OPERA: Eugene Onegin with Mariusz Kwiecien and Piotr Beczala

The eighth season of Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to over 1,950 movie theaters in 64 countries, begins October 5 with acclaimed new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Anna Netrebko opens her third consecutive Met season in her company role debut as Tatiana, the naïve heroine from Pushkin's classic novel. Mariusz Kwiecien portrays the self-confident title character, in a much-admired interpretation he has sung in many of the world's leading opera houses, and Piotr Beczala reprises his acclaimed performance as Onegin's friend-turned-rival, Lenski.

Cutting straight to the heart of the work, director Deborah Warner shows how Onegin is simultaneously about two colliding Russian societies—rustic provincialism and cosmopolitan decadence—and three wasted lives.

Onegin's aria ("Kogda bi zhizn") from Act I of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin." Mariusz Kwiecien (Onegin). Video courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Excerpt from Lenski's aria ("Kuda, kuda") from Act II of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin."
Piotr Beczala (Lenski). Video courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

MUSIC: Janusz Prusinowski Trio on US Tour

Through October 16, The Janusz Prusinowski Trio – a group now enlarged to five musicians will tour the United States.  The instrumentalists create a dynamic dialogue that makes for an exceptionally improvised and engaging performance.

Following in the tradition of village masters they have personally learned from, the musicians are also an avant-garde band with their own characteristic sound and language of improvisation. Combining music with dance, and the archaic with the modern, the Trio's unique style is distilled from their informed reinterpretations of Central Poland's village music. They bring the folk mazurka - sung, played, danced, and improvised - to a new, youthful audience. The band has performed throughout Europe, Asia, Canada, and the USA - including Carnegie Hall.

October dates include:

 

·         September 27-28 – 20th Annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival, Bloomington, IN; www.lotusfest.org

·         October 2, 8:00 pm - John Paul II Hall, 655 Dorchester Ave, South Boston, MA

·         October 4, 7:15 pm – DROM, New York City; www.dromnyc.com

·         October 5, 7:00pm – Special Event: Intimate House Concert in the hills of San Diego; an RSVP event for details email: craigshyman@gmail.com

·         October 6, 7:00 pm – Yoshi's San Francisco, CA; www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco

·         October 7 – San Diego State University, San Diego, CA; www.music.sdsu.edu, www.centerforworldmusic.org

·         October 9 – Southwestern College, Chula Vista, CA; www.swccd.edu, www.centerforworldmusic.org

·         October 10, 7:00pm – European Jazz @ UCLA; www.schoolofmusic.ucla.edu

·         October 11, 6:30 pm – Folk Dance Center, Dancing Unlimited, San Diego, CA; www.folkdancecenter.org, www.centerforworldmusic.org

·         October 12-13 – Richmond Folk Festival, Richmond, VA; www.richmondfolkfestival.org 

·         October 16 – The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Washington, DC; www.kennedy-center.org

 

NEW YORK, NY: Dumpling Festival

MUSIC: Kinga Augustyn in Concert

Woodstock