Eugenics — the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase desirable characteristics — is a central theme in “Cold Spring,” which plays Friday and Saturday nights (12/3-4/10) in the EMPAC theater in Troy. Creator Sean Griffin chose the title as a reference to the studies in human potential conducted in Cold Spring Harbor, Suffolk County, during the early part of the 20th century. The research, which he found published online, unexpectedly supported the Nazi’s efforts to build a master race. Another examination of humanity’s strengths...

Parker Quartet Presented by the Friends of Chamber Music Emma Willard School, Troy NY Saturday November 20, 2010 A world of style, color and sentiment came from the Parker Quartet during their Saturday concert presented by the Friends of Chamber Music at the Emma Willard School. That’s really not so unusual an occurrence.  It seems like dynamic fresh-faced quartets are a dime a dozen these days and the Parker, which easily fits that category, already made a fine local debut at Union College back in 2006.  What made Saturday’s program surprising and special is that the breadth of expression...

If you’ve ever felt in the dark while listening to contemporary music, Friday night at EMPAC you won’t be alone. For a portion of the concert the orchestra will also be performing — literally — in the dark, without the aid of lights on their music stands or even a spotlight on the conductor. “In Vain” is the name of the single piece on the program. It’s about 75 minutes long and was written about 10 years ago by the Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas.  It will be performed by the Argento Ensemble from Manhattan, conducted by its founder Michel Galante. Along with an array...

Bernstein’s “A Quiet Place” New York City Opera October 30, 2010 “Bernstein’s Trouble in Houston” was how one headline put it after the 1983 premiere at the Houston Grand Opera of “A Quiet Place,” the dark, family drama that was conceived as a sequel to his effervescent 1952 one-act “Trouble in Tahiti.”  When George Steel announced a revival for his second season as general and artistic director of the New York City Opera, eyebrows were raised at the wisdom of such a choice. But Bernstein and his librettist Stephen Wadsworth reworked the piece significantly prior to rather...

Has the highpoint of the local concert season already come and gone? Only time will tell, but it will be a tall order to surpass the splendor of Garrick Ohlsson’s all-Chopin recital. The Thursday night concert (9/30) in the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall launched the 114th year of presentations by the Troy Chromatics. A deep dive into the Chopin repertoire hasn’t been a common occurrence for recitalists lately, at least locally. His music has typically been presented as bonbons amidst more seemingly substantial fare. If it’s deployed to make any kind of point, it’s usually about the virtuoso...

Music and food have always gone together well, but seldom have they been presented as equals on a stage. Walking the Dog Theatre is serving up just such a combination with “Bon Appetit!” An original theatrical, musical and culinary tribute to Julia Child, the show is produced in association with Diamond Opera Theater. It plays at the Basilica Industria in Hudson for eight performances through Sept. 24. Every performance culminates in free tastings of pastries and other sweets by local chefs. “Bon Appetit!” of course, was the name of Child’s popular television show,...

Philadelphia Orchestra Saratoga Performing Arts Center August 4-21, 2010 After the Philadelphia Orchestra abruptly parted ways in 2008 with its seventh music director, Christopher Eschenbach, it turned to Charles Dutoit to fill in as chief conductor.  It’s a mighty long interim status for Dutoit, who will depart in 2012 with the arrival of Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The connection that made the Dutoit-Philly alliance a natural was his long status as artistic director and principal conductor of the orchestra’s annual August residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York. Dutoit...

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Ozawa Hall, August 16, 2010 Who better than a 102-year old man to ask the question, “What are years?” Composer Elliott Carter, who’s centennial was celebrated two summers ago at Tanglewood, was back again Monday night for the finale of the annual Festival of Contemporary Music in Ozawa Hall.  One of his newest pieces is a setting of five poems by Marianne Moore and uses her line, “What Are Years,” as the title. Judging from the score, performed by the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and soprano Sarah Joanne Davis, Carter’s longevity has given him...

All Gershwin. All good. That pretty much describes the line-up as well as the outcome of Wednesday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. It was Charles Dutoit’s penultimate program as artistic director and principal conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s annual summer season and also a rare immersion into all-American terrain. Opening the program was “An American in Paris.” The honking strains of its opening bars are so ubiquitous that the rest of the piece felt revelatory, if still quite familiar. Beyond the bouncing appeal, the piece is actually quite a...

The name of the opera is “The Distant Sound.”  Yet the new production at Bard College’s SummerScape, which opens Friday night, will probably focus on plenty more than just sound.  If it holds true to the festival’s recent track record, it will also be spectacular to look at. Last year’s staging of “The Huguenots” was a feast of visual wonder with enormous set pieces, imaginative costumes and, most memorably, numerous staged references to famous paintings, starting with a tableaux of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Returning from his success with “The Huguenots” is director...