uncharted talent, an uncut diamond, freshly plucked from the music mines of Minneapolis.”
Music in the Park Series saying goodbye to founder after 39 years
Julie Himmelstrup is a beloved figure in local musical circles. Her stepping down at the age of 81, while it cannot be called unexpected, is a sea change nonetheless.
From Minnesota to Santa Fe: Familiar names animate dazzling Steve Jobs opera
Michael Christie, Minnesota Opera’s music director and chief conductor, presided in the pit. Mark Campbell, frequent Minnesota Opera collaborator, wrote the libretto.
Minnesota Opera’s latest: Bolcom, Campbell transform ‘Dinner at Eight’
“This opera arrives… at a time in this country when we’re all feeling very nervous, not unlike what the characters in this opera were feeling during the Great Depression.”
Neville Marriner’s Minnesota legacy
Marriner changed the sound of the Minnesota Orchestra, and through tours and recordings he raised its profile.
How a group of Minnesotans brought a classic Chinese novel to life as an opera
“The Dream of the Red Chamber,” a stunning production by the San Francisco Opera, premiered Sept. 10 with 170 Minnesotans — many of whom helped launch the project — in the audience.
‘The Shining’: ‘In essence, the opera is a love story’
“Opera is about three things: love, death and power,” said composer Paul Moravec. “‘The Shining’ has all those elements plus an incredibly well-made narrative and strong characters.”
Minnesota Opera hatches a political thriller: ‘The Manchurian Candidate’
“There are no real thrillers in opera,” said Rob Ainsley, the company’s head of music. “No one’s done this before.”
The Ordway’s new Concert Hall: ‘It will be transformational’
“For the first time in its history the SPCO will play in a concert hall that was designed for it and that is the right size for a chamber orchestra,” President Bruce Coppock said.
Guitarist Sharon Isbin: Instead of traveling to the stars, she became one
St. Louis Park native, Isbin will perform Tuesday at the Dakota Jazz Club, a double-bill with the Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo.
The Paulus legacy: music that had magic and sizzle
The loss of composer Stephen Paulus is being felt nationwide, but no more so than here.
By chance, both Argento’s first and latest works to be performed in October
On Sunday William Schrickel will conduct “Ode to the West Wind” 58 years after it was written. A week later, VocalEssence will perform “Seasons.”
Memories flow as Brave New Workshop veterans celebrate a move (or two)
Satire, for one reason or another, found an audience in a town where the prevailing view, at least among ubiquitous Lutherans, was that it’s not nice to poke fun at people.
At 86, Argento looks forward to premiere of his revised ‘Valentino’
“I feel like I’m going to be seeing this for the first time,” the composer said of the shorter, newly conceived production.
Skrowaczewski at 90: He’s conducting ‘homecoming’ concerts — and being treated to ‘Stanislove’
“He is a pure artist, an idealistic model. There aren’t a lot of those in classical music today.”
