The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, starring Audra McDonald as Bess, opened at the A.R.T. in Cambridge last night. "Ms. McDonald is Bess (or to use the hyperbolic speech of movie ads, 'Audra McDonald Is Bess')," exclaims New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley, "and she can claim rights to full possession of her role, the kind of ownership that transforms a classic character forever ... Ms. McDonald’s performance is as complete and complex a work of musical portraiture as any I’ve seen in years." The Boston Globe says that "in Audra McDonald, this production boasts a Bess for the ages."

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, was released yesterday, prompting David Dye, host of NPR's World Cafe, to tweet that the album "just shot to my best of list. Ry got pissed off enough to make another masterpiece." Cooder performs two sold-out shows at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall, tonight and tomorrow, and is today's guest on NPR's Here & Now. The BBC calls the album "a powerful state of the nation address" that "is about as good and sustained a riposte to the grubby, grabbing times we live in as any artist has mustered, which makes it essential listening."

Nonesuch releases Steve Reich’s album WTC 9/11 on September 20, 2011. Commissioned for and recorded by Kronos Quartet, the title piece will be available for digital purchase on September 6. The album also includes Reich’s Mallet Quartet, performed by Sō Percussion, and Dance Patterns, featuring members of Steve Reich and Musicians, as well as a DVD with a live performance of Mallet Quartet by Sō Percussion. The full album may be pre-ordered now in the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include a free download of the title piece starting September 6 and the complete album starting September 20.

The Metropolitan Opera's premiere production of John Adams's Nixon in China, conducted by the composer and staged by director Peter Sellars in their Met debuts, will be given a free screening in Lincoln Center Plaza in New York City tonight at 7:45 PM as part of the Met's third-annual free Summer HD Festival. Seating for the Met's Summer HD Festival is on a first-come, first-served basis and no tickets are required; more than 3,000 seats will be available.

After launching his solo career with the critically acclaimed Familial last year, Philip Selway returns with the Running Blind EP, which Nonesuch Records has now released digitally in the US and Canada. (It was released earlier this year in the UK and Europe via Bella Union.) The EP includes four songs plus a live session video of the title track, which you can watch here.

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, is out now on CD and digitally, with the vinyl LP to follow on September 13. Cooder was the guest on Marketplace from American Public Media, where the album is now streaming in full. "From rock n’ roll to country to Dixieland jazz," says the show, "Cooder has mastered multiple genres on many albums. He does it again with his latest production ... His songs’ lyrics are a statement on our current economic times, but the music offers a tour of the country’s musical heritage." The New Yorker's Alec Wilkinson offers an extensive appreciation of Cooder. "I can’t write briefly about Ry Cooder," writes Wilkinson. "Admiration for his accomplishments, his singularity, and the longevity and diversity of his career intervene."

Emmylou Harris joined Daniel Lanois and Friends in concert at the inaugural Harvest Picnic in Dundas, Ontario, last weekend, contributing to its "memorable moments" (Hamilton Spectator). While much of the set focused on Wrecking Ball, her 1995 Lanois-produced album, it also included songs from her new album, Hard Bargain. Harris recently stopped by the Rolling Stone offices to perform a couple of songs off the album and to discuss her collaborations with Levon Helm and Gram Parsons. Watch her perform "My Name Is Emmett Till" here.

Kronos Quartet will receive the Polar Music Prize in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on Tuesday. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden will hand out the awards to Kronos and their fellow laureate, Patti Smith. The ceremony is part of a week-long celebration, which includes a photo exhibit, talks with the artists, a music industry conference, and the Polar Music Prize Concert featuring Smith. Earlier this year, Kronos received the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, making the group the first-ever recipient of both prizes.

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, is out tomorrow. The album, which Uncut calls "one of his best albums ever," is available to stream in full till then at Slate. Cooder will celebrate the record's release with two sold-out shows at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall later this week. He spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle about the new album and the back-to-back concerts, at which he'll be joined by a 17-piece band.

Concert listings are subject to change due to severe weather expected along the US East Coast this weekend ... Punch Brothers, Jessica Lea Mayfield are due to share a double bill at the Belleayre Music Festival in upstate NY ... Carolina Chocolate Drops' show in Raleigh has been canceled ... Emmylou Harris joins Daniel Lanois' Harvest Picnic in Ontario ... The Low Anthem plays LouFest in St. Louis ... Pat Metheny concludes his Summer Music Workshop ... Joshua Redman joins The Bad Plus at Austria's Saalfelden Jazz Fest ... Sara Watkins closes out tour with the Decemberists, launches tour with Garrison Keillor ... and more ...

Sara Watkins closes out her months-long tour as a guest band member with the Decemberists outside the band's hometown of Portland, Oregon, at McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheatre's Concerts on the Lawn tonight. But there's not much in the way of down time for Watkins, as she heads straight into her next set of performances on Sunday: with Garrison Keillor and the cast of public radio's A Prairie Home Companion for their cross-country Summer Love Tour.