Music in NYC: Classical Vienna Chamber Music Presented by Aspect Foundation

Music in NYC: Classical Vienna Chamber Music Presented by Aspect Foundation

The spirit of Classical Vienna gets recreated by The Orion String Quartet and clarinetist Alexander Bedenko at Bohemian National Hall in New York City on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 7.30 pm

Members of The Orion String Quartet
The Orion String Quartet / Photo Credit: Andreas Hafenscher

Chamber music with its air of intimacy and personal touch is elevated to the new heights in the programs presented by Aspect Foundation. Music and literature of a particular epoch, composers, musicians, writers, and their circles all have a place in its programs. Multi-layered scholarly presentations about the time, place and people who left lasting marks on world cultural history are vividly delivered by the leading experts in the arts.

Clarinetist Alexander Bedenko
Alexander Bedenko / Image courtesy of the artist

On Wednesday, January 23, 2019 The Orion String Quartet will be joined by clarinetist Alexander Bedenko and WQXR radio host Elliott Forrest for an evening of music by Haydn and Mozart and an illustrated talk about the transformational time in Vienna between Classical and Romantic periods. Courage, change, pre-revolutionary ideas were the subjects of debate in Vienna at the time and you will hear them and about them at the concert. Expect more than just a musical performance and be ready for a deep yet entertaining dive into history and behind the scenes tales.

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Opera in NYC: Verdi’s Aida at the Met Opera

Opera in NYC: Verdi’s Aida at the Met Opera

Monumental Met Opera production of a timeless masterpiece by Verdi with star-studded cast returns to the Met Opera stage in January, 2019  

Opera Verdi Aida New York Metropolitan Opera
A scene from Verdi’s Aida at MetOpera; Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

Grand Opera in its ultimate sense, Verdi’s Aida in Sonja Frisell’s production from 1988 is a highlight of the 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season. The grandeur of the staging calls for an equally magnificent cast. In the winter and early spring a talented duo of Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role and Dolora Zajick as Amneris  with Aleksandr Antonenko and Yonghoon Lee alternating as Radomes will take the stage.

The stage design by Gianni Quaranta recreates the pompous style of the Old Kingdom architecture in all its sumptuousness. The director Stephen Pickover is  matching the decor with hundreds of performers including four horses, two brass choirs, ballet dancers and supernumeraries trooping the stage. It all aims to convey the might and power of Egypt’s Pharaoh. And it surely fulfills the intent. That state omnipotence is skillfully contrasted against the lonely and touching scenes of soul-searching and love despair. This is the theater in all its might with its tricks finely brought together for the joy of the opera fans. Get tickets at 21% off  with TodayTIX.

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Art in NYC: Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich at the Jewish Museum

Art in NYC: Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich at the Jewish Museum

Russian Avant-garde art from the turbulent post-revolution years by the founders of People’s Art School in Vitebsk in 1918-1922 is open on September 14, 2018 – January 6, 2019

Art Jewish Museum New York City Chagall
Marc Chagall, Double Portrait with Wine Glass, Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris; image provided by CNAC/MNAM/Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, New York

Marking a centennial from its opening, the history of People’s Art School in Vitebsk and the artworks by its world-famous founder, prominent teachers and students make an excellent tribute to the new art, new teachings and the stormy winds of the revolutionary time. The exhibition is collaboratively organized by the Centre Pompidou in Paris where it was shown through July 16, 2018 and the Jewish Museum in New York where it will be on view until January 6, 2019. The works included in the exhibition are from the major museums and private collections with some of the paintings, drawings and sketches traveling abroad for the first time from the regional museums in Vitebsk and Minsk, Belarus.

Marc Chagall’s brainchild inspired by the spirit of revolution and its promise of access and opportunity for all, the art school in provincial Vitebsk, a town with under a hundred thousand residents half of them Jewish at the time, brought together world-class artists and talented students from humbled backgrounds. Chagall’s vision was to combine various artistic movements and to design the curriculum stretching from the classical elements all the way to the contemporary approaches. El Lissitzky and Kazemir Malevich were invited to join the faculty together with other artists representing a range of art movements. Soon supremacists led by Malevich won the hearts of the students leading to Chagall’s leaving Vitebsk and embarking on other projects in Moscow.

The dynamic Russian Avant-garde artworks on view at the Jewish Museum tell a touching story of historical changes and disappearance of the old ways of life and old ways of thinking about art. While the school didn’t last long and was reorganized into a technical college after 1922, its short history tells a remarkable story of the excitement of the experiment and the power of creative expression.

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Beyond NYC: Staatsburgh State Historic Site in Beautiful Dutchess County, NY

Beyond NYC: Staatsburgh State Historic Site in Beautiful Dutchess County, NY

History and nature all within less than two hours from New York City

Staatsburgh State Historic Site Library Christmas Tree decoration
Staatsburgh State Historic Site, Library / Image courtesy of Dutchess Tourism Inc.

Mills Mansion, known now as Staatsburgh State Historic Site is a hidden treasure for history buffs and nature fans. Located just under 2-hour drive or train ride from the City, this peaceful and striking estate offers both a chance to travel back in time to see the Gilded Age splendor and to enjoy the serenity of nature by mighty Hudson River. The site which belonged to Mills family and known as Mills Mansion before it was donated to the State of New York in 1938 is open for tours and offers a program of special events.

Mills Mansion and the Ogden Mills & Ruth Livingston Mills State Park surrounding it offer a deep dive into the intricacies of American history and the life of American aristocracy at the turn of 20th century, and an unparalleled beauty of the hiking trails running along the river and in the sprawling hills of the estate.

A peaceful hamlet of Staatsburgh, NY is across the road. Now quiet and sleepy, it leads its origin from the land patent in the 1690s to Dutch settlers. The hamlet has a historic church and used to have Staatsburgh train station for easy connection to the city.

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Beyond NYC: Midland Music Concert Series at BWC with an all Tchaikovsky Program

Beyond NYC: Midland Music Concert Series at BWC with an all Tchaikovsky Program

“In Celebration of a Great Artist” program dedicated to 125th anniversary of Tchaikovsky’s death is performed at the Bronxville Women’s Club on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 7.30 pm

Vassily Primakov, Oxana Mikhailoff, Filip Pogády, Yves Dharamraj.
Pianist Vassily Primakov, pianist Oxana Mikhailoff, violinist Filip Pogády, and cellist Yves Dharamraj / Images courtesy of the artists

Presented by Midland Concert Series, “In Celebration of a Great Artist” an all Tchaikovsky program with a breathtaking Piano Trio in A Minor and Concert Suite “The Nutcracker “ is a wonderful holiday treat for music lovers. The program features pianists Vassily Primakov and Oxana Mikhailoff, violinist Filip Pogády, and cellist Yves Dharamraj.

While no-one can imagine Winter Holiday time without the eternal music from the Nutcracker, the rest of the program is a thought-provoking and serious compositions perfectly fitting for the concert in memory of a beloved composer. The truly international group of musicians assembled for this concert is a testimony of the universal power of great music and of Tchaikovsky’s enormous contribution to this art genre.

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