Stephen Sondheim celebrated his 80th birthday in March in a Lincoln Center concert that will be broadcast on PBS this fall. The festivities continue this weekend as Sondheim is the focus of two concerts on the same day, nearly 4,000 miles apart: at the Ravinia Festival Pavilion outside Chicago and at London's Royal Albert Hall for BBC Proms Saturday night. Sondheim is the BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week.
Stephen Sondheim celebrated his 80th birthday this past March in a fashion befitting the great American composer: at a Lincoln Center concert of his music performed by the New York Philharmonic with likes of Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Michael Cerveris, Bernadette Peters, Elaine Stritch, and many other famed interpreters of Sondheim's music. The concert will be broadcast on PBS, as part of the Great Performances series, on November 24.
The birthday celebrations continue this weekend as Sondheim, who turned 80 on March 22, will be the focus of two concerts on the same day, nearly 4,000 miles apart, at the Ravinia Festival Pavilion outside Chicago and at London's Royal Albert Hall for BBC Proms Saturday night.
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At Ravinia, many of the performers who fêted the composer at Lincoln Center, including McDonald, LuPone, and Cerveris, return to celebrate Sondheim anew, along with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by frequent Sondheim music director Paul Gemignani. The Saturday night concert is the Gala Benefit Evening of the Women's Board of the Ravinia Festival.
The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones spoke with Cerveris, LuPone, and Gemignani about the many birthday tributes that are taking place this year and about the role Ravinia has played in staging Sondheim's work over the years. For all of the concerts taking place this year, it's hardly too many, says Jones. "That's because any lover of musical theater fervently wishes that Sondheim, like his parties, won't ever end." Read more at in the Tribune's Theater Loop blog at chicagotribune.com.
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The BBC Proms, billed as "the world's greatest classical music festival," is presenting Sondheim at 80 at London's Royal Albert Hall this Saturday night. The concert of the composer's music will be performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, led by conductor David Charles Abell, and artists like Bryn Terfel and Judi Dench, making her Proms debut. The program will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, where the composer is currently Composer of the Week, and on BBC Two starting at 8 PM. To listen live online, visit bbc.co.uk.
Also in London, the Donmar Warehouse will hold a Sondheim at 80 season this fall, beginning September 10, featuring concert performances of Company and Merrily We Roll Along, a production of Passion, and a special "in conversation" event with Sondheim discussing his life and work, on October 11. Donmar's Artistic Director Michael Grandage and theater and film director Sam Mendes can also be seen in conversation about staging Sondheim's work at the theatre—Mendes directed Assassins there in 1992—on September 16. Tickets for both events go on sale September 1. For more information, visit donmarwarehouse.com.
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To peruse Stephen Sondheim's Nonesuch catalog, visit the Nonesuch Store.
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