ART
Burt Barr: Solid Water; Janaina Tschape: Blood, Sea: Video projections by New York's Burt Barr include a new work, Vee-Formation, developed in response to the design of CAM's galleries. A video installation by Brazil-based Janaina Tschape features "sculptural costumes" posed underwater at Weeki Wachee Springs. Michael Rush, critic for Art in America and The New York Times, leads a symposium with the artists before the opening reception; the panel will discuss the historical evolution of video and film from early developments to the current explosion of digital technology. Exhibition Aug. 27-Oct. 9, with opening reception Aug. 27, 7-9 p.m., USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa. Symposium Aug. 27, 6 p.m., USF Music Recital Hall. For directions around campus, call 813-974-4133.
The Comic Book Hero: With its focus on the arty dimensions of Batman, Superman, Spiderman and the X-Men, this exhibition promises to tempt the entire family. Includes sequential art, original art panels from the notable comic book artists, video, plus rare movie objects such as costumes, robotics and vehicles. A variety of children's educational programs and workshops are included. Sept. 10-Dec. 24, Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin, 727-298-3322.
Marvels of Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics from the Corcoran Gallery of Art: A rare treat for the Bay area, this traveling culture-stretcher will please fans of Italian Renaissance art and offer a cultural twist for contemporary art lovers. The exhibition features small decorative 15th- and 16th-century treasures based on myth, religion and everyday life, curated for the Corcoran Gallery of Art by a Vassar scholar. Sept. 25-Jan. 2, 2005, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, 727-896-2667.
Dali and Mass Culture: Even if you aren't particularly a fan of Salvador Dali, this revelatory, occasionally hilarious touring show is a must — and the Dali Museum in St. Pete, currently celebrating the 100th anniversary of Dali's birth, is its only U.S. stop. Way before Warhol, Dali was a master of media manipulation, integrating his surrealist sensibility into TV ads, fashion design, collaborations with Hitchcock and the Marx Brothers, and probably the most bizarre pavilion ever to surface at a World's Fair. There are more than 270 works in the show, including a rarely seen animated film Dali made with Disney. Oct. 1-Jan. 31, 2005, Salvador Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, 727-823-3767.
Miriam Schapiro in Tampa: An uncommon opportunity to re-examine the work of a central figure of two art movements (feminist and pattern-and-decoration) who influenced several generations of female artists, many of whom are unaware of their profound debt. The opening on Oct. 2 coincides with the dedication of UT's long-awaited new art department facilities, which include a more modern and accessible Scarfone/Hartley Gallery and the STUDIO-f print shop for visiting artists, where Schapiro will be in residence from Oct. 4-15, plus fine art studios and classrooms. Exhibition Oct. 2-Dec. 3. Dedication of new facilities, Oct. 2, 10 a.m., Bailey Art Studios, followed by opening reception at 11 a.m. Gallery talk by Miriam Schapiro, Oct. 12, 11 a.m. Scarfone/Hartley Gallery, Tampa, 813-253-3333.
Picasso: 25 Years of Edition Ceramics from the Edward Weston Collection: In conjunction with the Polk Museum of Art's Picasso ceramic exhibition (Sept. 18-Nov. 28), famed 20th-century scholar/author Dr. Robert Rosenblum delivers a slide lecture on Picasso's influence on portraiture. Unique opportunity to hear this part-time Guggenheim Museum curator, New York University professor and widely published expert on Picasso. Oct. 9, 3-4 p.m., Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, 863-688-7743.
Constructing Realities, Part I: "Constructing realities" is a generic enough term to cover just about any artistic endeavor, and in this case it refers to work that the Selby Gallery describes as trompe l'oeil with a twist — namely the dark and hectic photocollages from Jane Calvin's "Discontinuum" series, and abstract video projections by Robyn Voshardt and Sven Humphrey. Oct. 15-Nov. 13, Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, 941-359-7563.
Cut, Edit and Embellish — A Life in Collage by Hugh Shurley: Award-winning contemporary photographer Hugh Shurley creates haunting collage photographs that combine illusions of depth and the eerie sensibility of a past time. His unique photomontage process incorporates layers of a single transparent image and "ephemera," or found objects — shreds of other photos, historical documents and personal mementos. Looks like a winner; catch a peek at www.hughshurley.com. Oct. 16-Jan. 2, 2005, Tampa Gallery of Photographic Arts, Old Hyde Park Village, Tampa, 813-251-1800.
Surrealism and Modernism: Selections from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art: The sequel to spring's Renaissance to Roccoco exhibit, Surrealism and Modernism will likewise be a motley survey of works by big-name artists drawn from the Wadsworth Atheneum's permanent collection. The heavy-hitters of early- to mid-20th-century European art will all be here: Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Juan Gris, Dali, etc. Oct. 23-Jan. 9, 2005, Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 941-359-5700.
New Frontiers in Art: Art Center Sarasota hosts a group show of contemporary New York and Los Angeles artists, including the Clayton Brothers, Mark Ryden, Aaron Smith, Joe Sorren and Eric White. A good portion of these artists share a common predilection for the grotesque, turning out portraits of innocents in hellscapes, for example, or the fallen in heavenscapes. That tendency leaves much room for variation, from Ryden's strychnine confections to the Clayton Brother's mix of storybook imagery and adult raunchiness a la Ren & Stimpy or a Diesel ad. An exception is Aaron Smith, who practices a visually sumptuous neorealism influenced by hosts of 19th-century visual and literary models — Whitman and the Pre-Raphaelites, for two — as well as more distant mentors like Caravaggio. Oct. 26-Nov. 13, Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, 941-365-2032.
Fixed in Time: A unique exhibition featuring well-known Tampa-based photographers Rebecca Sexton Larson and Matt Larson, who are married but have never shown work together. She's noted for her dreamlike, hand-colored pinhole photography; he's a commercial photographer who creates fine art imagery, sometimes with a "toy" camera. Curator Valerie Leeds was intrigued by the notion of common concerns and subtexts between artists whose work is clearly different, though discerning eyes may notice how one has influenced the other. Nov. 12-Dec. 31, The Arts Center, St. Petersburg, 727-822-7872.
Constructing Realities, Part II: The exhibit title again encompasses a diverse trio of artistic goals and media. Chris Piazza contributes a large installation called "The Snowshoe Salesman" based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale; Jin Soo Kim offers an installation incorporating long steel tubes and sound effects; and Jane Hammond shows a series of 30 or so paintings based on advertising imagery, among other things. Nov. 19-Jan. 12, Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, 941-359-7563.
—Adrienne Golub/Travis Wilds/David Warner
THEATER
Death of a Salesman: The new Acorn Theater is introducing itself to area spectators with one of the best-loved works in the modern American repertoire. So spectators have two reasons to show up at Arthur Miller's renowned 'tragedy of the common man": to experience the masterpiece, and to discover whether Acorn can become the major stage company that artistic director Levi Kaplan intends. Aug. 26-Sept. 12, HCC Ybor Performing Arts Hall, Ybor City, 813-253-7674.
All My Sons: Call it an Arthur Miller festival: just a week after Salesman opens, here comes Stageworks with Miller's first success, all about a manufacturer of aircraft parts who may or may not be responsible for the loss of several airmen — and perhaps of his own son. This was the play that really launched Miller's career, winning the 1947 Drama Critics Award, and announcing to the world that a moralist in the tradition of Ibsen had arrived. Sept. 2-19, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
Anna in the Tropics: Nilo Cruz's play won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize after production in a theater in Coral Gables, of all places. Also of local interest: It's set in Ybor City in 1929, where a 'lector" reads Anna Karenina to a group of cigar workers each day (a common practice that mitigated the boredom of cigar-making). Steamy Tolstoy meets steamy Tampa in this lush, romantic drama, and the results, as you've guessed, are steamier still. The show contains brief nudity and, some say, overdressed language. Sept. 10-Oct. 17, American Stage, St. Petersburg, 727-823-PLAY.
Bent: Martin Sherman's durable play is about two gay victims of the Holocaust, one of whom schools the other in the brutal realities of war. Sentenced to hard labor in a concentration camp, the two men form a strong psychic bond, and even manage to become lovers through the power of imagination. Gypsy Productions, which specializes in gay theater, hasn't had a real success since Slap and Tickle, its first show. But Bent just might be the most important play it has offered. Sept. 15-Oct. 9, Suncoast Theatre, St. Petersburg, 727-456-0500.
Oklahoma! This groundbreaking Rodgers and Hammerstein musical opened on March 31, 1943, and played for over 2,000 performances. Its powerful choreography — the work of Agnes de Mille — for the first time made modern dance a pivotal feature of the stage musical. New also was the seriousness of some of the action, including a dream ballet, and a death onstage when cowboy hero Curly faced off with his nemesis, the nefarious Jud. The TBPAC production is adapted from the Cameron Mackintosh Royal National Theatre presentation, which won hearts and minds in London and New York. Oct. 26-31, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
Metamorphoses: You've got to hand it to adapter Mary Zimmerman: Who else would have thought that a play based on the Roman poet Ovid's fables would become a Tony-winning success in the 21st century? But that's what happened when Zimmerman put a swimming pool on stage and used it to tell the stories of King Midas, Bacchus, Narcissus, Cupid, Psyche and others. Maybe there's something here about the transforming power of love; or maybe this is just such innovative theater that it doesn't matter that you don't believe in Jupiter. Nov. 12-Dec. 11, American Stage, St. Petersburg, 727-823-PLAY.
—Mark E. Leib
DANCE
Moving Current: In its autumn concert, Lucid Echoes, the Tampa dance collective Moving Current offers works by artistic directors Erin Cardinal and Cynthia Hennessy, as well as pieces by guest artists Jennifer Salk, Lynne Wimmer and Maria Capitano. Cardinal's piece is about "fall and recovery" — literally and metaphorically — and Hennessy's is a look at e-mail and spam. Salk's trio is set to Renaissance music, Wimmer's dance looks at buying and owning a car, and Capitano's "A Woman's Influence" is about Italian-American women and their roles. Moving Current is a local treasure to be cherished, and this concert looks to be one of its best. Sept. 24-25, Theater I, University of South Florida, Tampa, 813-971-2323.
Bob Fosse and Paul Taylor: The work of two men who shaped contemporary dance comes to Ruth Eckerd Hall this November. First, there's Fosse, the Tony-winning musical that celebrates the dark, angular choreography of Bob Fosse, who sexed up Broadway stages in shows like Sweet Charity, Cabaret and Chicago. Then comes the Paul Taylor Dance Company, led for 50 years by the amazing Taylor, whose gorgeous, brainy dancemaking has influenced scores of choreographers and companies throughout the world but still looks as vibrant as ever. Nov. 9, Fosse; Nov. 22, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, 727-791-7400.
Tangokinesis: Argentina's gift to the dance world, the tango, long ago slithered its way out of smoky nightclubs and onto the world's main stages. Now this six-member troupe from Buenos Aires marries tango moves with modern dance in what's promised to be an explosive combination, set to Astor Piazzolla and Antonio Vivaldi. Oct. 3, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
Ballet Florida: The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center has a new resident ballet company, and to make it easy for potential fans to get acquainted, Ballet Florida's first performance will be presented free of charge. Though the highly regarded troupe will continue to be based in West Palm Beach, it's planning a three-show season at the Center. The October inaugural gig will include work by much-acclaimed young choreographer Trey McIntyre and his Houston Ballet mentor Ben Stevenson. Oct. 21, TBPAC, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
Sarasota Ballet: Sarasota's hometown troupe seems to be in a collaborative mood this fall. First, the dancers will perform the Broadway-inspired New York, New York to live music from Sarasota's Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. Then, come December, La Boutique Fantasque will mark the second time the company has partnered with Circus Sarasota, once more venturing into "the combined worlds of dance and circus artistry." Nov 19-21, New York, New York, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, 800-826-9303; Dec. 20-23, La Boutique Fantasque, Van Wezel.
—David Warner/Mark E. Leib
FILM
Summer in Fall: While fall movies are often thought to have their own identity — typically a tad more restrained and, uh, thoughtful than films released during the rest of the year — we should expect a little spillover from that noisiest and most all-consuming of Hollywood's seasons: summer. Originally slated for summer 2004, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow finally touches down on Sept. 17, complete with eye-popping special effects and campy, kid-friendly action, as Jude Law, Angelina Jolie (in an eyepatch) and Gwyneth Paltrow (as a character called Polly Perkins) battle giant robots and dastardly villains. If that's not blockbuster-ific enough for you, how about Oliver Stone's epic Alexander (as in The Great), or perhaps a big, summery horror sequel or two, The Ring 2 and Blade: Trinity? Or maybe you'd prefer the glossy, star-studded Oceans Twelve, the sequel to … well, you get the picture.
Fall Art Films: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Quite possibly the most reviled independent film of our time, Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny opens in the Bay area on Oct. 1 — at Tampa's Sunrise Cinemas (formerly Madstone) — so how can you possibly resist seeing with your own eyes if it's really as awful as everyone claims? On a more positive note, there are also some potentially amazing indie, foreign and art films slated for fall, including Pedro Almodovar's A Bad Education and A Very Long Engagement, the new one from Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, City of Lost Children). Leaning a little more toward the mainstream, but not much, there's Terry Gilliam's sorcery-and-surrealism fable The Brothers Grimm (Nov. 19), and I Heart Huckabee's (Oct. 15), a wonderfully strange-sounding comedy noir with a great cast (Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Huppert, Lily Tomlin) and a director who just keeps getting better, David O. Russell (Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings).
15th Annual Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival: The two most eagerly anticipated queer films of the fall season — Bruce La Bruce's The Raspberry Reich and John Waters' A Dirty Shame — won't be in the line-up, but there's sure to be plenty of other reasons to check out this year's Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Fifteen years young and still going strong, the festival holds court for 10 days at Tampa Theatre, from Oct. 7—17, with an impressive and eclectic array of movies sure to appeal to folks of all sorts of backgrounds and persuasions (hey, I'm talkin' to you, straight boy and straight girl). Other local film festivals — notably, Sarasota's CineWorld Festival (Nov. 5-14) — may provide larger numbers of consistently interesting films — but TIGLFF is, frankly, a more exciting prospect. This is a high-energy festival that's as much about community as it is about cinema, an event that's as much about the people watching the films as the films themselves. Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Tampa, 813-879-4220.
Animania: Fabulous Fall Toons on the Big Screen: Any dope can tell you that animation isn't just for kids anymore (was it ever?), but if further proof is required, cast an eye toward the totally excellent toonage scheduled for fall. An ultra-hip cast including Jack Black, James Gandolfini and Martin Scorsese (!) supplies voices for the undersea denizens of DreamWorks' Shark Tale (Oct. 1), while those animation genius-types at Pixar (Toy Story, Monsters Inc.) tackle the world of superheroes in The Incredibles (Nov. 5). Meanwhile, Japanese anime connoisseurs will be convulsing in ecstasy over Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, while fans of the residents of Bikini Bottom will be breathlessly awaiting the Nov. 19 arrival of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Best of all, though, might just be Team America: World Police (Oct. 15), an all-marionette production from South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone, in which puppet heroes square off against puppet terrorists and equally wooden celebrities.
DVDs for Fall: You can start drooling now, because some of the coolest DVD titles ever are slated to appear over the coming months. Sept. 7 sees the release of a 9-disc Alfred Hitchcock box set (featuring newly mastered versions of Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, Suspicion and more), the cinephile's dream set More Treasures from the American Film Archives, and Dawn of the Dead: Ultimate Edition, an extras-laden 4-DVD (!) presentation of George Romero's 1978 zombie classic. Foreign film aficionados will be in heaven when Fellini's La Dolce Vita finally arrives on DVD on Sept. 21, the same day that George Lucas' original Star Wars Trilogy appears. Factor in Roman Polanski's one-of-a-kind horror-comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers (Oct. 5), an overstuffed box set of That's Entertainment: The Complete Collection (Oct. 12) and a long-awaited homage to television's proto-gross-out kings, Ren and Stimpy: Seasons One and Two (Oct. 12), and you've got a fall to remember.
—Lance Goldenberg
CLASSICAL
Fall Fest, Chamber Music Ensembles of the Florida West Coast Symphony: Last spring the ensembles went all out with a full performance of Stravinsky's L'histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale). This fall's concert looks like whipped cream in comparison; diversions by Jacques Ibert, Joaquin Turina and Bohuslav Martinu bookend Beethoven's late, great String Quartet, opus 132. Sept. 26, Holley Hall at the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center, Sarasota, 941-953-3434.
Mozart and Strauss, Florida Orchestra: The orchestra covers well-traveled territory in a concert of Richard Strauss' swashbuckling tone poem Don Juan, Mozart's 'Jupiter' Symphony, and two youthful works for piano and orchestra. Pianist William Wolfram joins the orchestra in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14, K 449, and stays on with Strauss' Burleske, a 21-year-old's out-of-control take on the Romantic keyboard concerto via thickets of chords and other death-defying technical demands. It's tradition that somebody pronounce something like this "Unplayable!" before its debut, and the conductor Hans von Bülow obliged when Strauss first showed him the score. Since then, scads of pianists have proven von Bülow wrong, but Burleske can still make your heart leap into your throat. Oct. 2, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, 727-892-5767; Oct. 3, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, 727-791-7400; Oct. 4, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 813-229-STAR; www.floridaorchestra.org.
Vienna Masters, Florida String Quartet: Haydn used to be known as the "Father of the Symphony," but as a Florida West Coast Symphony concert later in the season indicates, now-obscure composers at Mannheim and other courts laid the groundwork for Haydn's later triumphs. Haydn is, however, still known as the "Father of the String Quartet" and his set of six late Op. 76 quartets shows what he learned to do with two violins, a viola and a cello over the course of his career. The Florida String Quartet performs the second of the series, a tense, stormy work set in a minor key. They follow up Haydn's D minor work with a D minor quartet written a generation later, Schubert's "Death and the Maiden." The concert begins with Anton Webern's 1905 quartet, which acknowledges the influence of the earlier Viennese School but also reflects the beginnings of his life-altering relationship with Arnold Schoenberg. Oct. 3, Holley Hall, Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center, Sarasota, 941-953-3434.
Non-Romantic Symphonies, Florida Orchestra: Haydn preceded and Shostakovich postdated the Romantic era in music, minor details that didn't keep the Florida Orchestra from lumping this and other non-Romantic music into its "Romantic Masterworks" series. An orchestra ought not to risk miseducating its audience, but the chance to hear Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony is exciting no matter what the circumstances. The work is a gigantic testament to the torment Shostakovich suffered at the hands of Stalin and his commie cronies, and like many of the composer's other big projects criticizes them in code. Haydn, in contrast, had only bored 18th-century aristocrats to deal with, and in his Symphony No. 94 he inserted special "surprises" during the part they were most likely to fall asleep. Oct. 30, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, 727-892-5767; Oct. 31, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, 727-791-7400; Nov. 1, TBPAC, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
Three Early Symphonists & Two Heavy Hitters: The symphony as we know it — a work for orchestra with a fast-slow-minuet-fast movement sequence — did not drop out of the sky. It developed in the elegant Petri dish known as 18th-century Germanic court life. Three of the biggest scientists in the lab were Florian Gassman, Ignaz Holzbauer and Matthias Georg Monn, who have since been sucked back into the primordial swamp of music history. Once big fish in big ponds, these three have long since disappeared from the concert hall. Conductor Lief Bjaland and the Florida West Coast Symphony give them one big night in the spotlight in company with works by two of their musical descendants: Beethoven's radiant Piano Concerto No. 4 in a performance by pianist Per Tengstrand and Schubert's unfinished Symphony No. 8. Oct. 30, Sarasota Opera House, Sarasota, 941-366-8450.
St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Van Wezel: Prokofiev based his opera Love for Three Oranges on a fairy tale by Carlo Goldoni about a depressed prince who is bewitched into falling in love with citrus. Though the entire opera is not often heard, a hilarious suite of excerpts has attained widespread popularity, and the Russian musicians will play three of those excerpts in a concert that also includes Dvorak's Symphony No. 8 and violinist Vadim Repin's performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. Oct. 31, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, 800-826-9303.
Bach's B minor Mass, The Master Chorale and Florida Orchestra: Last season Maestro Richard Zielinski and his powerful volunteer squad The Master Chorale tackled Bach's The Passion According to St. John, a multi-hour religious opera. This season Zielinski and the Chorale continue their cycle of gigantic Bach pieces with the composer's B minor Mass, the biggest kahuna of them all. Bach wrote the Mass toward the end of his life, and he assembled it from the very best choral music he'd written in the 20 years before. Maestro Zielinski is evangelical in his desire to bring music and religion to the people, and if his performance of the Mass sounds anything like that of the Passion, this will be one intense crusade to the summit of the repertoire. A lecture begins one hour before the concert. Nov. 6, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, 727-892-5767; Nov. 7, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, 727-791-7400; Nov. 8, TBPAC, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
Brahms, Prokofiev, Elgar at the Florida West Coast Symphony: Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 opens with a nostalgic woodwind solo before the piano rumbles into view and takes over with a huge, zesty splash. It's one of the best moments in music of any kind, and the rest of the concerto equals it in every way. Pianist Horacio Guetierrez performs the Prokofiev in a concert that also includes Brahms' Academic Festival Overture and Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations. Nov. 11-13 and 14, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, 800-826-9303.
The Symphony, Mexican Style: The Florida Orchestra under associate conductor Susan Haig presents a big work by the big man in Mexican music, the Symphony No. 2, Sinfonia india of Carlos Chávez. Chávez fused the Romantic musical tradition with modernist impulses and his Mexican heritage, and in this symphony he uses indigenous percussion instruments and Aztec themes. The 21-year-old Mendelssohn also mined indigenous themes when he concluded his "Reformation" symphony with a hymn by Martin Luther; in celebrating the father of Protestantism, the Jewish composer asserted his right to claim German cultural heritage as his own. The evening wraps up with the pianist Jon Kimura Parker's performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. Nov. 19, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, 727-892-5767; Nov. 21, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, 727-791-7400; Nov. 22, TBPAC, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
Haydn, The Creation, Florida West Coast Symphony, Key Chorale and soloists: The Key Chorale's performance of Haydn's The Creation is to Sarasota as the Master Chorale's performance of Bach's Mass is to Tampa, which is to say that in their respective cities they are the season's biggest choral events. Bach's spectacle of suffering and redemption cedes to Haydn's Enlightenment-era joy in the plants, animals, men and women of God's design. He sets to music the dawning of order in chaos and comes up with plenty of bird chirps, lowings and other sound effects that reflect the composer's sense of humor and irrepressible optimism. Maybe Haydn was doing his own version of the argument by design: If I can make a bassoon moo like a cow, God can definitely make a cow moo like a cow. Dec. 3-5, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, 800-826-9303.
Also keep an eye out for concerts by USF and New College faculty and students. As the school year progresses, ensembles like New Music New College will announce their performance schedules.
—Travis Wilds
OPERA
Dueling Divas: Cry your eyes out, Tampa Bay. Two of opera's most beloved sad sacks will duel for your attention on area stages this November on the same weekend. On Nov. 19, poor tubercular Violetta comes to Ruth Eckerd Hall in a touring production of Verdi's La Traviata by the Stanislavsky Opera Company. Yes, it's that Stanislavsky: the legendary acting teacher founded the troupe in 1918, suggesting that the acting as well as the singing will hit some high notes — a good thing, since, with the right actress in the role, Violetta can utterly break your heart. Opera Tampa tries its hand at a little heart-wrenching on the 19th with a production (continuing through the 21st) of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. If Pinkerton's abandonment of Butterfly doesn't do you in, the achingly gorgeous music will. Nov. 19, Stanislavsky Opera Company's La Traviata, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, 727-791-7400; Nov. 19 and 21, Opera Tampa's Madama Butterfly, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, 813-229-STAR.
—David Warner
ROCK/POP
When it comes to music, the idea of a season really only applies to stuff in the classical/choral vein. The pop-music touring cycle does have its own ebb and flow, particularly down here — plenty of bands avoid Southern summer tours at all costs — but generally speaking, we see a pretty steady stream of stuff year-round. This is the fall A&E preview, though, and we'd be remiss not to take a look at some of the notable aural events lurking just over the horizon.Here's a quick rundown of five of the more interesting gigs booked for the next several months:
OzzFest: The festival conceived by metal icon Ozzy Osbourne's wife/manager/resident Rasputin, Sharon, rolls on, with a markedly old-school-heavy lineup. Main-stage headliners include Black Sabbath, still-vital thrash progenitors Slayer, and New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers Judas Priest, complete with original frontman Rob Halford. Sept. 2, Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa, 813-287-8844.
Hot Water Music: This Gainesville punk-rock foursome has made a permanent home in the Next Big Thing dugout. Their live shows, and the loyalty they engender in fans, are legendary. Sept. 23, State Theatre, St. Petersburg, 727-895-3045.
The Pixies: The godfathers (and mother) of alt-rock have been garnering rave reviews throughout their extended reunion swing through the States — where they're more popular now than they were in their heyday. Oct. 8, USF Sun Dome, Tampa. 813-974-3002.
Queensryche: Six words: Operation: Mindcrime performed in its entirety. Oct. 24, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, 727-791-7400.
Metallica: The kindler, gentler, and infinitely less musically compelling hard-rock titans will undoubtedly enjoy a popular resurgence in the wake of Some Kind of Monster, the hit movie documenting their group-therapy sessions. Nov. 5, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, 813-301-2500.
On the local-music front, I was disappointed to hear that the Southeast Music Conference won't be returning this October. The principal movers and shakers of Bay-based musicians' co-op the Southeast Music Alliance — the entity largely responsible for last year's two-night, four-venue maiden voyage — just didn't have the copious amounts of off-the-clock time needed to get things rolling. Day jobs suck, don't they? But on a brighter note, SMA volunteer and conference co-conspirator Roger Peterson has intimated that next year is definitely a go. Maybe.
—Scott Harrell
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2004.