7Days: Shostakovich’s ballet ‘The Bright Stream’; alterna-comedy from Berserker Residents
Sunday Antic farm Shostakovich wrote three ballets from 1929 to 1935, each getting him deeper in trouble with the Soviet authorities, each banned shortly after it premiered, each eventually contributing to his falling out of favor with Stalin and the denunciation of his work in 1936. The finale of the trio, The Bright Stream, despite being set on a collective farm (and having a comic plot in which a troupe of sophisticated dancers are shown up by the bumpkin workers), was the subject of a pointed and threatening article in Pravda (even more to the point, one co-librettist, Adrian Piotrovsky, was sent to the gulag and disappeared). Revived by the Bolshoi Ballet in the 1990s, what had been seen as insulting to the proletariat — a dog on a bicycle, a man in a dress — was no longer so problematic. A live simulcast of the performance from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow screens at 11 a.m. at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 West Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. Tickets are $20; $10 for students. Call 610-527-9898.
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Sunday
Antic farm Shostakovich wrote three ballets from 1929 to 1935, each getting him deeper in trouble with the Soviet authorities, each banned shortly after it premiered, each eventually contributing to his falling out of favor with Stalin and the denunciation of his work in 1936. The finale of the trio, The Bright Stream, despite being set on a collective farm (and having a comic plot in which a troupe of sophisticated dancers are shown up by the bumpkin workers), was the subject of a pointed and threatening article in Pravda (even more to the point, one co-librettist, Adrian Piotrovsky, was sent to the gulag and disappeared). Revived by the Bolshoi Ballet in the 1990s, what had been seen as insulting to the proletariat — a dog on a bicycle, a man in a dress — was no longer so problematic. A live simulcast of the performance from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow screens at 11 a.m. at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 West Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. Tickets are $20; $10 for students. Call 610-527-9898.
East and west To perform Andrea Clearfield's cantata Tse Go La, a work based on Tibetan folk melodies for 200 voices, electronics, and orchestra, the Mendelssohn Club teams with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Girlchoir. The program, also featuring Fauré's Requiem, starts at 4 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 1904 Walnut St. Tickets are $28. Call 215-735-9922.
Monday
With strings Rising stars the Parker String Quartet play a recital of works by Mozart, Janacek, and Beethoven at 8 p.m. at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater, 300 S. Broad St. Tickets are $23; $10 for students. Call 215-569- 8080.
Tuesday
Love and war The AVA Opera sets Donizetti's delightful comedy L'Elisir D'Amore in a city library in Italy at the end of World War II — there, a shy custodian thinks he has found the edge in his competition with a soldier for the hand of the lovely librarian by purchasing a con man's love potion. The production goes on at the Academy of Vocal Arts' Warden Theater, 1920 Spruce St., at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and at Central Bucks South High School, 1100 Folly Rd., Warrington, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $60; $50 for seniors; $25 for ages 30 and under; $10 for students. Call 215-735-1685.
Wednesday
Go for baroque The deft Amerita Chamber Players perform works by Locatelli, Albinoni, Clementi, Cherubini, Vivaldi, Donizetti, and Rossini at 8 p.m. at Temple Beth Zion, 18th and Spruce Streets. Admission is free. Call 215-735-3250.
Chamber pop Golden-voiced Norwegian chanteuse Ane Brun performs her picture- perfect operatic art-rock at 8:30 p.m. at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. Tickets are $15. Call 215-232-2100.
Jazz time Dynamite saxophonist Lynn Riley and her band World Mix play at 7:30 p.m. at Kennett Flash, 102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square. Tickets are $10; $5 for students. Call 484-732-8295.
Thursday
Star-crossed love Written in six weeks on short notice, with a libretto drawn from Renaissance sources and previously set by another composer and using music left over from a failed work, Bellini's I Capuletti i e Montecchi may sound like a gloss on Shakespeare, but this tale of Romeo and Giulietta is just as affecting as the Bard's (and a favorite soprano spotlight). The Curtis Opera Theatre performs the work at the Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $35. Call 215-893-7902.
Friday & Saturday
Those clowns The alternative-comedy trio Berserker Residents describe what they do as "site-specific overgrown kid theater" using physical theater, puppetry, music, sketch, and prop comedy. The troupe performs a work-in-progress at the Arden Theater's Independence Foundation Studio, 40 N. Second St., at 6 p.m. Friday. Admission is free. Call 215-922-1122.
Dancing for the stars The dance troupe Miller Rothlein presents a unique fund-raiser in Mambo Mio: Seven nondancers drawn from the local arts and philanthropy scene get a chance to perform Latin-inspired ballroom dance with a professional dancer and compete for prizes. Judges are Scott Lazarov (DanceSport Academy), Jen Childs (1812 Productions), and Alexei Charov (Kensington Performing Arts Charter School). The show goes on at the Latvian Society, 531 N. Seventh St., at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $30. Call 267-888-6476.
Country fille Singer- songwriter Angela Easterling plays her finely crafted Americana, with some Francophone gems (check out her "Mon Secret," one of our current faves) off her new all-French album, at the PSALM Salon, 5841 Overbrook Ave., at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20. Call 215-477-7578.
A complete guide to events in the region over the coming weekend will appear in the Weekend section in Friday's Inquirer. Send notices of events for "7 Days" to Michael Harrington at mharrington@phillynews.com