Theo Bleckmann, Brad Mehldau, Light in the Piazza & The Nose

GERALD FINLEY CD SIGNING
This morning (Thursday, March 18) at 10 a.m., baritone Gerald Finley will stop by the store to sign CDs. For more details and to order signed CDs, see above.

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Theo Bleckmann, SCHUMANN’S FAVORED BAR SONGS (Winter & Winter, $17.98) – Over the last few years, vocalist Theo Bleckmann has recorded a variety of fascinating projects: his take on Weil, Eisler and Brecht songs on Berlin: Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile (2007); crooning standards on Las Vegas Rhapsody: The Night They Invented Champagne (2006); and his very original versions of Twelve Songs by Charles Ives (2009), a collaboration with the jazz-rock group, Kneebody. He re-teams with pianist Fumio Yasuda (from the Berlin and Las Vegas projects) on stripped-down versions of songs such as “Good Morning Heartache,” “Just a Gigolo,” and “Send in the Clowns.” Check out this true original.

Brad Mehldau, HIGHWAY RIDER (Nonesuch, 2 CDs, $18.98) – Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau reunites with producer Jon Brion for another sonic venture after Largo, in 2002 . The CD includes Mehldau’s trio, plus drummer Matt Chamberlain, saxophonist Joshua Redman, and a chamber orchestra, with orchestrations by Mehldau. The New York Times wrote about the collaboration last Sunday (here, ).

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA & THE NOSE  
Two recent productions have gotten rave notices: Arena Stage’s Light in the Piazza, with a book by Craig Lucas, based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer, is now playing in Crystal City through April 11. Listen to the original cast recording of THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (Nonesuch, $18.98), with music and lyrics by Tony-winner Adam Guettel, starring Victoria Clark and Kelli O’Hara. 
Through March 25, the Metropolitan Opera is presenting an imaginative version of

Shostakovich’s The Nose, based on the Gogol story, directed by artist and filmmaker William Kentridge. The conductor for this production is Valery Gergiev, and he also conducts the Mariinsky Orchestra, Soloists and Chorus in the recently released recording, SHOSTAKOVICH: THE NOSE (Mariinsky, 2 CDs, Super Audio, $33.98).