The New York Times, September 11, 2010
Attending Movado Hour performances at the Baryshnikov Arts Center on West 37th Street is always a special treat, with distinguished performers, intriguing programs and a delicious feeling of being part of an in-crowd without a hint of stuffiness. Given that the center is more or less directly across Tenth Avenue from the Time Out New York offices, I'm surprised that I haven't attended more of them; the one I reviewed on Thursday was the fourth I've managed to catch, I think, counting the very first one with the Brentano String Quartet, a recital by Paul Groves and the first New York concert by the Glass Chamber Players.
I actually cut a sentence out of this review, which I'll include it here as a bonus feature:
"Sighting art-world figures among the throng is not uncommon; on Thursday, at the first concert of the new season, the signature bottle-brush coif of Peter Sellars was visible at a nearby table, the director seen in glimpses beneath it."
In the end, I decided that was a little too gratuitous for the formal review, but it does offer a further wrinkle on what makes these events special: a decided lack of formality, a kind of egalitarian air born from the obvious fact that we're all here together to hear great chamber music performed in an appropriately intimate space. (For free, too.) The first time I attended a concert here Mikhail Baryshnikov gently brushed past, busy rearranging chairs and lowering window shades. I've spotted Wallace Shawn here on two separate occasions. No one ever makes a fuss.
There are some terrific Movado Hour concerts ahead during the fall. On November 16, the formidable singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Gabriel Kahane launches NYFOS Next, a series mounted by the ever-delightful New York Festival of Song to showcase up-and-coming songwriters and performers. On November 29, the St. Lawrence String Quartet plays Haydn and Britten. And Marcel Pérès leads his Ensemble Organum in Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame on December 8. You'll find details on making advance reservations on the BAC website.
Playlist:
Franz Joseph Haydn - Missa Cellensis ("Mariazellermesse"); Missa in Tempore Belli ("Paukenmesse") - Trinity Choir, Rebel Baroque Orchestra/Owen Burdick (Naxos)
Miley Cyrus - Can't Be Tamed (Hollywood)
Ken Ueno - Talus; On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis; Kaze-no-Oka - Wendy Richman, Kifu Mitsuhashi, Yukio Tanaka, Boston Modern Orchestra Project/Gil Rose (BMOP/sound)
Cassandra Wilson - Silver Pony (Blue Note; due Nov. 9)
Katatonia - Night Is the New Day (Peaceville)
Marc Ribot - Silent Movies (Pi Recordings)
Ryoji Ikeda - Dataplex and Test Pattern (Raster-Noton)
Paul Motian, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano - One Time Out (Soul Note)
Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast; due Sept. 27)
Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle (Beggars Banquet expanded edition)
Stile Antico - Puer natus est (Harmonia Mundi)
Tomás Luis de Victoria - Lamentations of Jeremiah - Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips (Gimell)
Shakira - Sale El Sol (Epic; due Oct. 19)
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