PERFORMING ARTS

Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. or Sundays at 3 p.m. ■ Walter S. Gubelmann Auditorium Wednesday performances are $40 ■ No charge for Four Arts members Sunday performances are $30 ■ No charge for Four Arts members The Four Arts app ■ fourarts.org ■ customerservice@fourarts.org ■ (561) 655-7226

The Society of the Four Arts proudly presents nine live performances in March and April. From piano virtuosos to string quartets to special presentations and two amazing programs from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, there is something for everyone to enjoy in the Walter S. Gubelmann Auditorium.

Concert Pianists

Visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered Gabriela Montero (March 16) critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power” (New York Times).

She will make her Four Arts debut one night after performing at Carnegie Hall. Enjoy her “Innocence and Experience” program featuring works from Schumann and Shostakovich along with Montero’s own riveting improvisations.

“I love the way Montero combines being a high-level concert pianist with an uncanny ability to improvise,” said Sofia Maduro, Four Arts director of programming. “Her improvisations are huge crowd pleasers that enhance her abilities as a great pianist.”

Joshua Rifkin, whose classic recordings spearheaded the revival of Scott Joplin and ragtime, has performed the music of this essential African American composer to acclaim and enthusiasm throughout the world. In his Four Arts debut April 10, he brings Joplin into dialogue with his great Brazilian counterpart, the tango master Ernesto Nazareth. North and south, the music enchants, delights, and stirs the emotions.

Prior to the live performance, attend Rifkin’s Campus lecture, “Genuine Negro Ragtime: Scott Joplin’s African-American Identity,” on April 6 at 3 p.m.

“Rifkin helped popularize ragtime and Scott Joplin,” Maduro said. “His recordings are famous, and inspired the use of Joplin’s music in the film The Sting. His lecture will discuss the rhythms of North America and Brazil, the fusion, richness and diversity of where this musical form emerged.”

Enjoy two performances curated by pianist Wu Han, the Four Arts’ artistic advisor for classic music and co-director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She writes:

“This March, audiences at The Society of the Four Arts will have an opportunity to hear two very special programs that are specifically designed for them. This design was conceived during the pandemic lockdown: borders were closed, and international travel was limited to essential workers. I was missing Europe so much and imagined our audience in the same position, so I thought it would be fun for us to listen to two programs that are built on two major capitals of Europe: Vienna and Paris.

“Virtually without exception, artists throughout history have flocked to the world’s cultural metropolises. Whether in search of inspiration, fame, connections, or the simple intellectual camaraderie that is a phenomenon of the legendary cafés, creative thinkers have been drawn to these cities. The first program, titled Stars of Vienna (March 23), explores the environment upon which Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms fed and which allowed these geniuses to produce arguably the greatest music ever composed.

“The second program, An American in Paris (March 27), features the intense cultural influences of French music on that of the United States, and vice versa. The composers Gottschalk, Copland, George Walker and Gershwin all visited Paris to gain guidance from influential institutions such the Paris Conservatory and important figures such as composer Maurice Ravel and teacher Nadja Boulanger. Darius Milhaud visited the United States and was inspired by American Jazz. You will hear beautiful music by the young sister of Nadja Boulanger, Lili, the first woman composer who won the prestigious Rome prize, and died at the young age of 24. Gershwin’s iconic “American in Paris” was not only played by orchestra, or choreographed by Gene Kelly, but also performed in this rarely heard original arrangement for two pianos.

“I hope these programs transport you to these two great cities. There is so much to explore and so much to learn, and we’re so excited to share these great works and fascinating programs with you.”

― Wu Han

Since its debut in 2002 at the Copenhagen Festival, the Danish String Quartet (March 30) has become one of the most sought-after quartets in the world. The ensemble is celebrated for its musical spontaneity, giving audiences the sense of hearing even treasured canon repertoire as if for the first time, and exuding a palpable joy in music-making.

The quartet will perform a program featuring Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden” and signature arrangements of folk music from their Scandinavian homelands.

Hailed as “the future of chamber music” (Strings), veteran string quartet Brooklyn Rider (March 20) presents eclectic repertoire and gripping performances that draw rave reviews from classical, world, and rock critics alike. The quartet performs with mandolinist Avi Avital, who previously appeared at the Four Arts in 2020. The first mandolin soloist to be nominated for a classical Grammy, Avital is a driving force behind the reinvigoration of the mandolin repertory.

The live performance season concludes with our annual bluegrass concert. An Afternoon with Dailey & Vincent (April 24) features a concoction of traditional country, gospel and bluegrass blended with the fantastically instinctive vocal blends of Dailey’s tenor and Vincent’s reedy harmonies.

Special Presentations

Enjoy an afternoon of Haydn, Schubert, and Shostakovich from Trio con Brio Copenhagen (March 13), one of the finest trios in the world. The trio, comprised of Korean-born sisters, SooKyung Hong (cello) and Soo-Jin Hong (violin), and Soo-Kyung’s husband, Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer, has won over audiences worldwide with its fresh and contemporary approach.

Tickets are $30 • $25 for Four Arts members • $15 for students with ID or ages 15 & under All screenings take place in the Walter S. Gubelmann Auditorium and are previously recorded unless noted. Series selections, run times, intermissions, and casts are all subject to change. The Four Arts app ■ fourarts.org ■ customerservice@fourarts.org ■ (561) 655-7226

Spring Spotlight

The Metropolitan Opera presents a new installment in its series of abridged opera adaptations for all audiences with Cinderella (Saturday, April 2 at 1 p.m.). Laurent Pelly’s storybook staging of Massenet’s Cendrillon, a hit of the Met’s 2017–18 season, is presented with an all-new English translation in an abridged 90 minutes.

Charles Perrault’s 1697 fairy tale, the classic telling of the Cinderella story, is an excellent source for an opera — providing color, romance, and relatable themes for audiences of all ages. When Jules Massenet approached the fable in the 1890s, his orchestral colors and musical finesse were excellent vehicles for depicting the process of transformation. The opera includes the pageantry and glowing musical nostalgia for the French Baroque in the court scenes to the otherworldliness of the love music to the wit and humor that permeate the work as a whole.

Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard stars as the rags-to-riches princess. Maestro Emmanuel Villaume leads a delightful cast, which includes mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo as Cinderella’s Prince Charming, soprano Jessica Pratt as her Fairy Godmother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and bass-baritone Laurent Naouri as her feuding guardians.

It’s the story you know sung in English, the perfect introduction for Opera to children and newcomers and a delightful change of pace for Opera lovers.

METROPOLITAN OPERA

Cinderella

Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 1 p.m.

KEN HOWARD / Met Opera

BOLSHOI BALLET

Jewels

Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 2 p.m.

Three sparkling scenes - emeralds for the elegance and sophistication of Paris, rubies for the speed and modernity of New York, and diamonds for imperial St. Petersburg - are accompanied by the music of Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in George Balanchine’s modern ballet classic.

Photo by NATALIA VORONOVA

Live Saturday, March 26, 2022 at noon

For the first time, the Met presents the original five-act French version of Verdi’s epic opera of doomed love among royalty, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)

Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 1 p.m.

Bartlett Sher’s brings Rossini’s effervescent comedy closer than ever before, thanks to a stellar cast featuring irresistible energy and bravura vocalism.

KEN HOWARD / Met Opera

Don Giovanni

Saturday, April 30, 2022 at 1 p.m.

Baritone Simon Keenlyside smolders in the title role of Mozart’s version of the legend of Don Juan, creating a vivid portrait of a man who is a law unto himself.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE A View from the Bridge

Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 2 p.m.

In Brooklyn, longshoreman Eddie Carbone (Mark Strong, Sherlock Holmes, The Imitation Game) welcomes his Sicilian cousins to the land of freedom. But when one of them falls for his beautiful niece, they discover freedom comes at a price. The Young Vic’s electrifying production of Arthur Miller’s tragic masterpiece won a trio of 2014 Olivier Awards. SPECIAL ART DOCUMENTARY

Hermitage Revealed

Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 ■ $15 for Four Arts members, students, or ages 15 & under

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, holding over 3 million treasures. Hermitage Revealed takes audiences on a thrilling journey through the museum’s tumultuous history from imperial palace to state museum and offers unprecedented access to special collections and areas hidden from the public eye.

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN

Easter in Art

Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 ■ $15 for Four Arts members, students, or ages 15 & under

It’s the greatest story ever painted. From the triumphant to the savage, the ethereal to the tactile, some of western civilization’s greatest artworks focus on the 2,000-year-old story of Christ’s death and resurrection. This beautifully crafted film explores the Easter story as depicted in art, from the time of the early Christians to the present day.

Friday screenings at 2 and 5:30 p.m., unless noted ■ Walter S. Gubelmann Auditorium Tickets are $10 ■ No charge for Four Arts members Tickets are available in advance and also at the door 30 minutes before each screening. The Four Arts app ■ fourarts.org ■ customerservice@fourarts.org ■ (561) 655-7226

Star turns, documentaries, and second-run gems on screen

There’s still time this season to catch an outstanding film or documentary in the spacious Walter S. Gubelmann Auditorium. The Society of the Four Arts’ Friday Film Series has screenings at 2 and 5:30 p.m., unless noted differently, every Friday in March and April.

“It may come as a surprise that The Four Arts has been running a weekly film series for the past 50 years,” said Dr. Diana Barrett, chair of the Four Arts’ film committee. “We look for films with a strong cast and well-known directors and aim for a mixture of action-packed dramas and more personal films, with the goal of finding ‘gems’ that might not have been heavily advertised and promoted.”

Among the second-run gems this season are two actors making star turns in political dramas based on true stories.

Liam Neeson is the title character in Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (March 11). Felt is the most famous anonymous man in American History – the FBI second-in-command who was “Deep Throat” during the Watergate scandal. Neeson, a two-time Tony Award nominee and one time Academy Award nominee (Schindler’s List), gives the audience a glimpse into the personal and professional life of a man who sacrificed his career, family, and freedom to bring what he knew to light. View the Watergate scandal as we have never seen it before, from an extraordinary window into White House corruption and a government in turmoil.

Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) stars in Denial (April 1), based on the acclaimed book, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier. This film recounts Deborah E. Lipstadt’s (Weisz) legal battle for historical truth against David Irving (Timothy Spall), who accused her of libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier. In defamation cases under the English legal system, the burden of proof is on the accused, therefore it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team to prove the essential truth that the Holocaust occurred.

Barrett, who has been involved in the film world for 15 years, chairs the film committee, which includes Four Arts Trustee Shelly Gubelmann, Director of Programming Sofia Maduro, and President & CEO Philip Rylands.

“The process starts early in the fall, and we screen scores of films, choosing a short list that the committee strongly supports,” Barrett said. “We find the films through word of mouth, through critical reviews, and from film festivals. We try to present a range of

Dr. Diana Barrett SHOWING IN MARCH

March 11

March 18

films, some feature films, some documentaries, and some art films.”

The documentaries remaining this season are American Experience: The Swamp (March 25) and

American Masters: Sketches

of Frank Gehry (April 29). Both screen at 5:30 p.m. only.

Told through the lives of a handful of colorful and resolute characters, from hucksters to politicians to unlikely activists, The Swamp explores the repeated efforts to transform what was seen as a vast and useless wasteland ― Florida’s Everglades ― into an agricultural and urban paradise.

Frank Gehry has transformed modern architecture from a conventional science into a sublime and majestic form of art, resulting in such contemporary masterpieces as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the stunning Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Directed by Academy Award-winner Sydney Pollack, Sketches of Frank Gehry looks inside the mind of the most acclaimed and controversial architect of the 21st century.

Also screening this spring, Annette Bening, Bill Nighy, and Josh O’Connor (The Crown) star in Hope Gap (April 22), an

Jessica Biel and Colin Firth star in Easy Virtue, screening at 2 and 5:30 p.m. April 8.

intimate story charting the end of a long marriage and the ensuing emotional fallout their dissolution has on their only grown son.

A charming and ambitious art critic is summoned by a wealthy art dealer (Mick Jagger) to Lake Como and asked to steal a painting from a legendary reclusive artist (Donald Sutherland) in The Burnt Orange Heresy (March 18). A Noël Coward adaptation, Easy Virtue (April 8), features a battle of wits between a young Englishman, his mother, and the new glamorous American daughter-in-law. And Moira Kelly stars as Dorothy Day in Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (April 15), about a woman who dedicated herself in service to her socialist beliefs and her adopted faith of Catholicism, creating a movement that continues to thrive to this day,

“The season is very much in full swing, and we urge you to attend,” Barrett said. “Screenings take place in a large auditorium with spaced seating and good acoustics. There are plenty of films yet to be screened this season, so you have a treat in store!”

SHOWING IN APRIL