Reviews

A Midsummer Night's Romp

Janos Gereben - August 12, 2008

There are few plays as firmly in charge of their own stage destiny as Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. It's all in the text, of course, but also in the style of the piece, with its shimmering, playful way of intermingling spirits and mortals. Significant alteration is not really feasible, so writers and composers must follow Master William's playbook.

Italianate Journey

George Thomson - August 5, 2008

In the past few years, down at the Carmel Bach Festival, they've made a little addition to the logo. Beside the big "Bach" with its ornate B, the words "and Beyond" extend upward in tiny print — not in the aggressive diagonal of a Soviet propaganda poster, but in the sort of lazy curve a Thomas Kinkade country lane might take. We're bold!

Silencing the Guns of War

Michael Zwiebach - August 5, 2008

Not many musical works present a moral/political position with the power and persuasiveness of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Advocating the composer's nearly lifelong commitment to pacifism, the work was given a stirring performance by the San Francisco Choral Society on Friday at Davies Symphony Hall.

Fervent Excellence

Robert P. Commanday - August 5, 2008

In the world of fine cello soloists, Matt Haimovitz has to be a leading adventurer. There he was at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Sunday night in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, performing a solo recital of prodigiously challenging pieces that many of his colleagues may never have heard of.

Romantic Refinement

David Bratman - August 5, 2008

Last week was “The Romantic Generation” week at Music@Menlo, and by the Romantic generation they mean Middle European Romantics. The music on the main concert program, which I heard on Monday at St.

Review

A Whirlwind of Bartók

Michelle Dulak Thomson - August 5, 2008

Early Sunday morning, a visitor to Atherton's Menlo School might have seen a smallish crowd of eager-looking people congregating around the steps of Stent Family Hall. A number of these folks might further be seen to be carrying copies of a small, bright-red, hardbound volume. The hymnal of an esoteric sect? The Sayings of Chairman Mao?

Review

Past and Future

Janos Gereben - August 5, 2008

Music@Menlo's survey of music history arrived triumphantly at 20th Century Unlimited over the weekend. Program IV, "The Rise of Modernism," shone with rousing performances of Debussy, Stravinsky, Gruenberg, Ives, Britten, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich. The sold-out house in St.

Review

Daft Tale, Deftly Told

James Keolker - August 5, 2008

Some things in life are perfect and should never change.

Conjuring Timbres and Climes

David Bratman - August 5, 2008

Whatever work that Music Director Marin Alsop decides to program at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, you know it will at least be interesting and intellectually provocative. Whether it's beautiful or ultimately satisfying is more subjective, but I found Saturday's "Triple Play" concert fairly successful on those counts, as well.

Child's Play, All the Way

Jessica Balik - August 5, 2008

Abstract, intimidating, unintelligible: These are words I often hear used to describe new music. People who use them might assume that every new-music festival is chock-full of serious, difficult sounds that can daunt even trained musicians, not to mention the musically uninitiated. The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, however, fits no such description.