Friday Five for March 19

#5: Romantic Strings at the Wisconsin Conservatory.
Why? Because we all need Mozart, Dvorak, and, yes, even a little Julius Klengel in our lives and those three composers will be featured in an afternoon of quintets, plus a suite for two cellos by Klengel, who was quite the cellist in his day (1859-1933). A mix and match group of string faculty from the conservatory are set to perform.

#4: Vampire Weekend at the Riverside Theater.
Why? Because this young, button-downed quartet has gone from rookie phenom to near-Supergroup in just over two years. And because they’ve shown their versatility by crafting a new sound for their new album, Contra, that’s a swerve and a veer from their Afro-pop influenced debut. And because singer Ezra Koenig has a voice like the love child of Elvis Costello and Debra Harry, which is not at all a bad thing. And because they were picked as the “Whitest Band in America” and lived to tell the tale.

#3: We Six at the Wisconsin Conservatory.
Why? Because piano plinks and plunks have never sounded so good as when they are woven in to the swing of Thelonious Monk’s music. And because We Six’s Mark Davis can weave them into his own brand of technically dazzling bebop piano as well. And because this concert tribute to Master Monk is sure to include a reading of “’Round Midnight,” which everyone should have in their mental play list – for times when a haze shrouds the streetlights and a melancholy stroll needs a soundtrack.

#2: A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine at the Skylight.
Why? Because Ray Jivoff and Carol Grief can tell the story of a marriage in a single song. Because Melinda Pfundstein brings fresh heart and soul to the old “I’m gonna make it in Hollywood” story. And Groucho happens, and you want to be there when it does. 

#1: The Florentine’s Elmer Gantry at the Marcus Center.
Why? Because Sinclair Lewis’s novel of heartland preachin’ and proselytizin’ is a great source for contemporary opera, full of fiery speeches and salvation and redemptive choral music. And because composer Robert Aldridge and Librettist Herschel Garfein have attracted national attention for their “tuneful, accessible” work. And because it looks sexy as hell. 
Photo by Richard Brodzeller.