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Top Picks: Sarah Jarosz' album 'Build Me Up From Bones,' a live theater broadcast of the Met's 'Eugene Onegin,' and more

Laurie R. King explores the City of Light in the 1920s in 'The Bones of Paris,' the Discovery Channel's new documentary series focuses on 'North America,' and more top picks.

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Metropolitan Opera/NCM
“Eugene Onegin”
Build Me Up From Bones, Sarah Jarosz
The Bones of Paris
  • By Staff

Mandolin maven

The American folk music circuit is filled with young mandolin prodigies, but 20-something Sarah Jarosz remains a standout. On her third album, Build Me Up From Bones (Oct. 1, Sugar Hill Records), Jarosz’s acoustic vibe is equally at home in a hip West Coast coffee shop, a bluegrass festival, or a suit-and-tie concert hall. Her music explores many genres, from the blues (“The Book of Right-On”) to Celtic (“1,000 Things”) to the alt-folk of her roots in central Texas.

Purely Brahms

Hélène Grimaud, the French prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatoire at age 13, has just released Brahms Concertos on Deutsche Grammophone (Oct. 1). Four decades of concerts have given her the keyboard skills and life experience needed to convincingly tackle the emotional range of these concertos from intimate prayer to regal tempest.

Puzzled in Paris

Mystery writer Laurie R. King explores 1920s Paris in The Bones of Paris. Harris Stuyvesant, featured in an earlier stand-alone book, returns as a private investigator in search of a young, missing American expat. Stuyvesant encounters murder and more while navigating the freewheeling culture of the time. Cameos range from Hemingway to Man Ray, Picasso, and Dalí. It’s fun for the reader, but not so much for Stuyvesant, who notes, “What had started as a quick and cushy job wasn’t turning out that way.”

Exploring America

Discovery’s North America, an ambitious natural history documentary series about the vast lands of this continent, arrives on DVD and Blu-ray Oct. 1. This two-disc set comes with additional commentaries by the filmmakers, a photo gallery, and a music-only soundtrack. (A 32-page photo book is also available with the Blu-ray version.) Narrated by actor Tom Selleck, the seven-part series originally aired in May and June 2013 and covers the flora and fauna of Canada, the United States, and Central America.

Festival of films

Something to Talk About, a festival of provocative documentaries, launches on DirecTV, in Laemmle theaters, and on DVD Oct. 3. This fall’s features include Haiti Untold, a look at the island nation’s rebuilding after the earthquake; Drawing Dead, which gives insight into gambling and addiction; Shored Up, a look at US coastlines threatened by climate change; JFK: A President Betrayed, which explores the forces that undermined his term; and Desert Runner, a film about extreme runners. Go to www.somethingtotalkabout.us.

Opera in HD

If just thinking about opera has you humming, then head to the movie theater on Oct. 5 for Fathom Event’s live, high-definition broadcast of New York’s Metropolitan Opera season opener. Get your popcorn and settle in for The Met: Live in HD and the debut of “Eugene Onegin,” complete with behind-the-scenes interviews with the stars and close-ups so detailed you’ll swear you can feel the heat from the stage lights. Find your nearest participating theater at www.fathomevents.com.

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