Reviews

Cool and Bloodless

Stephanie Friedman - January 29, 2008
In a recital by tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Julius Drake devoted entirely to Schubert songs, it was, strangely, the piano that shone.

Classical Music Unwound

Jessica Balik - January 22, 2008
Is it possible to move in two directions simultaneously? Generally, you move either forward or backward.

Rare Finds in Deft Hands

Michelle Dulak Thomson - January 22, 2008
It's one of the quirks of the music business that star players tend to get locked into playing and recording only the most familiar repertoire, at least early in stardom. Look at the trajectory of any young violinist signed by a major label (if, that is, you can find one).
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Review

Charpentier in Motet Mode

Thomas Busse - January 22, 2008
As he neared the end of his life, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, a composer active in Paris from ca. 1670 to 1704, wrote:
I am he who was born long ago and was widely known in this century, but now I am naked and nothing, dust in a tomb, at an end, and food for worms. … I was a musician, considered good by the good musicians, and ignorant by the ignorant ones.

The Ill-Tempered Harpsichord

Heuwell Tircuit - January 22, 2008
Music from three centuries was featured on last week's San Francisco Symphony programs in Davies Symphony Hall. But on Thursday even the inestimable Michael Tilson Thomas couldn't fully pull off his non sequitur program of Bach, Xenakis, and Schubert, highlighted by a bizarrely dressed harpsichord soloist, Elisabeth Chojnacka, for the Xenakis. The evening opened with Bach's Orchestral Suite No.
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Review

Terry Riley's Brilliant Sun Rings

Jason Victor Serinus - January 22, 2008
“I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t be distracted by the visuals,” my companion explained after the concert. All well and good, if in fact music had been the primary component of this performance of Terry Riley’s Sun Rings (2002).

Opposite Attractions

Terry McNeill - January 22, 2008
A conventional all-Russian program sidetracked the Marin Symphony’s “Salute to the Silver Screen” season theme Jan. 20, but few seemed to miss the cinematic connections. All evening the playing was first rank, and violinist Vadim Gluzman’s interpretation of the Tchaikovsky concerto provided plenty of pyrotechnical sizzle to excite an audience that not quite filled the Marin Veteran’s Auditorium.
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Review

Eclecticism on Parade

Jonathan Wilkes - January 22, 2008

Friday night's concert of the ensemble Adesso at Old First Church showcased an eclectic selection of music. The pieces programmed doubtless had little in common, but the quality of the playing made the evening hang together nevertheless.

Clarity, but Little Fire

Noel Verzosa - January 22, 2008
“Intoxicated and With Fire” is the title of the third movement of Schumann’s Phantasiestücke for cello and piano, written five years before the composer’s attempted suicide and seven years before his death in an insane asylum.
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Review

High Artistry

Jason Victor Serinus - January 15, 2008

Even before countertenor David Daniels reached center stage, it was clear that we were in for a special afternoon. The grin on his face, matched by the smile from accompanist Martin Katz, was unforced, relaxed, and filled with confidence. Daniels was letting us know that he expected to be in top form, and take us on a joyride.