Reviews

ivesquartet_wide.jpg
Review

Beating Expectations

Be'eri Moalem - May 4, 2009

On Thursday the Ives Quartet ended a season of high-quality playing with interesting programming, all in a friendly atmosphere at St. Mark’s Church in midtown Palo Alto. An intriguing new work by Dan Becker provided food for thought.

fiala_zane.jpg
Review

Raising a Joyful Song

Jaime Robles - May 4, 2009
In a very local and personal interpretation of its mission to perform “newly commissioned works of promising composers,” the vibrant young choral group International Orange Chorale sang a program on Friday of diverse and original work by contemporary California composers.
laurelensemble_0.jpg
Review

Passion and Absence

Jeff Dunn - April 29, 2009

The interaction of passion and absence at Monday's Laurel Ensemble concert made for a memorable and at times frustrating evening at Temple Emanu-El's Martin Meyer Sanctuary.

zimerman_krystian_wide_0.jpg
Review

Playing B's From the A-List

Jerry Kuderna - April 28, 2009

After two staggering performances of Bach and Beethoven at Krystian Zimerman’s recital Friday, sponsored by Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, the familiar thought came to mind: “How can you follow that?”

wangCD3.2.jpg
Review

Young Genius in a Hurry

Janos Gereben - April 28, 2009
Among the many astonishing things about Yuja Wang is her relationship to time. At 22, already a leading pianist in the world, she not only made her first appearance — as a virtual unknown — only three years ago in San Francisco at a Chinese New Year Concert matinee, but a mere eight years ago she was still studying at the Beijing Conservatory, where Western music meant the time before Brahms.
mosaiques2_wide_0.jpg
Review

Gesture Into Sound

Michelle Dulak Thomson - April 28, 2009
It’s a strange sensation, finally hearing in the flesh an ensemble you’ve wanted to hear in concert for a couple of decades. Judging by the friends I met and talked to at the Quatuor Mosaïques’ Bay Area debut Wednesday at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, I’m not alone in having followed the quartet for decades without having had an opportunity to hear them live.
australianchamberorchestra.jpg
Review

Vivacity From Down Under

Georgia Rowe - April 27, 2009

There’s a lot to be said for youthful exuberance, particularly when it’s combined with the kind of stylish and refined playing offered by the Australian Chamber Orchestra Sunday afternoon at Zellerbach Hall.

jacobs_paul2.jpg
Review

Conducting the Organ

John Karl Hirten - April 27, 2009

Paul Jacobs is the first organist in several generations who, by the sheer breadth of his accomplishments alone, has managed to restore the public perception of the organ as a viable concert instrument.

tortelier_yanpascal_0.jpg
Review

Music From Two Great Cities

Heuwell Tircuit - April 26, 2009
Guest conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier split his San Francisco Symphony program right down the middle last week to form a gratifying string of four evenings at Davies Symphony Hall. His first half offered two contrasting works from Paris, his second half two wildly contrasting works from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ London.
kuzma_marika_0.jpg
Review

Landscapes of War

Jules Langert - April 26, 2009

Long considered to be one of his finest works, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem of 1962 can be difficult to bring off successfully, even with the most skilled and dedicated professional musicians. All the more reason, then, to cheer UC Berkeley’s stirring and spectacular performance last Wednesday, before a large, enrapt audience in Zellerbach Hall. UC’s Marika Kuzma, who conducted, got it splendidly right.