Reviews

Rhapsody in Bach

Joseph Sargent - January 13, 2009
The cottage industry surrounding how to "properly" interpret J.S. Bach's beloved Suites for Solo Cello sometimes borders on the ridiculous. Like operagoers defending their most beloved divas with delirious fervor, many aficionados blindly swear by their own favorite approach to these remarkable works.
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Review

Pictures at a Concert

Jeff Dunn - January 13, 2009
Images filled my head, thanks to the provocative content and sterling performances that characterized Friday's San Francisco Symphony concert. It began with Aaron Copland's extract of music for the 1940 film Our Town, based on Thornton Wilder's famous play about the timeless verities of small-town life in "Grover's Corners" (actually, Peterborough), New Hampshire.

Never Too Young

Dan Leeson - January 13, 2009
Sunday night, San José's Le Petit Trianon welcomed the San José Chamber Orchestra in a concert refreshingly titled "Ah, Youth!" The program consisted of music both composed and played by youthful talent, and it traveled a bumpy road from the 14-year-old Felix Mendelssohn to the unrelenting dissonances of the 29-year-old Harlan Otter.
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Review

Generous Osiris

Be'eri Moalem - January 13, 2009
The Osiris Trio is not the sort of ensemble that will blow you away with pyrotechnics and dazzling execution, or with overflowing energy. Yet for natural and honest music-making, Osiris provided generously in its Sunday recital at Kohl Mansion in Burlingame. Many of today's best groups seem to leap out of their seats and give 120 percent to grab the audience by the lapels.

Goodbye to All That

David Bratman - January 6, 2009
Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony — the dark, somber one in a weird key (F-sharp minor), which ends with the musicians quietly leaving the stage by ones and twos, until only a pair of violinists are left to finish the piece — is the perfect work to serve as a metaphor for the end of a questionable year.
Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago
Review

Moseying Down China’s Silk Road

Heuwell Tircuit - December 29, 2008

Yo-Yo Ma’s and his Silk Road Project have come up with a new CD featuring a host of young performers supported by the Chicago Symphony. Titled Traditions and Transformations, the disc includes two standard works, Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo and Prokofiev rambunctious Scythian Suite, Op.

Shout to Heaven

Robert P. Commanday - December 16, 2008
The Santa Rosa Symphony has more than earned its role as the future orchestra-in-residence at the Green Music Center, now edging toward completion at Sonoma State University (see the feature article). It has made remarkable progress during the past two decades, even under the handicap of an acoustically mediocre home.
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Review

Brubeck's Devotions' and Brahms' Lovesongs

Dan Leeson - December 16, 2008

To say that the Pacific Mozart Ensemble concerts are eclectic is a serious understatement. Having researched a few of their previous programs, I can’t think of a single San Francisco group — and very few elsewhere — that display this much variety, creativity, and invention in programming. Certainly, their December 18 concert in the Green Room at the Veterans War Memorial Building, and titled “Brubeck and Brahms: Canticles and Love Songs” fit this mold.

Taking the Grand Approach

Noel Verzosa - December 16, 2008
Last Thursday, the Berkeley Symphony welcomed Joana Carneiro, the last of six candidates to appear at Zellerbach Hall and make a case for their being appointed as music director. Carneiro's selection of pieces was probably the least eclectic of all the candidates' programs, though she chose hers strategically.
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Review

Birthday Moods

Jules Langert - December 16, 2008
Born a hundred years ago, just a single day apart, Olivier Messiaen and Elliott Carter, otherwise such strange musical bedfellows, had their December birthdays jointly celebrated Monday in San Francisco's Green Room, in a concert by the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.