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BSO releases first James Levine era recordings

James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced the conductor's plans for the 2009-2010 season today, including a complete performance of Beethoven's symphonies over four weeks. But the big news of the Symphony Hall press conference was the release of Levine's first recordings with the orchestra on the new BSO Classic label.

Two performances on CD or full-length digital downloads and two available only as downloads are now available through bso.org and at the Symphony Hall store. Eight more releases are planned through the end of the year. Release on iTunes and other services is coming in March, but BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe made clear that the BSO hopes to control its own destiny by doing the bulk of sales through its own site.

Nodding along and bouncing in his seat as excerpts were played, Levine said he's excited because the live concert recordings capture the unique qualities of the BSO playing in Symphony Hall "to an alarming degree." And - on the high-end surround sound system rolled out for the press conference anyway - the difference was audible.

The CD-or-download offerings are Ravels' Daphnis and Chloe, recorded Oct. 5 and 6, 2007, with the Tanglewood Festiv­al Chorus, and Brahms' "A German Requiem," from Sept. 26 and 27, 2008, with the chorus and soloists Christine Schafer and Michael Volle.

The download-only offerings are Mahler's Symphony No. 6, recorded Oct. 10, 11 and 14, 2008, and William Bolcom's Eighth Symphony, a BSO commission recorded in performances on Feb 28 and 29 and March 1, 2008, with the chorus. The Bolcom recording also includes his lyric concerto with soloist James Galway, from Sept. 29 and 30, 2006.

All downloads are available as "standard definition" MP3s for $8.99 or "high-definition" WMAs with the surround sound information encoded for $12.99.

Mahjong: Shuffling the tiles at the Peabody Essex

Sultry, huh? Untitled (Marilyn / Mao) is just one of many striking works in the Peabody Essex Museum's new exhibit, Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, open to the public Saturday through May 17. Of course, if I told you it was a Warhol from the 1960s, you'd just be mildly amused. What's striking about it is that it was painted in China in 2005, by the artist Yu Youhan. It's one of several openly subversive images of Mao in the exhibit - in a room that also includes numerous propaganda posters of the Chairman. The relative possibility of free expression in China is one of the threads running through this exhibit, which features a timeline of contemporary artists' freedom there - the dark era of the Cultural Revolution, the famous 1979 "fence exhibit," the post-Tiananmen Square clampdown, and the more recent loosening amid the country's explosive economic growth.

Current government restrictions on artists often seem "random," said artist Zhang O, who splits her time between New York and Beijing and attended this morning's press breakfast. Problems can result if an organizer has offended an official or failed to make the proper arrangements. And of course some topics, such as Tibet, are not to be discussed. But there is much more freedom than there used to be, she said. "You can do sex and violence (in art)," she said. "Lots of people do to get attention, because there are so many artists in China." Ah, freedom.

Boston is one of only two U.S. venues for the exhibit. Collector Uli Sigg is a Swiss businessman who worked on the first joint venture between China and the west in the same year as the fence exhibit. At the museum this morning, he said he was shocked to find that no one, in or outside China, was collecting contemporary Chinese art in any organized way, and so he set out to do so. He collected widely - "like an institution, not my personal taste" - assembling 2,500 pieces by 250 artists. One result is this broad survey, which includes painting, photography, video and installation art and covers 10,000 square feet in three galleries, even though it has been considerably scaled down from its appearance at Berkeley. The opportunity to re-shuffle the works at each venue and re-appraise different aspects of Chinese culture is why the exhibit is called Mahjong.

Much more after the jump...

Top, Untitled (Marilyn / Mao), 2005, Yu Youhan, oil on canvas, 63 x 48 inches, Sigg Collection, courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum. Bottom, 2000 A.D., 2000, Yue Minjun, Painted plyester, 25 figures, each 74 x 18 inches, Sigg Collection, courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum.

Meta: Chinese art, sponsor shoutout, Facebook for HubArts, Twitter me this?

1) I'm taking off now for the Peabody Essex opening of Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection. I'll post about it this afternoon.
2) As you may have noticed in recent weeks, despite our bad attitude, we've actually had some success attracting sponsors, cultural and otherwise, with the new Flyerboard system over on the right. That's because they think you're a valuable audience. Please support HubArts by clicking on the ads, and if you attend any of the events, make a point to tell 'em HubArts sent you! Thanks.
3) Other than Technorati, I haven't used much in the way of social bookmarking like Digg here; the widgets clutter the page and I never saw much traffic resulting. Some of my Facebook friends have been encouraging me to start a HubArts space over there, but I'm wondering if it would drain traffic from here, thus diluting our ad appeal  - any bloggers have advice for me?
4) A couple of regular readers have started following me on Twitter. It's a low-volume personal feed, but I am including more HubArts-related tweets, breaking news, etc. If you're interested, my username: jbnbpt.
5) Globe: Brandeis woes put president on the line. Anyone surprised?

Image: Chanel No. 5, 2001, Wang Guangyi, Oil on canvas, 2 panels, 120 x 78 in. each, Sigg Collection, Courtesy of the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Via the Peabody Essex Museum.

Chilly show at the Peabody Essex ends soon

Anyone who's lived through this winter in New England has had their fill of icy tundra and the threat of frostbite. But if you haven't yet made it to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem for "To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape," you should suck it up and go, as I did Saturday. Although the exhibit focuses on a narrow subject, there are genuinely striking works that you're not likely to have seen before. The show closes March 1.

MIT honors Harbison

An April 24 concert at Kresge Auditorium tops events scheduled to honor Composer and MIT professor John Harbison, belatedly marking his 70th birthday in December. The free concert includes: the premiere of the French Horn Suite featuring MIT Lecturer Jean Rife, who commissioned the work, and her professional colleagues John Boden, Ken Pope and Peter Solomon; the second performance of "A Clear Midnight," a cantata for five soloists and strings with texts by Walt Whitman, commissioned by The Georgina Joshi Foundation in memory of five Indiana University voice students who died in a plane crash in 2006; the first Boston performance of "Crane Sightings" (Eclogue for solo violin and strings); and "Umbrian Landscape with Saint," a sinfonietta with chorus. Harbison, who has won a MacArthur "genius grant" and a Pulitzer Prize among many other honors, is an Institute Professor on MIT's music faculty. Three other concerts to honor Harbison are after the jump.

Tanglewood tix Sunday

Tickets for this summer's Tanglewood performances go on sale Sunday at 8 a.m., including a newly announced concert by Tony Bennett on July 21. There are also some new packages - one variously called "Tanglewood Immersion Weekends" and "Tanglewood Backstage Pass" includes a variety of classes and workshops not normally available to the public. All the details are in the press release, which is after the jump.

Connecticut Opera shuts down, citing economy

The Hartford Courant reports that "the fat lady has sung for Connecticut Opera." The staff is gone, the office is closed and 2,000 subscribers are out what they paid for tickets to the last two scheduled productions of the season. "It's worse than sad, it's a shame," the chairman of the opera's board told the Courant. "It's just another casualty of the economic conditions."

Extra Golden is extra golden: Good music, Obama hook

World Music has added another show to its spring schedule. April 12, at the Middle East upstairs, it's Extra Golden, a band that's half-Kenyan, half-American, just like our new president! World Music says the group first gained recognition circa 2006 "when then-Senator Obama helped the band obtain work visas to come to the United States for their debut tour. In gratitude, they recorded the song 'Obama,' thanking him and others who helped." The band mixes the Kenyan pop form called benga with American rock for an upbeat but still Afro-centric sound. If you like "Graceland" or Vampire Weekend, this is the real deal.  Their third album, "Thank You Very Quickly," is due out March 10, and they'll tour the UK in March with big names Oliver Mtudkuzi and Baaba Maal. Tix for the 18+ show are $15 at (617) 876-4275 or www.WorldMusic.org. Here's"Obama":

Shepard Fairey and the AP and the BPD

UPDATE: Honestly, Shepard Fairey is like god's gift to bloggers. Dan Kennedy has unearthed yet another angle on the ICA poster boy. And this time the words "hypocritical scumbag" are involved.

Here's a really good explanation of why the AP shouldn't win its suit against Fairey over the "Obama Hope" poster (right). And here's more about the Boston graffiti cop who busted Fairey, including his not-entirely-convincing explanation of why they popped him when they did.

Rounder and Berklee at the Grammys

The record label and the music college both had a big night. ROUNDER RECORDING ARTISTS WIN MULTIPLE GRAMMY® AWARDS ... ALISON KRAUSS | ROBERT PLANT ... TAKE TOP HONORS WITH TWO OF THE NIGHT’S BIGGEST AWARDS shouts the record company. Berklee Alumni Won Eight Grammy Awards at the 51st Annual Ceremony – Winners Include John Mayer and Gary Burton, says the school's release. Both press releases are after the jump.