Once upon a “Quartet”

Casa Verdi in Milan (Photo: International Giuseppe Verdi Foundation)

We associate Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi with many magnificent works from “Aida” to “Rigoletto” — but few know that Verdi considered the 1896 founding of a home for elderly singers in Milan one of his greatest achievements.

Movie that inspired the play “Quartet”

Casa di Riposo per Musicisti was established by Verdi to shelter “elderly singers who have not been favoured by fortune, or who, when they were young, did not have the virtue of saving their money.”

Since opening in 1902, it’s housed more than 1,000 retiring artists and musicians.

Swiss filmmaker Daniel Schmid made a documentary about what’s since become known as “Casa Verdi” — the 1984 film “Tosca’s Kiss,” which inspired Dustin Hoffman’s involvement in the 2012 film that marks his directorial debut.

“Quartet” leapt from stage to screen thanks to Ronald Harwood, playwright for a 1999 play titled “Quartet” plus screenwriter for the film.

You’ll find intriguing differences between play and screenplay

I read the play before seeing the film, and found Harwood’s original ending profoundly shocking. The film’s ending feels infinitely more vague and allows for a softer sort of landing.

“Quartet” stars Maggie Smith (Jean Horton), Tom Courtenay (Reginald Paget), Pauline Collins (Cecily Robson), Billy Connolly (Wilfred Bond) and Michael Gambon (Cedric Livingston) — which is a majestic marrying of true equals.

They’re residents of a place called Beecham House, set on sprawling pristine grounds and decorated with all the elegance you’d expect in the lap of opera-laden luxury.

One’s ever the diva, another the perpetual tease. Two were once wed, and one dances with the dementia friends meet with tenderness and humor.

Hoffman, a veteran actor recently awarded the Kennedy Center Honor, was attracted by the film’s broader themes and optimism about old age, describing “Quartet” as a film about folks in the “third act” of life who’ve still got plenty to give. Hence the childhood photos of cast members included with the film’s closing credits.

“Quartet” is a lovely take on aging and art

The “Talk Cinema” series at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts was practically packed during December’s “Quartet” screening, where I moderated a post-show discussion exploring not only issues of aging, but also the film’s homage to opera and take on the very nature of art.

Harlan Jacobson, the NYC film critic who heads the “Talk Cinema” enterprise, shared audience comments on “Quartet” while in Scottsdale to moderate January’s screening of “On the Road” — noting that most folks described “Quartet” as an “excellent” film they’d recommend to friends.

I remember being struck during “Quartet” by the strength of each performance, the subtle humor that elicited a near-steady stream of gentle laughter from the audience, and photography that juxtaposes nature with the people who sometimes forget their place in it.

My favorite shots pay homage to a lovely grand piano, show the diminutive status of two aging men standing under a towering tree that’ll continue to grow long after the men make their way back to the earth, and capture the shared joy of an aging opera singer with a group of young students rapt by rap.

The soundtrack makes for a nice sampling of opera fare

Folks who favor the soundtrack — which features works composed by Verdi, Schubert, Gilbert and Sullivan, Bach, Hayden, Rossini, Puccini and others — can find it on Decca Records (which is also home to soundtracks for “A Late Quartet” and “Anna Karenina,” plus music from Alfie Boe of “Les Mis” fame).

“Quartet” is rated PG-13 and runs 97 minutes. Click here for information on upcoming “Talk Cinema” screenings at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and here for news of Arizona Opera’s upcoming performance of “Tosca.”

— Lynn

Note: “Quartet” is produced by Finola Dwyer and Stewart Mackinnon. Cinematography is by John de Borman and editing by Barney Pilling, Production design in by Andrew McAlpine, music by Dario Marianelli and costumes by Odile Dicks-Mireaux.

Coming up: Oscar nods & nixes, Once upon a “Tosca”

Let the Sun Devils shine in

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performs "Body Against Body" at ASU Gammage March 6 (Photo: New York Live Arts)

As proud Sun Devil parents, we often enjoy arts and culture on the Tempe campus where our daughter Jennifer studies cultural anthroplogy. Touring Broadway productions at ASU Gammage. Art exhibits at the ASU Art Museum and assorted galleries. Theater, dance and music productions at various on-campus venues. And festivals held outdoors where sunshine meets Sun Devil.

But ASU arts and culture is also easy to find in all sorts of community settings, from the ASU Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale to the ASU Night Gallery at Tempe Marketplace. Each offers a host of no-cost and low-cost arts experiences that make family explorations of art easy and affordable.

An exhibition featuring works by feminist artists runs March 5-16 at ASU in Tempe (Photo: Rosalind Shipley)

ASU faculty and students also perform at various venues throughout the Valley, including the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix — which presents musical offerings from UA as well as part of its “University Series.” Let the atheletes do their rivalry thing. In the world of music, it’s all good.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts presents “ASU Concerts at the Center” — featuring band, choral, symphonic and chamber music. Informal pre-concert talks are held before each concert, and tickets run just $10 (though all students can attend for free). This season’s remaining concerts are “Trumpet Festival” on March 5 and “Ocotillo Winds” on April 2.

You’ll find all sorts of arts and culture by exploring Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts events— or any given’s days listing of ASU events on the university calendar. Just this weekend, you can enjoy their “Night of the Open Door” festival, a Lyric Opera Theatre preformance of “Ainadamar,” a “Dance Annual” performance and a theater work titled “American Victory.”

The Herberger Institute also offers several community programs — in art, dance, design and music. And if you head to ASU’s Tempe campus on Mon, March 5, you can enjoy a reception for Jack Gantos, author of “Dead End in Norvelt” and recipient of the 2012 Newbury Medal.

A member of the ASU faculty performs March 11 at Tempe Center for the Arts’ “Sonoran Chamber Music Series: Violinist Stephanie Chase, Cellist Thomas Landschoot and Pianist Doris Stevenson” — and the seventh annual “ASU Student Film Festival” takes place April 23 & 24 at Harkins Theatres’ Valley Art Theatre in downtown Tempe.

Those of you with high school students exploring college options can click here to learn more about ASU offerings in art, dance, design, music, theatre and film — as well as arts. media + engineering.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to learn more about “Body Against Body” and here for information on “Troubling the Archive.” ASU in Tempe is also home to the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, which offers workshops, readings and more.

Coming up: It’s finally here!

No-cost and low-cost concerts

First, a little something you don’t even have to venture outside of the  house for — the Songwrtiters Showcase at Tempe Center for the Arts. It’s perfectly fun to attend in person but you can also enjoy it at home starting Sat, Sept 3, when it hits the PBS airwaves before “Austin City Limits.”

Seems the concert stars are aligned for Sat, Sept 3 — when Paradise Valley Community College kicks off its “First Saturday Concert Series” on the Center for Performing Arts amphitheater stage. Fall offerings include Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian (Sept), R &B with soul and neo-jazz (Oct) and a 30-song Beatles tribute (Nov). Admission is free.

The Chandler Symphony Orchestra will perform several free concerts at the Chandler Center for the Perforning Arts this season

Chandler Symphony Orchestra has announced six free concerts during the 2011-2012 season at Chandler Center for the Arts. Evening concerts are scheduled for Sept 9 and Feb 3. Afternoon concerts take place Oct 9, Nov 13, March 25 and May 6.

Mesa Arts Center offers free fall and spring Out to Lunch concerts

The fall “Out to Lunch Concert Series” at Mesa Arts Center features free entertainment in an outdoor setting Thursdays between Oct 27 and Dec 8. Like most venues, they recommend bringing folding chairs, cushions or blankets along.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts presents a series of concerts with ASU musicians from Aug to Oct 2011. The series opens with a Mon, Aug 22 “Opera and Operetta Extravaganza.” Watch for additional concerts featuring everything from classical to modern urban sounds. Students (with I.D.) are free and general admission is just $10.

Watch for free Sunday concerts at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts early next year after the weather cools

Their free “Sunday A’Fair” outdoor concerts take place select Sundays from Jan to April 2012. You can pop in anytime during these four hour affairs to enjoy arts and crafts exhibits, hands-on art activities for children and families, and free admission the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

Bring those cameras along for fall and winter concerts, since photos will allow you to tastefully tease friends and family in colder parts about the deliciousness of desert living.

— Lynn

Note: Chandler Center for the Arts is accepting applications (through Aug 31) from 13-18 years olds for its new Youth Advisory Council, which fosters art appreciation, community service and leadership skills.

Coming up: More arts offerings from Arizona universities

Bark if you love art

ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer” runs a “Person of the Week” piece each Friday evening. Their most recent honoree was Esperanza Spalding, a young jazz musician who captured the “Artist of the Year” award during the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Their story shared a bit about Spalding’s background — noting that her decision to make music came at the tender age of five after she saw and heard cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform on the PBS television show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

It reminded me at first of watching Yo-Yo Ma receive our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, earlier in the week. He looked like a kid who arrived at school one day only to discover it had been transformed into a giant candy factory.

Check out PBS' "Martha Speaks" this week for new episodes with an arts focus

But then I remembered an e-mail that recently came my way — about a PBS television show titled “Martha Speaks.”

It features a talking dog named Martha who’ll be introducing young viewers (and their cats) to a wonderful thing called arts and culture this week (Feb 21-25).

The show is based on the works of New Jersey author and illustrator Susan Meddaugh, for whom “Martha” was once a family pet (of the non-verbal variety).

Apparently Martha has something to say about all sorts of art-related topics — from theater and classical music to Greek myths and opera. I’m all for it, since the show also promotes language development and other skills children will need one day as they journey through a world where myths abound.

The show’s stated “educational goal” is teaching new words to children ages 4 to 7. This is a great relief to those of us who’ve tired of hearing children utter unsavory words gleaned from older sibs or even prime time television offerings.

"Martha Speaks" couples words with art on PBS this week

There are, of course, other means for expanding one’s vocabulary.

Just this evening I learned from a television talk show host that “paralepsis” refers to a rhetorical strategy of raising a point by appearing to pass over it.

Can’t wait to hear Martha use that one in a sentence.

I’m utterly convinced that children learn language best by interacting with others who use language. The “Talking Elmo” doll is a fine start, but word play is really the purview of parents.

I’m glad there’s public television, offering tools for parents and teachers who do society’s most imporant work — assuring literacy for future generations.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to learn more about the many fun and fascinating characters of “Martha Speaks.”

Coming up: Abe Lincoln meets modern dance