Special Events
Cal Performances: Socrates, Mark Morris Dance Group
Fresh from its New York premiere earlier this year, Mark Morris’ ballet Socrates makes its highly anticipated West Coast debut on this program. It’s of considerable interest to music lovers, as well as dance aficionados: Morris’ work incorporates Erik Satie’s rarely performed “symphonic drama” Socrate. Morris’ profound understanding of music, plus his commitment to live music in performance, has made him one of the world’s most insightful choreographers. These performances, which feature pianist Colin Fowler and tenor Michael Kelly, should be first-rate. The program includes two additional West Coast premieres: Morris’ 2007 Looky, set to a score by Kyle Gann; and Behemoth (1990), the choreographer’s only dance performed without music.
Cal Performances presents the Mark Morris Dance Group, Sept. 30 – Oct. 3, 8 p.m. (Oct. 3 at 3 p.m.), Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, $34-$72.
S.F. Symphony Great Performers: Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
The venerable Dresden Staatskapelle, whose roster of past music directors includes Richard Wagner, Karl Böhm, and Herbert Blomstedt, returns to the Bay Area this fall as part of the San Francisco Symphony’s Great Performers series. Daniel Harding, the fast-rising British podium artist who is principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, leads a program pairing Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, with pianist Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist.
San Francisco Symphony presents Great Performers: The Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, Oct. 24, 7 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, $15-$97.
Stanford Lively Arts: Bang on a Can All-Stars
The latest summit by the New York–based Bang on a Can All-Stars features the West Coast premiere of Life, a new work commissioned by Stanford Lively Arts combining a score by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen and video by filmmaker Marijke van Warmerdam. The ensemble will also perform cheating, lying, stealing by Pulitzer Prize–winner David Lang; works by Julia Wolfe, Fred Frith, Brian Eno, and Michael Nyman complete the program.
Stanford Lively Arts presents Bang on a Can All Stars, Nov. 5, 8 p.m., Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford, $25-$44.
S.F. Symphony Great Performers: Mutter-Bashmet-Harrell Trio
Audiences don’t often hear a program entirely devoted to Beethoven’s string trios, and the artists performing them on this S.F. Symphony Great Performers concert represent the gold standard. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, violist Yuri Bashmet, and cellist Lynn Harrell will join forces to play the Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 3; the Trio in C Minor, Op. 9, No. 3; and the Serenade in D Major, Op. 8. This promises to be one of the season’s best all-Beethoven programs.
San Francisco Symphony presents Great Performers: Mutter-Bashmet-Harrell Trio, Nov. 7, 7 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, S.F., $15-$83.
San Francisco Symphony: El Niño
John Adams’ nativity oratorio, which had its world premiere in Paris in December 2000 and received its first American performances on a San Francisco Symphony program the following month, returns to round out the fall season in three performances at Davies Symphony Hall. With the composer conducting, the soloists include sopranos Dawn Upshaw (Dec. 2 and 4) and Jessica Rivera (Dec. 3); mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung; bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu; and countertenors Daniel Bubeck, Brian Cummings, and Steven Rickards. These performances launch the S.F. Symphony’s latest installment of Project San Francisco, which will continue with two additional programs focused on Adams’ music.
San Francisco Symphony presents John Adams’ El Niño, Dec. 2-4, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, $35-$140
Recitals
San Francisco Performances: András Schiff
Having recently completed his epic, multiyear traversal of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, András Schiff turns, this season, to the music of Mendelssohn and Schumann. His recital for San Francisco Performances features the former’s Variations serieuses, Op. 54, and Fantasie in F-sharp Minor, Op. 28; and the latter’s Sonata in F-sharp Minor, No. 1, Op. 11, and Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17.
San Francisco Performances presents András Schiff, Oct. 16, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, S.F., $40-$65.
Listen to the Music
San Francisco Performances: Measha Brueggergosman
Since her Bay Area debut in 2006, singing Mahler with the San Francisco Symphony, followed by an impressive recital at Cal Performances a few months later, Measha Brueggergosman has sung for the 2010 Winter Olympic games, appeared on Gustavo Dudamel’s inaugural program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and joined Michael Tilson Thomas with the YouTube Symphony at Carnegie Hall. The thoroughly modern Canadian soprano comes to Herbst Theatre Nov. 10, with a recital program drawn from her latest album, Night and Dreams. Accompanied by pianist Justus Zeyen, she’ll sing songs by Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Richard Strauss.
San Francisco Performances presents Measha Brueggergosman, Nov. 10, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, S.F., $35-$60.
Stanford Lively Arts: Midori
Midori has been earning critical superlatives in the standard repertoire for three decades, but the Japanese-American violinist is also a strong advocate for contemporary music. In this program, with pianist Robert McDonald, she’ll perform Mozart’s Sonata for Piano and Violin in G Major, K. 301; Bartók’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, Sz. 75; and Bach’s Sonata for Violin Solo No. 2 in A Major, BWV 1003; as well as George Crumb’s Four Nocturnes for Violin and Piano, and Szymanowski’s Nocturne and Tarantella for Violin and Piano.
Stanford Lively Arts presents Midori, Nov. 17, 8 p.m., Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, $33-$76.
Cal Performances: Bryn Terfel
Whether he’s starring in the opera house or singing on the recital stage, Bryn Terfel is always a commanding presence. The Welsh bass-baritone, who is scheduled to sing Wotan in Robert Lepage’s new Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera this season, returns to the Bay Area with a November recital. Terfel will be joined by Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau, Terfel’s longtime recital partner and a consummate artist in his own right.
Cal Performances presents Bryn Terfel, Nov. 20, 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, $38-$96.
Cal Performances: Nicolas Hodges
Nicolas Hodges, who made a smashing debut with the San Francisco Symphony earlier this year as the soloist in George Benjamin’s piano concerto, Duet, makes his West Coast recital debut in UC Berkeley’s intimate Hertz Hall. A glance at the program suggests the British pianist’s wide-ranging interests: along with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 106, “Hammerklavier,” Hodges will perform Stockhausen’s Klavierstuck X.
Cal Performances presents Nicolas Hodges, Dec. 12, 3 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, $38.