Contemporary Russia comes to Baltimor
There's growing interest in the work of nonconformist artists from the former Soviet Union, and Baltimore's getting on the bandwagon.
Earlier this year there was a show at Evergreen House, and on Friday the Jewish Community Center will open an exhibit of 15 artists' works, titled "Meaning as a Second Language: A Contemporary Russian Initiative." The title may be confusing, but the show has lots of promise. It includes some of the leading names, such as Komar & Melamid, Natalya Nesterova and Leonid Lamm; and it's curated by Alexandre Gertsman, the emigre who has organized a number of exhibits under the banner of his organization, the Society for the Advancement of Understanding Post-Modern Russian Art.
The show will run at the JCC, 5700 Park Heights Ave., through Oct. 23. For information, call (410) 542-4900.
With the end of summer fast upon us, you can still catch a vicarious vacation by visiting the Spotlighters Theatre, 817 Saint Paul St., where "On Golden Pond" will open Friday. Written by Ernest Thompson, this touching play focuses on an elderly husband and wife who have vacationed at the same Maine locale for nearly a half-century.
The Spotlighters production is directed by Bob Bayer, who co-stars with Margery Germain. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 2. Tickets are $8 and $9. For more information, call (410) 752-1225.
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J. Wynn Rousuck The first internationally important American violinist was a pioneering woman named Maud Powell, the niece of the John Wesley Powell, who was the first European-American to explore the Grand Canyon. Powell's 120th anniversary is being celebrated this year at America's most important violin contest, Indianapolis' International Violin Competition, which will begins Sept. 9. It is being celebrated in Baltimore this Saturday with a recital by violinist Jody Gatwood and pianist Brian Ganz.
The concert (in Peabody's Friedberg Hall at 8:15 p.m.) will include works by Bach, Stravinsky, Poulenc, Debussy and Amy Beach's "Romance," which was written for Powell in 1893. Tickets for the concert, which will be be preceded by a 7 p.m. lecture by Powell biographer Karen Shaffer, are $7 and $14 and can be bought by calling (410) 481-7328, or at the box office the evening of the concert.
Stephen Wigler