Behind the Music: Fall & Winter’s 5 Most Tuneful Lectures
Take a rare look into the creative process of musicians and examine the unique effects music has on culture at these lectures, discussions and screenings.
1. Update: Lou Reed died on October 27th, age 71, and the following program has been cancelled. This fall, the Morgan Library is presenting an in-depth exploration into Edgar Allan Poe‘s impact on later writers, with manuscripts, rare editions, and manuscripts annotated by the author himself. Of course, his influence reaches much farther than the world of literature; in the early 2000s, legendary rock icon Lou Reed collaborated with avant-garde stage director Robert Wilson to create POEtry, an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired rock opera, as well as an album and his own book of poetry. The NYC-based rocker will discuss the Gothic master’s writing, and its effect on his own work, with Paul Holdengräber, director of LIVE from the NYPL. When & Where: Tuesday, Nov. 5 at the Morgan Library, 7 p.m., $25/$15.
2. Milos Forman’s Oscar-winning film Amadeus, based on Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play about the (one-sided, and mostly fictional) rivalry between late-18th-century composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, turns 30 this year. To mark the occasion, Symphony Space will be presenting a special screening of the film as well as a conversation with its Oscar-winning lead actor, F. Murray Abraham. When & Where: Saturday, Nov. 9 at Symphony Space, 7 p.m., $18.
3. If you grew up during the ’70s or ’80s, Don Cornelius’s syndicated TV show Soul Train served as your window into the world of R&B music, bringing artists such as Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Whitney Houston, and LL Cool J — not to mention countless dance moves — into middle-American living rooms. Questlove’s (The Roots; Mo’ Meta Blues) new book, Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation, explores the show’s history and long-lasting cultural effect with hundreds of rare photographs and personal reminiscences. When & Where: Monday, Nov. 11 at Barnes & Noble Union Square, 7 p.m.
4. As both a Beatles expert and an accomplished musical composer/producer, Scott Freiman — the man behind the website Deconstructing the Beatles — offers insights into the Fab Four’s creative process that few others can. Join him as he offers a multimedia look inside the recording of perhaps their most innovative single track, 1967’s “Strawberry Fields Forever,” the very first track recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions. When & Where: Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 92nd Street Y, 2pm, from $21.
5. Over the last decade, playwright Douglas Carter Beane has made a name for himself on Broadway with works such as the Tony-nominated The Little Dog Laughed and this year’s The Nance and Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Now, he’s written new English dialogue for the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. Director Jeremy Sams joins him to discuss the work with Met Opera GM Peter Gelb. When & Where: Wednesday, Dec. 18, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 6pm.