April showers bring May flowers...and our Curated Collection #5 of musical moments:
What would you play for friends to get them to fall in love with opera? The New York Times posed that question to choreographer Mark Morris, actor John Turturro, soprano Renée Fleming and others. For Ms. Fleming, it's the final scene of Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades.” The heartbreaking aria in “Tosca” by Puccini tops the list for performer Patti Smith. And Zachary Woolfe, the Times’s classical music editor, recommends the final duet in Monteverdi’s witty, wicked “L’Incoronazione di Poppea." Hear them all, then share with your friends.
Some of These Days is the newest album from pianist Lara Downes, a favorite of Tuesday Musical audiences. Lara, who has roots in Akron, shares freedom songs and spirituals that invoke our human capacity for optimism, activism, and unification in the face of crisis. In Lara’s words: “We are strong. We are resourceful. We have come through darkness into light, over and over again. Let’s lean on our ancestors and the lessons they have taught us about hope, courage, and above all unity.” Spanning classical, jazz, folk, country and R&B, Some Of These Days features collaborations with Toshi Reagon, Howard Fishman, PUBLIQuartet, and more. Here’s Lara’s uplifting “We Shall Overcome” with The Chapin Sisters.
Let's wrap up Curated Collection #5 with this sneak peek into our next season: legendary pianist Emanuel Ax playing Schubert's 'Impromptu Op. 142 No. 2.
That’s it for now, but more to come. Stay well, friends.