by Steven Pisano

(All photos by Steven Pisano)

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ended its most recent tour of the U.S. with a visit to Carnegie Hall on Monday night. Appropriately enough, it was an all-British program: Britten, Elgar, and Holst. I half-expected to see Union Jacks hanging from the balconies and tea carts being rolled up and down the aisles. Crumpets, anyone?

But, not all was British. The RPO's newly appointed Music Director, Vasily Petrenko, was on the podium, having succeeded Charles Dutoit who resigned in 2018 after charges of sexual misconduct. Born and raised in Russia, the 45-year-old Petrenko - whose wife Evgenia is also a conductor - became a British citizen in 2015. He opened the evening by speaking warmly to the audience from the stage, a far cry from how most top conductors walk onstage, bow to the welcoming applause, then abruptly turn their backs. (There are, of course, notable exceptions, including Michael Tilson Thomas and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.)

Britten’s 1945 opera Peter Grimes is a dark and moody work about a fisherman suspected of murder. The orchestra played the “Four Sea Interludes” from the opera: “Dawn,” “Sunday Morning,” “Moonlight,” and “Storm.” The evocative music showcased the RPO's many strengths, particularly its string section.

by Steven Pisano

(All photographs by Steven Pisano)

Italy is not the first country that comes to mind when considering the Jewish diaspora in Europe. The northern part of the country, however, has long been home to small outposts of Jews, most notably Venice and its segregated Ghetto. About an hour away by train from that famed city is the inland city of Ferrara, where one extant synagogue dates back to the 1400s. 

In 1962, novelist Giorgio Bassani wrote The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (later made into an Oscar-winning film by Vittorio de Sica) about a prominent Jewish family living in a lush, walled compound in Ferrara in the 1930s with ancient trees, tennis courts, and a sizable private library. But, all is not well. Much like the Von Trapps of Salzburg, the Finzi-Continis have seen what's coming since the Italian Fascists rose to power alongside the Nazis and implemented race laws against Jews, but believe they can ride it out from behind their high walls. 

The two Finzi-Contini children, Micòl and Alberto, are privately tutored at home and therefore don't have much interaction with the other Jewish children of Ferrara. The exception is at Temple, where one day Micòl meets Giorgio, a middle-class Jewish teen, who briefly flirts with her. Nothing comes of it, and their paths don't cross again until years later when Giorgio, now a student at the prestigious University of Bologna, is riding his bike by the Finzi-Contini compound and Micòl beckons him to come inside and play tennis. They soon become friends, and over time, Giorgio develops an unexpressed love for her. But Micòl, who is both beautiful and intelligent - not to mention wealthy - stays aloof, both emotionally and physically. The novel goes on to explore Giorgio's unrequited love against the dark shadow of war.

by Steven Pisano

(All photographs by Steven Pisano)

If you haven't been following the career of Taylor Mac, you've been missing out on one of the most protean theater artists of our time. Winner of a MacArthur Genius Grant, International Ibsen Award and Pulitzer Prize nomination, Mac achieved wide praise for 2016's tour-de-force “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” not in the least because it was 24 hours long (with short allowances for food, drink, and bathroom breaks). One could fill stadiums with the number of people still kicking themselves for missing that show!

Now, Mac has brought a new opera, “The Hang” to HERE, written with the composer Matt Ray and directed by Niegel Smith. Originally scheduled to be presented as part of the cancelled Prototype Festival of new opera, “The Hang” is not as ambitious in scale as some of Mac's previous work, clocking in at a mere 100 minutes. But, as a celebration of live musical theater in all its bristling, visceral glory—music, lyrics, sets, make-up, and costumes—this “jazz opera" will make you ecstatic to be back in the theater. It is a love letter to the act of creation itself, and to how essential it is that we all “hang” together.

“The Hang” recounts the persecution and ultimate death of the famous Greek philosopher Socrates. But don’t be misled. This is not a classics lesson brought to life (even if knowing something about Aristophanes will elicit snickers from those in the know). What will delight you is the sheer, queer exuberance of this outstanding production.