(Virtual) concerts and livestreams and album releases, oh my! Here's a roundup of some great stuff coming out of the classical music world this week.
1. If you've been watching TV lately, you might have noticed a couple of ads with classical soundtracks. Here are two we love: Harry's Shave Club, featuring the Anvil Chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore, and The Farmer's Dog, featuring Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7:
2. Need an early dose of holiday cheer this year? Chanticleer, the men's vocal ensemble we're featuring this Sunday on WCRB In Concert with Rockport Music, has just the thing. Here's a festive, socially-distant music video for their latest album, "Chanticleer Sings Christmas." (Also, be on the lookout for some new streams from us soon -- we think they'll make you holiday season lovers very happy!)
3. By the way, speaking of Rockport Music, several of their Concert View Series videos are available for free on YouTube! Here's the most recent one, with fiddle player Hanneke Cassel and cellist Mike Block on the gorgeous Shalin Liu Performance Center stage:
4. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Boston Early Music Festival is celebrating the season with two streaming broadcasts from the archive of their Chamber Opera series, with a focus on the story of Orpheus! Check out this promo video for Marc-Antoine Charpentier's La Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers:
5. Paul Harvey, an 80-year old pianist and dementia patient, improvised a tune that has since gone viral -- catching the attention of the BBC Philharmonic and even composer Stephen Sondheim. Break out the tissues:
6. The Boston Symphony Orchestra and hip-hop band STL GLD unveiled a new collaboration with a series of videos called "Us: Sessions," as a digital taste of a live event they had planned to take place in Symphony Hall last May. Videos will be released until November 13. Here's the first one, featuring STL GLD's song "With Me":
