Is it too early to start planning to take in a few sanity-retrieving holiday concerts? Not if you take your holiday concertgoing seriously, as SFCV readers tend to do. You don’t want to find that you’re missing a date with Chanticleer in order to pick up Aunt Fanny at the airport. And with the enormous number of holiday-themed music events coming up, you’ll definitely need a guide to the hot tickets and the cool stuff you might have overlooked. So here it is: a selection of the best ways to spend your December weekends, apart from the office holiday party.
December 1-7
When shopping madness has you ready to seek the quiet of the grave, try perking up with a concert.Anonymous 4 shows up at San Francisco Performances on Dec. 3. The group will perform a program they’re calling “The Cherry Tree,” based on an early folk-miracle story
about Joseph and Mary. They present a number of medieval and later versions of the story, and then some Anglo-American carols and hymn tunes, of the kind on their recent best-selling albums. Few medieval-music specialists on the planet are as celebrated as Anonymous 4, and there are few better ways to soothe your spirit than listening to these women sing chant and early polyphony.
If you’re too wired for that concert, the San Francisco Symphony presents the Mariachi Sol de Mexico orchestra in concert with the Symphony. The group brings a contemporary twist to Mexican Christmas traditions, in this innovative collaboration.
The next day (Dec. 4) brings the first of two performances by the Pacific Mozart Ensemble of the West Coast premiere of David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Little Match Girl Passion, along with a, well, passionate setting of Psalm 121 by Dave Brubeck; look for SFCV’s preview next week.
The Tallis Scholars sing in Berkeley this week, courtesy of Cal Performances. At the First Congregational Church, they perform one of Josquin des Prez’ greatest works, the sublime Missa de Beata Vergine (Mass of the Blessed Virgin). This is Renaissance music at its most spellbinding, and a work of pure religious feeling.
Looking for a traditional concert of carols? Try the Ragazzi Boys Chorus, Dec. 6 at Old First Church. Sure, they’ll sing a couple of longer works, but the accent will be on “Deck the Halls,” “Joy to the World,” and “Silent Night.” A day earlier, Robert Geary’s Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choirs do the very same thing, again at Old First.
Across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, the Marin Symphony Chamber Chorus, under Stephen McKersie, does its caroling at the Church of Saint Raphael in San Rafael. McKersie makes the most of his location by separating the choristers in different locations in some carols, producing the kind of stereophonic effect that used to be common in the great cathedrals of the world.As it does every year, the Bay Brass visits Grace Cathedral on Dec. 7. The ensemble, made up of players from major orchestras in the area, tap Donald Runnicles to guest-conduct them in a program of holiday favorites and light classics, with Jonathan Dimmock sitting in at the Aeolian-Skinner organ.
Other concerts this week that you might be interested in: The San Francisco Choral Artists mix it up with new commissioned works, and a mix of contemporary classical and 20th-century masterpieces. (See preview.) If you feel it’s just not the Christmas season without Benjamin Britten’s sumptuous Ceremony of Carols, then you’ll want to mark out the WomenSing concerts (Dec. 5, 9). The San Francisco Bach Choir always begins its concert of Renaissance and Baroque carols and choral masterworks with a transporting candlelight procession; they sing good, too. Warren Stewart’s magnificent Magnificat offers Chiara Margarita Cozzolani’s Mass for Christmas, while the California Bach Society goes all German Baroque-y for a program they’ve titled “Dresden, 1620.”
December 8-14
OK, we know you have to get the house cleaned up for Hanukkah, and/or attend a bunch of parties that you can’t wiggle out of, but is that really going to stop you from checking out these great concert offerings?The Bay Area’s renowned men’s choral group Chanticleer presents its annual holiday concert this week, beginning Dec. 15. You really should hear them do this concert at least once while you’re living in the Bay Area. For some folks, it’s a tradition, which means that tickets can be hard to come by. If you’re intrigued, don’t wait to order tickets.
The Christmas Revels, a production of California Revels at the Scottish Rite Theater in Oakland, beginning Dec. 11, takes you closer to the roots of the modern Christmas
celebration, by re-creating a traditional Christmas celebration, as it might have been mounted in a small Bavarian town in the early 19th century. It offers songs, stories, and even food, presented by professional soloists and an enthusiastic, amateur chorus.
Speaking of modern traditions, the Mark Morris Dance Company’s beloved and never copied The Hard Nut comes once more to UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, courtesy of Cal Performances, with performances beginning Dec. 11. With just the right touch of whimsical humor about family get-togethers, this version of The Nutcracker cuts the sugar content without dousing the sugar plums.
Pianist Marino Formenti has titled his twin recitals for S.F. Performances “Aspects of the Divine”; the program provides a serious dose of meditative release from holiday overkill. On the first (Dec. 5) program, Formenti plays Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’Enfant Jesus (Twenty views of the infant Jesus), and on Dec. 11 he plays Haydn’s Seven Last Words along with a contemporary companion piece he commissioned from Bernhard Lang. Although the Messiaen program is more seasonal, the chance to hear the Haydn-approved piano version of his masterpiece wins out, in my book.
Just in time for Hanukkah, Old First Concerts features Ben Brussell’s Klezmania! in a wild ride through Yiddish and traditional Hanukkah songs, as well as some original tunes and modern klezmer repertory.
The carol concerts keep coming with the Grace Cathedral Choir of men and boys doing their seasonal duty Dec. 12-21. The impressive setting atop San Francisco’s Nob Hill for this longstanding tradition, along with that famous organ, won’t hurt the proceedings, either.
And if you want to see the San Francisco Boys Chorus in action at Calvary Presbyterian on Dec. 12, get your tickets early. Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols is featured, along with one of Handel's Chandos Anthems and a healthy selection of holiday favorites. But you might have to fight grandparents for tickets to the single performance.
December 15-21
The pressure is on. Soon you’ll be leaving town to visit your folks or in-laws, or you’ll be hosting them (or hiding from them), or maybe the big dinner party is approaching. Relax; you can drop off the dry-cleaning, do the shopping, and still have time to enjoy some of these concerts.
’Tis the season for Handel’s Messiah (or at least the first part of it). And in SFCV’s book, that means the American Bach Soloists at Grace Cathedral, with Jeffrey Thomas leading the spectacular chorus and period instrument band, plus a fine roster of soloists. Rediscover the passion in this masterpiece, in the group’s inventive, spirited reading.
Of course, if you prefer the sing-along Messiah, the Santa Rosa Symphony Association offers you a chance on Dec. 19 (while the S.F. Sinfonietta hosts one on Dec. 5 at Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco).
The terrific San Francisco Girls Chorus sings Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, highlighting the group’s annual holiday concert. The concert ends with a carols sing-along, but if you want to sing with these girls, you’d better do a little practicing first. The crackerjack top levels of this organization give polished performances that are professional-grade.
And at that point, you may have to stop concertgoing, temporarily. But that’s why they make recordings.