Orchestra

Orchestra of Fun

Michael Zwiebach - April 7, 2009

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra concerts are always lively affairs.

"We're part of a bigger thing," declared British composer Thomas Adès in a surprise visit to the stage of Davies Symphony Hall on Friday night. His 2005 violin concerto Concentric Paths, painstakingly and passionately interpreted by soloist Leila Josefowicz and San Francisco Symphony Associate Conductor James Gaffigan, proved just that.

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Beautiful Tooth

Jeff Dunn - March 31, 2009

Live performances of the vast catalog of symphonic music by Russian composer Nicolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) occur with near-hen’s-tooth f

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Ear-Bending Sounds

David Bratman - March 30, 2009

Music from Eastern Europe, especially if it’s also from the earlier part of the 20th century, has a reputation for being rugged and rough-hewn, full of exotic sounds and hypnotic motifs over catchy rhythms. Sometimes that reputation is deserved.

Review

An Evening of Discoveries

Heuwell Tircuit - March 29, 2009

The March 25-28 concerts of the San Francisco Symphony, under guest conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, offered a masterpiece, a super masterpiece, and one outright dud. Along the way, we heard a new wunderkind pianist and an up-and-coming bass-baritone as soloist, plus astounding mastery from the Symphony Chorus.

Review

London Symphony Doubleheader

Janos Gereben - March 26, 2009

Valery Gergiev, one of the heavyweights on the international music scene, does have his detractors. Just within the context of his Sunday-Monday appearances in Davies Symphony Hall, leading the London Symphony Orchestra in two eventful concerts, there were numerous items possibly contradicting what may well be a general enthusiasm about the conductor.

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The Music of a War Long, Long Ago

Janos Gereben - March 23, 2009

The Trojan War, history books tell us (without too much certainty), took place “in the 13th or 12th century B.C.E.,” and Troy must have been somewhere

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Firm Hand at the Tiller

David Bratman - March 22, 2009

George Cleve is best-known these days as director of the Midsummer Mozart Festival, but in person, with his beard and his solid presence at the podium, he looks rather like Johannes Brahms. Born in Vienna, though long a resident of the Bay Area, he’s a conductor who actually specializes in both these great Viennese composers.

Review

Everything Is Illuminated

Jason Victor Serinus - March 22, 2009

Is it a sign of things to come? After announcing his hopes to eventually expand the San Francisco Opera Orchestra’s scope to include orchestral performances, SFO Music Director Designate Nicola Luisotti stepped before the San Francisco Symphony for the first time in an all-orchestral program at Davies Symphony Hall.