- The New York City Philharmonic is back with a great range of material
- The Philharmonic Hall, where they demonstrate their virtues, is being remodeled
- The great idol Sergio Mendes is very grateful for everything he has achieved
NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Philharmonic will resume its presentations by subscription in September after a historical gap of 18 months caused by the pandemic of coronavirus. Displaced from her home in Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall due to a remodel, she will have a reduced schedule of 78 concerts in different venues.
The Philharmonic said Tuesday that its season will open on September 17 with Jaap van Zweden conducting the orchestra and pianist Daniil Trifonov in Anna Clyne’s “Within Her Arms,” Copland’s “Quiet City,” George’s “Antifonys for Chamber Orchestra.” Walker and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. That concert, the orchestra’s first regular event since March 10, 2020, will be the first of 50 at Lincoln Center’s 1,086-seat Alice Tully Hall, a venue most commonly used for chamber music and recitals.
The Philharmonic will give 28 concerts
There will be 28 concerts at the 1,233-seat Jazz at Lincoln Center Rose Theater, located on Columbus Circle about 800 meters (less than half a mile) from Geffen Hall, plus four concerts at Carnegie Hall, home of the orchestra between 1891 and 1962. The next season will include a regular Sunday matinee series for the first time since 1964-65. There will be no intermissions until at least December.
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will be the artist in residence. She will perform with transgender artist Justin Vivian Bond from January 27-29 and will sing a program on February 3-5 that includes the world premiere of Gregory Spears ‘setup to new texts by Tracy K. Smith and “Les Nuits d’ été ”(“ Summer Nights ”) by Berlioz, generally sung by mezzo-sopranos.
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An investment of more than 550 million
Gustavo Dudamel will direct shows from March 9-20, 2022, focusing on the relationship of Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck Schumann, along with world premieres. Geffen Hall, home of the Philharmonic since 1962, is undergoing a $ 550 million renovation that could be advanced during the pandemic. It is scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2022 with a capacity for fewer than 2,200 people, up from 2,738.
The orchestra rows are shrinking from 43 to 33, and the stage has been moved forward by 7.6 meters (25 feet), allowing seven rows of wraparound seats behind the orchestra. About two-thirds of the third level are being eliminated. The pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the last 27 subscription concerts of the 2019-20 season in addition to six unsubscribed concerts, 103 subscription concerts of the 2020-21 season and 16 unsubscribed concerts, and additional events such as youth concerts, shows nights and tours. In its last full season, the Philharmonic presented 104 subscription concerts and 15 unsubscribed concerts.
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Sergio Mendes: luck, passion and serendipity in a long career
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Sergio Mendes, producer, keyboardist, singer and composer Oscar-nominated Brazilian, thanks so much to his fans around the world and the success in his career, which for what he considers a life full of moments of serendipity. “I use the word serendipity many times because I love it. We do not have it in Spanish or Portuguese. It is that magical encounter in your life that makes things truly wonderful for you. My life has been a series of those encounters, ”he said with a smile.
Mendes was just 16 years old when he began working as a musician in his hometown Niteroi. In filming the PBS documentary “Sergio Mendes & Friends: A Celebration,” he and director John Scheinfeld of “The US vs. John Lennon”, “Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary “(” In Search of John Coltrane “) and” The Happy Days of Garry Marshall “, returned to their roots to see the humble origins of Mendes.
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Sergio Mendes does not forget where he comes from
“It was so emotional, so beautiful for me, to see those old buildings, the apartment that I lived in. And that’s where the journey began, ”he said. “Sergio Mendes & Friends: A Celebration” will air on different PBS stations in the United States in June. It is derived from the feature documentary “Sergio Mendes: In The Key of Joy,” and will be available as a thank you to PBS viewers who have made donations in June.
Mendes explained that bossa nova, the musical genre for which he is a champion, was first popularized by his mentor Antonio Carlos Jobim in 1959. He said that people fell in love with the soft and sensual sounds of the musical genre because it was “a feeling of freshness and Romance”. “It was Rio in the early 60s, the melodies and the mood. I think that captured the world, in terms of people all over the world being in love with it, the sounds, that was bossa nova, ”he said.
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The story behind a mythical song
The cheerful Mendes also explained the story behind the success of his most famous song: “Mas Que Nada”. He had finished it years before he presented it to his friend Herb Alpert with A&M Records. Alpert managed to get it on the radio and thus put Brazil 66 on the map. “When we got here (to the United States) Herb asked me ‘what are the songs you want to do?’
Among those songs was my ‘Mas Que Nada’, which is entirely in Portuguese. Nobody knows what it means. It’s just a kind of sound, but it’s a song that makes you feel good. It’s one of those melodies that stay with you forever, anywhere in the world, ”Mendes said. “So I was very surprised, we were all surprised, that it became a worldwide hit everywhere, in Japan, in the Philippines, here in America.”
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Time after
Forty years later, in 2006, Mendes made a remake of that life-changing song with the Black Eyed Peas, which led him to be close friends with will.i.am, who is featured in the documentary. “He said to me ‘I have the introduction’ and I asked him do you have the introduction? … Because always the introduction of ‘Mas Que Nada’ was bam, bam, bam, forever, but he had that brilliant idea,” said Mendes about the first piano chords heard in the latest version.
The documentary includes many other friends and collaborators such as Alpert, Common, Lani Hall (lead singer from Brazil ’66), Quincy Jones, John Legend and Gracinha Mendes, who has been the lead singer for Mendes since 1971 and his wife for 46 years. For Mendes, meeting Gracinha has been one of the favorite serendipitous moments in his life.
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Romance at first sight with a singer
“I think she was 17 years old,” he said. “I was singing with a friend of mine, a great musician Armiento Pascual, and another composer named Edu Lobo, and in a club in Sao Paulo. I saw her and it was love at first sight ”. Mendes, who turned 80 this year, has no plans to stop working. In fact, he is fully vaccinated and has already set a date for his first post-pandemic concert. He will return to the Hollywood Bowl on August 15.
On the secret to having a 60-year career, Mendes mentioned a combination of factors. “I think curiosity is very important. Passion has to be constant and I would say courage because there will be times when people say ‘I don’t like what you do, you are fired’. Then there is perseverance, you don’t have to give it up ”, he said. “All those things combined and luck, of course, luck.”
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