Bach at Leipzig - 2005 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 6

Preview performances of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? begin this evening, Thursday, September 27, 2012, at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street). Opening night is set for Saturday, October 13, 2012, exactly 50 years to the day of the play's original Broadway opening on Saturday, October 13, 1962.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announced today the eight musicals selected to be part of the 24th Annual Festival of New Musicals at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

According to an Equity Audition notice, the Steppenwolf's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf will begin previews on Broadway on September 27, 2012 in anticipation of its previously announced October 13, 2012 opening at a Shubert Theatre to be announced. Pam Mackinnon will continue to helm the project. Jerry Frankel, Jeffrey Richards Susan Q. Gallin and Mary Lu Roffe will produce.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic devotes a week to celebrating Franz Schubert's contributions to symphonic, chamber and vocal music with Sublime Schubert, presenting performances beginning Monday, April 16 and ending Sunday, April 22, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic devotes a week to celebrating Franz Schubert's contributions to symphonic, chamber and vocal music with Sublime Schubert, presenting performances beginning Monday, April 16 and ending Sunday, April 22, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Herbert Blomstedt comes to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14, at 8 pm, as well as Sunday, April 15, at 2pm. Also performing are soprano Ruth Ziesak, mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger, tenor Richard Croft, bass-baritone Hanno Muller-Brachmann and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Beethoven's 80-minute Missa Solemnis, considered by the composer to be his greatest work, is atypical for him. It's missing the sustained development of themes that is one of the composer's hallmarks. Also missing is Beethoven's penchant for theme and variations. Instead, the Missa presents a continuous musical narrative, almost without repetition. The first LA Phil performances (in 1952) were followed by downtown performances in 1961, 1970 and 1980. The work has not been performed by the Philharmonic in 32 years. Herbert Blomstedt was chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden from 1975 to 1985 and, in his continued relationship with the orchestra, was awarded its Golden Badge of Honour in 2007. Additionally, he holds the following titles with the various orchestras: Honorary Conductor of the NHK Symphony, Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, Honorary Conductor of the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig, the Danish and Swedish Symphony, as well as the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he continues guest conducting the world's most pre-eminent orchestras. Blomstedt, who celebrates his 85th birthday in 2012, has an extensive discography that includes over 130 works with the Dresden Staatskapelle, among them all symphonies of Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the complete orchestral works of Carl Nielsen with the Danish Radio Symphony. With the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra he recorded exclusively for Decca. Several of the numerous recordings received major awards; the complete cycles of the symphonies of Jean Sibelius and Carl Nielsen enjoy reference standard. In September 2012, to make Blomstedt's jubiless, the querstand label is releasing a CD box set with all the symphonies by Anton Bruckner from live recordings with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Blomstedt has received several Honorary Doctorates and is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Music Academy and he was awarded the 'Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz' by the German Federal President Johannes Rau. Following her debut at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein based in Dusseldorf and Duisburg, Ruth Ziesak's career led her from the stages of Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin and Dresden to the international platforms of Milan, Florence, Vienna, Paris, London and New York, where she shone in signature roles of Pamina, Ännchen, Marzelline, Ilia and Sophie. She has also extended her repertoire and made her debut in the role of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro in Glyndebourne and Zurich. It is in this role that she appeared at the Wurttembergisches Staatstheater in Stuttgart under Manfred Honeck in the 2009/10 season. The versatile artist is a much sought-after concert soloist and works with the leading orchestras in Paris, Milan, Vienna, Munich, Leipzig, Amsterdam and London. She is also a frequent guest at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the BBC Proms. In addition to her concert recordings with Georg Solti, Riccardo Chailly and Herbert Blomstedt for Decca, Ziesak has recorded Die Zauberflote (Solti/Decca), Fidelio (Dohnanyi/Decca), La Clemenza di Tito (Harnoncourt/Teldec), Der Freischutz (Janowski/BMG), Hansel und Gretel (Runnicles/ Teldec) and Robert Schumann's Genoveva with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Harnoncourt/Teldec). Her solo recordings include Opera Arias by Mozart with the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin (German Symphony Orchestra Berlin) conducted by Marcus Creed (Capriccio) and lieder by Mahler (Gatti/BMG), as well as a series of lieder recitals for BMG, Naxos and Sony with Ulrich Eisenlohr. Recent highlights of Gerhild Romberger's concert career include concerts with Manfred Honeck, who invited her for, among others, Mahler´s symphonies, Beethoven´s Missa Solemnis or the Große Messe by Walter Braunfels. Additional highlights include concerts at the NDR Hamburg with Wolfgang Rihm´s Drei spate Gedichte von Heiner Muller, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Prague, numerous performances with Enoch zu Guttenberg (among others Bach´s Passions, Verdi´s Messa da Requiem, Beethoven´s Missa solemnis and Wagner´s Wesendoncklieder). She frequently works with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly, as well as with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (in Schmidt´s Buch mit den sieben Siegeln and Mendelsson´s Elias with Thomas Hengelbrock), the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt, the Symphony Orchestras of WDR and MDR and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. This season, Romberger performs with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, on tour with Beethoven's Missa solemnis with the Orchestre des Champs Elysees Paris under Philippe Herreweghe, the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck in the United States and on tour in Europe. American tenor Richard Croft is internationally renowned for his performances with leading opera companies and orchestras around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Opera National de Paris, the Berlin Staatsoper, Opera Zurich, Glyndebourne Festival, the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. His clarion voice, superlative musicianship and commanding stage presence allow him to pursue a wide breadth of repertoire from Handel and Mozart to the music of today's composers. The 2011/2012 season sees Croft returning to the Metropolitan Opera for an encore engagement of their visually extravagant production of Satyagraha in the role of Gandhi which will also be broadcast live in HD to movie theatres around the world. He continues the operatic season with Bayerische Staatsoper where he will play the title role in Mitridate under Ivor Bolton. He began the concert season with two performances of the Messiah with the Minnesota Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and continues with performances of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and then with the Berliner Philharmonker conducted by Herbet Blomstedt. Hanno Muller-Brachmann has sung with many of the world's leading orchestras and conductors, including: Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the London Philharmonic under Masur, Bach's St. John Passion with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra under Gardiner and with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester under Blomstedt, Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette with the Berlin Staatskappelle under Luisi, Schubert's Alfons und Estrella with the Berlin Philharmonic under Harnoncourt, Beethoven IX with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Dohnanyi and with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Chailly and Beethoven IX and Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi under Chailly, Britten's War Requiem with the European Youth Orchestra under Ashkenazy and Beethoven IX with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Haitink. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Barenboim and has sung at the Festivals of Granada, Dresden, Salzburg, Lucerne, Vienna's Klangbogen, Tanglewood and the BBC Proms. Muller-Brachmann made his operatic debut in 1996 in Telemann's Orpheus under Rene Jacobs at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, where he was a member of the ensemble from 1998 and where he sang the great Mozart roles of Leporello, Figaro, Guglielmo and Papageno as well as his first Wotan under Barenboim. In addition to opera and oratorio, he can be heard in recitals in Berlin at both the Staatsoper and Philharmonie. He has given recitals in Graz, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Tokyo, Hamburg, Paris, Lausanne, London's Wigmore Hall and at the Vienna Konzerthaus, and at the Schwarzenberg Schubertiade, Berlin Festwochen, Ittingen and Edinburgh Festivals. He also works with the pianists Burkhard Kehring, Andras Schiff, Philippe Jordan, Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau and Daniel Barenboim. Giving a voice to Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC), considered one of the world's leading choirs, is led by Music Director Grant Gershon. The Los Angeles Times proclaims, "Under Gershon, the Master Chorale seems to be able to master anything," The New York Times calls the choir "inspired," and The New York Observer declares it "a superb vocal ensemble." The Chorale is currently in its 48th season as a resident company of the Music Center of Los Angeles County and its 9th as the resident chorus at Disney Hall. Presenting its own concert series each season, it performs choral music from the earliest writings to the most recent contemporary compositions. To date, the choir has commissioned 27 and premiered 69 new works, of which 44 were world premieres, and has been awarded the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming three times - in 1995, 2003 and 2010. Its discography includes four CDs under Gershon's baton: A Good Understanding, an all-Nico Muhly disk recorded at Disney Hall and released by Decca in September 2010; Daniel Variations by Steve Reich, released in spring 2008 on Nonesuch Records; You Are (Variations) by Steve Reich, released in September 2005 on Nonesuch Records; and an RCM recording featuring Esa-Pekka Salonen's first choral work, Two Songs to Poems of Ann Jaderlund, and Philip Glass' Itaipu. A fifth CD with Gershon, to be recorded in June 2012 at Disney Hall and released in Fall 2012 on Decca, will feature three works by Polish composer Henryk Gorecki, including his rapturous Miserere, and two that have never been recorded - Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise) and Five Marian Songs. LAMC previously released three CDs under Music Director Emeritus Paul Salamunovich on RCM, including the Grammy-nominated Lauridsen-Lux Aeterna. The Chorale is also featured with Gershon on the soundtracks of such major motion pictures as Charlie Wilson's War, Lady in the Water, and License to Wed. Serving more than 30,000 audience members of all ages annually, the Los Angeles Master Chorale also provides education outreach to some 6,000 students each year.

Two-time Tony Award nominated costume designer Carrie Robbins, and scenic, lighting, costume designer and educator Lloyd Burlingame are among the 2012 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, May 4, at 6:30pm, at the Hudson Theatre (145 West 44th Street). Ms. Robbins was selected to receive the 2012 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for costume design, and Mr. Burlingame will receive the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design.

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced additional casting for the upcoming world premiere of THE COLUMNIST, by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced that two time Drama Desk Award nominee Margaret Colin ("Gossip Girl," MTC's Defiance) and four time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (Gypsy, Contact) will join Tony and Emmy Award winner John Lithgow in the cast of the world premiere of THE COLUMNIST by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

On November 14, Iestyn Davies - named 2010's Royal Philharmonic Young Artist of the Year - makes his house and role debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, singing Unulfo in Handel's Rodelinda.

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) long-running Carnegie Hall series begins this season on December 15, 2011 with an imaginative holiday program pairing J.S. Bach with Olivier Messiaen.

On November 14, Iestyn Davies - named 2010's Royal Philharmonic Young Artist of the Year - makes his house and role debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, singing Unulfo in Handel's Rodelinda.

Playwrights Horizons and 92YTribeca have announced that they will present a panel discussion previewing the theater company's new season on Monday evening, September 12 at 7:30 PM at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street). Moderated by The New Yorker culture writer Michael Schulman, joined by Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director Tim Sanford, the panel discussion will feature all six writers from the theater company's 2011/2012 Season.

Playwrights Horizons and 92YTribeca have announced that they will present a panel discussion previewing the theater company's new season on Monday evening, September 12 at 7:30 PM at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street). Moderated by The New Yorker culture writer Michael Schulman, joined by Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director Tim Sanford, the panel discussion will feature all six writers from the theater company's 2011/2012 Season.

TimeLine Theatre Company, named the nation's theater 'Company of the Year' for 2010 by Terry Teachout in The Wall Street Journal and 'one of the Chicago theater's most impressive growth stories' by Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune, announces its four-play 2011-12 season

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) starts the 2011-2012 season with the return of NEW WORK NOW!, the popular reading series that allows audiences an opportunity to experience new work by a diverse selection of established and emerging theater artists.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is proud to announce the sixth and final production of its upcoming 2011/2012 Season. Completing the theater company's line-up is the New York premiere of MAPLE & VINE, a new play by Jordan Harrison (Doris to Darlene at Playwrights Horizons, Act a Lady, Amazons and Their Men), directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (The Thugs, Stunning, Naked Angels' This Wide Night, Mr. Harrison's Act a Lady).

In celebration of its 50 year anniversary, the critically-acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will open on Broadway Saturday, October 13, 2012-exactly 50 years to the date after the play's original Broadway opening on Saturday, October 13, 1962. Directed by Pam MacKinnon, the Broadway production will feature the original Steppenwolf cast: ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton with Carrie Coon and Madison Dirks and will open at a Shubert Theatre TBA.

Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, DRIVING MISS DAISY will end its extended Broadway premiere engagement April 9 at the John Golden Theatre with its three original stars: Tony Award winners James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd Gaines.

Guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen will lead the Columbus Symphony in its final program of the 2010-11 classical season.

The final play of Florida Stage's 24th subscription season is the world premiere of a darkly funny, electric and timely new play by Carter W. Lewis, The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider. From the award-winning author of The Storytelling Ability of a Boy and Women Who Steal, The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider asks the questions, what happens when our 'soldiers of fortune' outnumber our army troops and can art really make a difference in a corporatized world? The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider continues Florida Stage's first season as the resident company in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.

Guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen will lead the Columbus Symphony in its final program of the 2010-11 classical season.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is proud to announce the first five productions of its 2011/2012 Season. The World Premiere and four New York premieres will be presented at the theater company's home at 416 West 42nd Street. The five plays will be (in Season order):

TimeLine Theatre Company, named the nation's theater 'Company of the Year' for 2010 by Terry Teachout in The Wall Street Journal and 'one of the Chicago theater's most impressive growth stories' by Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune, announces its four-play 2011-12 season

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues its inaugural season this spring with an unparalleled tribute to one of the nation's greatest living playwrights, Edward Albee. The company has mounted a two-month festival featuring 30 events, making nearly every one of his plays available in performance spaces throughout the Mead Center.