Today (February 11) the Defense Department announced a new list of benefits that will be made available to same-sex domestic partners of Servicemembers. This will be on top of the accumulating list of benefits that have been made available since the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy was ended, together with the prohibition on service menbers entering into same-sex marriages. (The memo from the office of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is available on the DoD website … <Read More>
Orchestra of St. Luke’s – Heras-Casado Debut at Carnegie Hall
Last night I attended the Orchestra of St. Luke’s subscription concert at Carnegie Hall. Pablo Heras-Casado was making his first appearance at Carnegie Hall as principal conductor of the orchestra. Christian Zacharias was the piano soloist in Chopin’s Concerto No. 2, Op. 21. The program began with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, and continued after intermission with Hans Zender’s orchestration of five piano preludes by Debussy, concluding with the original 1841 version of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. … <Read More>
The Singers and the Songs – NY Festival of Song: Kevin Puts & Friends – Meglioranza/Uchida New Winterreise Recording
Herewith some observations about two encounters with art song in recent days: a wonderful concert of new songs presented by the New York Festival of Song at the Jerome Robbins Theater at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and a new recording of Franz Schubert’s song cycle, Winterreise, by baritone Tom Meglioranza and pianist Reiko Uchida.
The New York Festival of Song, which presents an extensive series of song recitals at Merkin Concert Hall (north of Lincoln … <Read More>
Pregnant Lesbian Will Get Jury Trial Against Catholic School
Senior U.S. District Judge Arthur Spiegel (Southern District of Ohio) ruled on January 30 that Christa Dias, who was fired as a computer technology coordinator from two schools of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati after she told her principal at one of the schools that she was pregnant, is entitled to a jury trial of her pregnancy discrimination complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but not of her breach … <Read More>
Bock & Harnick’s “Fiorello!” at City Center Encores!
I caught the Saturday matinee performance of the 1959 Pulitzer-Prize-winning musical “Fiorello!” presented by the New York City Center Encores! series on February 2. I was familiar with some of the music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick from the original Broadway cast recording, but this was the first time I’ve been at a live performance, having not been present twenty years ago when this Encores series began with a performance of this … <Read More>
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in Beethoven’s 2nd and 9th Symphonies at Carnegie Hall
I was at Carnegie Hall this afternoon for performances of Beethoven’s 2nd and 9th Symphonies by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. This was the concluding concert of their series of all the Beethoven symphonies over the past week, led by their music director and conductor, Daniel Barenboim. I have not previously heard this orchestra in concert, although I’ve heard some recordings. The orchestra brings together young Israeli Jewish and Palestinian musicians, who rehearse intensively together each … <Read More>
Symphonic Sondheim at the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic has a long-running love affair with Stephen Sondheim, having presented some of his shows in concert as well as special evenings devoted to his songs and instrumental music. Last night they tried something different – an entire evening of Sondheim with no singing! Of the six numbers on the program, four were orchestral suits based on Sondheim musicals (Sunday in the Park with George, Pacific Overtures, Into the Woods, and Sweeney … <Read More>
Schubert & Co. Soldiers Onward
On Sunday night (January 27), as most of the art-song community was packed into Carnegie Hall to hear a joint recital by the reigning divas of the moment – Renee Fleming and Susan Graham – I was at Central Presbyterian Church to hear the latest installment of Schubert & Co.’s audacious journey through all the lieder of Franz Schubert, allegedly the first time any concert series in New York has attempted to accomplish this feat … <Read More>
4th Circuit Revives Transgender Inmates Suit for Sex Reassignment Surgery
A unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, ruled on January 28 that District Judge James C. Turk (Western District of Virginia) should not have dismissed an 8th Amendment complaint by Ophelia Azriel De’lonta, a Virginia state inmate who has been denied gender reassignment surgery by the Virginia Department of Corrections. The ruling may be the first by a federal appellate court to hold that an … <Read More>
Green Mountain Project on Record
For the last several years, Jolle Greenleaf’s Green Mountain Project has presented concerts during the first week of January. In 2010, 2011 and this January, they presented Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610. In 2012, they varied the bill of fare by assembling a vespers service using Monteverdi psalm settings from other publications (the 1640 Selva morale and the posthumous 1650 Messa e salmi), surrounded by hymns by Monteverdi, Cozzolani, and Giovanni Gabrieli. At this year’s performance … <Read More>