MOZART’S ‘DON GIOVANNI’ SCREENED LIVE IN HD FROM THE MET ACROSS REGION
Metropolitan Opera Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi conducts a new production of Don Giovanni, Mozart’s classic opera of lust, heartbreak, and revenge, with Mariusz Kwiecien in his first Met performances of the iconic title role. The 4-hour opera, hosted by Renée Fleming, will be screen Live in HD on Saturday, October 29, at 1 p.m. at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass.; The Clark in Williamstown, Mass.; and the Beacon in Pittsfield.
Tony Award-winning director Michael Grandage makes his Met debut with a new production that stars an international cast of acclaimed Mozart singers, including Marina Rebeka as Donna Anna, Mojca Erdmann as the innocent peasant girl Zerlina, Barbara Frittoli as the fiery Donna Elvira, Ramón Vargas as Don Ottavio, Luca Pisaroni as Giovanni’s manservant Leporello, Joshua Bloom as Masetto, and Štefan Kocán as the vengeful Commendatore.
The opera will have an encore screening at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, November 6, at 1 p.m.
RUSSIAN ENSEMBLE OPENS CLOSE ENCOUNTERS’ 20TH SEASON
Chamber Orchestra Kremlin
Going into its 20th year of presenting outstanding chamber music with lively commentary, Close Encounters With Music (CEWM) presents the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday, October 30, 2011, at 2pm. Conducted by Misha Rachlevsky, the ensemble returns for a second successive season with a program featuring Dvorak’s sunny Serenade for Strings Op. 22; Elgar’s Serenade in E minor; Shostakovich’s tragic Chamber Symphony Op. 110; and Bach’s radical Contrapunctus I from The Art of the Fugue. CEWM artistic director Yehuda Hanani joins as soloist for Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Concerto.
FILM FEST CONCLUDES WITH EMERGING ARTISTS AND SCREEN LEGENDS
Carol Channing
Sidney Lumet, Carol Channing, Marge Champion, and a special program on the intersection of Bollywood and the Berkshires are among the highlights of the second and concluding weekend of the 13th annual Williamstown Film Festival (WFF), running Thursday, October 27 through Sunday, October 29, 2011.
WFF’s closing day, Saturday, October 29, kicks off at noon with “Kleiser in Bollywood,” a lunch seminar at Images Cinema. Visual effects guru Jeff Kleiser, cofounder of Williamstown-based Synthespian Studios, spent nearly a year in Mumbai and London working on India’s biggest science-fiction film ever, Ra. One, starring and produced by Bollywood’s hottest star: Shah Rukh Khan. Kleiser will give audiences a sneak peek at the film’s groundbreaking VFX and share behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the production of this film, which opens this week in Dubai, Toronto, and India.
The Berkshires’ most beloved celebrity, Marge Champion, will be in attendance for the New England premiere of Carol Channing: Larger than Life, an exhilarating documentary about the enduring entertainer and legendary luminary of Broadway, screen, and television. Champion, a friend and professional colleague of Channing, is interviewed in the film and will join director Dori Berinstein for a Q&A following the screening of Carol Channing… at Images Cinema at 2:30 p.m.
BENEFIT FOR MUSICIANS IN NEED HONORS MEMORY OF JOHN HERALD
John Herald
The second annual Concert for The John Herald Fund and Family of Woodstock at Harmony Music (52 Mill Hill Rd.), takes place on Saturday, October 29, 2011. This will be the second concert of 2011 to raise money for artists in need of funds for some of life’s essentials. With Hurricane Irene leaving many people homeless, without food, money for their medical bills and other necessities of life and with unemployment still rising, the fund memorializes bluegrass-folk legend John Herald, who unfortunately was plagued by poverty in the final years of his life, by raising money for musicians in need in his name.
Performers scheduled to appear include the Dharma Bums; the Sunburst Brothers; Seth Rogovoy (author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet); Brian, Fran and Abby Hollander; the Saturday Night Bluegrass Band; the Princes of Serendip; Doug Yoel; and Charles Lyonhart with George “The Mighty” Quinn, T.G. Vannini and Chris Zaloom, Woodstock’s illustrious and Harmony’s Saturday night troubadour guitarist. Guests artists are also expected to appear.