Archives for May 2007

Mosaic Select: Johnny Mercer (Mosaic, three CDs). The greatest lyricist of the pre-rock era was also a marvelously jazzy singer, and this new set, which contains 79 of the singles he cut for Capitol between 1942 and 1947, is the most representative cross-section of his Forties recordings ever to be issued on CD. Best of all are the tracks on which Mercer sings Mercer, including “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” “Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home,” and “One for My Baby.” Also present and very much accounted for: the King Cole Trio, Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers, Jack Teagarden, and a roomful of top Los Angeles session men (TT).

New York City Ballet, Jewels (New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, June 21, 23, 24). Five performances of George Balanchine’s “full-length, three-act plotless ballet,” which is really three separate, sharply contrasted ballets set to the music of Fauré, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. “Rubies” is a virtuoso romp and “Diamonds” a stately, resplendent delight, but “Emeralds” is the true gem, a hauntingly lyrical meditation on love and loss (TT).

Laura Lippman, What the Dead Know (Morrow, $24.95).The dust jacket bills it as “a novel,” with nary a whisper of crime, and that’s pretty much on the mark. Yes, dirty work is done in Lippman’s latest, but this tale of a pair of missing persons is expansive, unformulaic, and deeply involving. Read it for the plot if you must–you won’t be disappointed–but the real point of What the Dead Know is the imaginative sympathy with which it explores the complicated lives of its characters (TT).

Gaslight (Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 W. 22, through July 8). Patrick Hamilton’s creepy play about a thoroughly nasty Victorian husband who tries to drive his terrified wife insane opened on Broadway in 1941, ran for 1,295 performances, and was then sold to Hollywood. Now the Irish Rep is putting on an impeccable revival of the original stage version, which turns out to be both hugely effective and a good deal tighter than George Cukor’s well-known film. No winks, no nudges, no cuteness–this Gaslight is played straight, and it works. If your spine needs a tingle, here’s the place to get it (TT).

Emerson String Quartet / Jeremy Denk (Carnegie Hall, June 7 and 10 at 6:45/8). The best string quartet in America plays two mixed bills, each preceded by a related miniature recital by the pianist-blogger. On June 7, Denk plays Charles Ives’ “Concord” Sonata, followed by quartets of Brahms, Beethoven, and Ives. On June 10, Denk plays Béla Bartók’s Piano Sonata, Anton Webern’s Variations, and Beethoven’s Thirty-Two Variations in C Minor, after which the Emersons perform quartets by the same three composers. These concerts are part of “The Quartets in Context,” a Beethoven quartet cycle currently being presented by the Emersons at Carnegie Hall. What a fabulous idea! (TT).