I already know what you’re thinking: “November!? Already!? But January was only a few weeks ago!? So you’re telling me the year is pretty much over!?”
Yes, I am telling you that the year is pretty much over, and that is pretty much a good thing. November is arrived, thus commencing a string of top-tier holidays, replete with opportunities to day-drink boulevardiers and indulge in a king’s feast (at the risk of inflaming the king’s disease), or to anticipate the acquisition of an evergreen conifer that will transform the scent of your sitting room. Also, the NBA is back. So is sweater season. And if you’re one of those puzzling souls that rushes to drop the needle on holiday tracks the minute November hits, I can’t say that I understand you, but I can say I respect you. Kind of.
Look, there’s so much in November to do before you get to its penultimate week. You, of the well-informed citizenry, have midterm elections to consider. And, on the geopolitical stage, the absolutely shambolic state of British politics to consider. You should probably get a flu shot. And a COVID booster. And a general plan in order to maximize the efficiency of your late autumn and early winter revelry. And get to experience any number of things that will feed your soul this month.
Stream Bach’s gorgeous beast of a Mass, or hit up a rare book and manuscript convention. Attend a lecture on medical history or on the fluid mechanics of fires as they relate to one of Boston’s most devastating conflagrations. Go see an opera that transplants the Dionysus from Euripides’s “The Bacchae” into London — as Dracula, as a contemporary of Jack the Ripper. You don’t want to be considered the least interesting person in the room, and dancing on a sofa will only get you so far. That much I know to be true. Hope this helps.
Let’s get to it!
Boston Baroque presents Bach’s Mass in B minor
On demand through Nov. 15
$9 to $79. You decide what you want to pay. No matter which ticket you choose, you will experience the same high-quality performance.
Boston Baroque began its 50th season last month with a run of performances of Bach’s absolutely legendary Mass in B minor. While you cannot go back in time, you can use any one of the days in the first half of November to stream it, on demand — and pay what you wish. It’s a sprawling vocal work that stretches the boundaries of the ordinary Mass to lengthy and elaborate ends, with seemingly every line of prayer and creed and blessing getting room to fully make use of the voices available to it. For comparison, just listen to how Bach expands the Kyrie compared to how Mozart treats it in famous requiem, or Beethoven in his Missa solemnis.
Berklee Fall Signature Series
Berklee’s annual celebration of students, alumni, faculty and distinguished guests continues its ride into November with three performances. First up: Dee Dee Bridgewater joins a student ensemble under the direction of associate professor Shirazette “She Beats” Tinnin, for a tribute concert to Horace Silver. The following week features vocalist Andrés Cepeda showcasing Colombian music with original student arrangements. Finally, Tigran Hamasyan, fresh off his latest release of American standards, teams up with his trio in collaboration with the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir for the 14th edition of the Berklee Middle Eastern Festival.
Dee Dee Bridgewater Ensemble
Thursday, Nov. 3
7 p.m.
Red Room at Cafe 939
$10
Andrés Cepeda Meets Berklee
Thursday, Nov. 10
8 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center
$15 and up (discounts available with Berklee ID)
14th Annual Berklee Middle Eastern Festival: Tigran Hamasyan Trio Meets Pletenitsa
Tuesday, Nov. 15
8 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center
Admission $15-20 advance | $20-25 day of show (discounts available with Berklee ID)
Ilana Zaks — The Violin Reimagined
Thursday, Nov. 3
2 p.m.
Rabb Lecture Hall, Central Library Copley Square
Free
A violin can express a wide spectrum of sounds and moods. Violinist Ilana Zaks strings together a number of selections that show just how versatile the instrument is. For this concert at the BPL Central Branch, Zaks takes us across continents and time with the music of Telemann, Perkinson, Piazzolla and Lauren Bernofsky, to name a few.
Parker Quartet: Bartók, Korngold, Jonah Haven
Sunday, Nov. 6
3 p.m.
Paine Hall at Harvard (3 Oxford Street in Cambridge)
Free (reservation required)
The Boston-based Parker Quartet is keeping it local for this upcoming performance, part of Harvard’s Blodgett Chamber Music Series Presents. The award-winning ensemble presents a program including Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 and Korngold’s String Sextet in D. The ensemble is also engaging the music of young composer Jonah Haven with laugh radish, which won the 2021 Blodgett Composition Competition prize.
Inebri-Art presents: Beer Mug Painting
Monday, Nov. 7
7 p.m.
Night Shift Brewing, Everett
$20, includes mug
Inebri-Art heads north to Everett!. Pull up to Night Shift’s brewery for a chromatic craft brew experience, as you swill some seasonal offerings while painting your very own beer mug. It can be a gift to a loved one, or your secret admirer, or for your upcoming office white elephant. But, it can also be kept to yourself as a reminder that you do have a certain creative spark, and you don’t need to wait until happy hour to access it.
Warren Miller’s “Daymaker”
Wednesday, Nov. 9 – Thursday, Nov. 10
7:30 p.m.
Somerville Theatre (55 Davis Square in Somerville)
$22 (general admission)
For years, Warren Miller Entertainment has released a ski/snowboard film to celebrate the frostiest of mountain sports and welcome winter’s powder with open arms. This year’s film, “Daymaker,” places its focus on some of the world’s most enviable mountains for snow sports.
Male Physicians, Female Practitioners: Medicine in the 19th Century
Thursday, Nov. 10
The Shirley-Eustis House (33 Shirley Street in Roxbury)
12 p.m.
$5 livestream; $10 in-person
The popular image of the medical profession has been oddly gendered — doctors are men; nurses are women. But this is a fairly recent invention, and taking a trip back to the 19th century and beyond reveals a far different medical field than we know today. Join University of Massachusetts Boston Associate Professor Olivia Weisser as she explains shifting conceptions of medicine and medical care over the centuries, and how the profession came to be so male-dominated in the first place.
Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair
Friday, Nov. 11 – Sunday, Nov. 13
Friday: 4-8 p.m.; Saturday: 12-7 p.m.; Sunday: 12-5 p.m.
Hynes Convention Center
Opening night $25 | Saturday and Sunday are free
For the serious book collectors among us, or at least the ones that like getting wowed by some seriously old goods, head over to the Hynes Convention Center to peruse shelves and stalls featuring manuscripts, maps and more of a serious vintage. More than 100 booksellers will set up shop. Also featured are a number of panel discussions and talks, including sessions about life as a rare books professional, and on the world of collecting romance novels. Got something prized in your own collection? Sunday will feature two hours of free appraisals.
History on Hops
Saturday, Nov. 12
6:30 p.m.
Medford Brewing Company (10 Governor’s Avenue in Medford)
$15 (includes flight glass and beer; proceeds go to Medford Historical Society & Museum)
New to the area? Longtime resident of Medford that somehow knows absolutely nothing about your hometown? Then it might be time for a night with The Medford Historical Society & Museum as they share some local history and offer overdue mythbusting.
The Boston Philharmonic presents Dvorak and Brahms
Saturday, Nov. 12
8 p.m.
Symphony Hall
$30 and up
Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic invite cellist Hayoung Choi to Symphony Hall in her U.S. premiere. Choi, the Queen Elisabeth 2022 Cello First Prize Winner, will deliver a crowd-pleaser with the Dvorak’s Cello Concerto. It’s a staple for solo cellists — if you’ve never spent time with it, consider this performance a welcome to a path well-trodden by talented musicians the world over. If you know it all too well, from all the permutations of the first movement’s heroic first theme to the composer’s self-quotation in the second, here’s a fresh interpretation from a promising young musician. The concert concludes with Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, whose uplifting and pastoral natures ought to pair well with a cool autumn evening.
A pre-concert talk will take place at 6:45.
Kerri K. Greenidge — “The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family”
Monday, Nov. 14
Rabb Lecture Hall, Central Library Copley Square
6 p.m.
Free, registration required for in-person attendance
Historian Kerri K. Greenidge discusses her new book “The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family,” in which she presents an oft-overlooked narrative concerning the abolitionist duo of the Grimke sisters. Yes, they were nationally known white women, but as Greenidge reveals, the Black members of the family have long been forgotten. Author Kellie Carter Jackson moderates.
The Unsolved Mystery of the Cocoanut Grove Fire
Thursday, Nov. 17
Rabb Lecture Hall, Central Library in Copley Square
2 p.m.
Free
The devastating Cocoanut Grove Fire of 1942 killed 492 people, making it one of the deadliest fires in Boston history — and one of the deadliest building fires in national history. Despite its magnitude, the exact behavior of the inferno has remained a mystery. Now, Casey C. Grant presents new findings that should answer some questions about exactly what happened.
“The Lord of Cries”
Saturday, Nov. 19
7:30 p.m.
Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory
Tickets start at $10
Euripedes’ The Bacchae is one of classical Greek theater’s most celebrated tragedies. Some 2,400 years after its premiere, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer John Corigliano fuses its violent and truly bonkers plot with that of another mainstay of Western macabre canon: Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo assumes the mantle of Dionysus who returns to earth — 19th-century London, to be exact — as the blood-sucking vampire. He reprises this role, which he premiered in 2021 at Santa Fe Opera. And despite their long careers, “The Lord of Cries” is the first collaboration between Corigliano and his spouse, librettist Mark Adamo. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera present the East Coast premiere.
Boston Road Runners Turkey Trot
Saturday, Nov. 19
8 a.m.
Artesani Park by the Charles River
Volunteers needed
Youth pass $24, adult pass $27
Thanksgiving morning is a glorious time. Sketching out the day’s run of show, pouring an acceptable ante meridiem cocktail and actually getting to work on the cooking — with a perfectly curated playlist blanketing the home in sound? Unbeatable.
However, some people have their own idea of the perfect holiady, and enjoy warming up before the gastronomic festivities with a footrace at an early-morning hour. But the Boston Road Runners are way ahead of that, scheduling the 2022 Turkey Trot a cool five days before Thanksgiving proper. If you aren’t inclined to run it yourself, volunteers are needed to help keep the participants hydrated, and to generally make sure the operation runs harmoniously. So, if you’re an early riser, it just might be a good idea to get into the spirit and help out our neighbors making a smooth dash to the finish.
