Listening Ahead
Our Critics’ Choices of Upcoming Events in the Bay Area
for January 15 – 28, 2008
Chamber Orchestra
Gesamtkunstwerk
Aiming to “bring classical music into the 21st century,” Paul Haas (of Sympho) and the New Century Chamber Orchestra created REWIND, a concert with installation art by Reuben Margolin, digital sampling from DJ Mason Bates, and a wide variety of music, from Biagio Marini to James MacMillan. The violin soloists are Anne Akiko Meyers and Raushan Akhmedyarova. Sounds marvelous, but you might want to forgo that after-dinner coffee.
Jan. 19, 8 p.m., Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, San Francisco, $50, (415) 357-1111, www.ncco.org. (M.Z.)
Early Music
Cantatas for the Christmas Fortnight
It was just over a year ago that the Bay Area heard the work in Philharmonia Baroque’s full-blooded reading, and now it’s the turn of Jeffery Thomas’ American Bach Soloists. This version will be different, as all the choruses will be performed one-on-a-part by a team of young, but confident and accomplished singers. The instrumental ensemble will get a similar workout confronting Bach’s taxing parts. ABS’ yearly cantata program is never less than special, and these favorite works promise to raise the roof.
Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m., St. Stephen’s Church, Belvedere; Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; Jan. 27, 7 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco; Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m., Mondavi Center, Davis; $10-$42, (415) 621-7900, www.americanbach.org. (M.Z.)
Jeffrey Thomas
Symphony
San Francisco Symphony Hosts a Harpsichordist
The harpsichord is an instrument prized by modernist composers for its edginess and clarity, so it now has two diverse repertories. Elizabeth Chojnacka has made a career of playing modern and contemporary harpsichord music, often on her own, amplified instrument, and on this concert she tackles Iannis Xenakis’ À l‘Île de Gorée, a work she premiered with the Xenakis Ensemble. In a different configuration, the orchestra adds Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2, and then finishes up, a little incongruously, with Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, a terrific test of a string player’s stamina and resolve.
Jan. 17-19, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, $25-$125, (415) 552-8000, www.sfsymphony.org. (M.Z.)
Peninsula Symphony
Hot jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti and his band join the Peninsula Symphony in the premiere of four of Eigsti’s pieces for piano and orchestra. Also on the program are Gershwin favorites, the “I’ve Got Rhythm” Variations and An American in Paris. Eigsti and the band also perform some of its own music.
Jan. 18, 8 p.m., Fox Theatre, Redwood City; Jan. 19, 8 p.m., Flint Center, DeAnza College, Cupertino; $29-$50, (650) 941-5291, www.peninsulasymphony.org. (M.Z.)
Taylor Eigsti
Marin Symphony
The orchestra dives into Stravinsky’s surging, intricate Symphony in Three Movements, along with the gentler The Fairy’s Kiss. Ukrainian violinist Vadim Gluzman tackles the challenges of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Alasdair Neale conducts.
Jan. 20, 22, 7:30 p.m., Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, $27-$65, (415) 479-8100, www.marinsymphony.org. (M.Z.)
Verdi Requiem
Oakland East Bay Symphony’s Michael Morgan will need all his powers as a super Verdi interpreter, and the soloists, orchestra, and chorus will be given quite a workout. The Requiem is a lot more than the sum of its loudest parts.
Jan. 25, 8 p.m., Paramount Theatre, Oakland, $20-$65, (510) 444-0801, www.oebs.org. (M.Z.)
Tsontakis in Santa Rosa
The Santa Rosa Symphony, known for its excellent programming and energetic new conductor, Bruno Ferrandis, will bring a special treat to the Bay Area, the orchestral music of George Tsontakis. Every Tsontakis work I’ve heard has been impressive. One of his symphonic works, The Dove Descending, wore out my CD player’s laser beam — honestly. Ferrandis will conduct the West Coast premiere of Tsontakis’ Clair de Lune (no, not an arrangement of the Debussy), along with Bach, Mendelssohn, and Wagner standards.
Jan. 26, 28, 8 p.m., and Jan. 27, 3 p.m. Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, $27-$50, (707) 546-8742, www.santarosasymphony.com. (J.D.)
Bruno Ferrandis
Recital
Itzhak Perlman
The famous violinist visits the Mondavi Center at UC Davis to play sonatas by J.S. Bach (E Major, BWV 1016), Richard Strauss (E-flat Major, Op. 18), and Francis Poulenc (FP 119).
Jan. 19, 8 p.m., Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis, sold out (check with box office for returns), (866) 754-2787, www.mondaviarts.org. (M.Z.)
Celebrating Anna Carol
An important member of the Bay Area music scene — as a performer, scholar, and celebrator of everything from choral and chamber to early and contemporary music, and as a regular writer for SFCV — Anna Carol Dudley celebrates her 77th birthday by giving audiences a free recital. Her distinguished career includes appearances as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, the Bay Area Women’s Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. She has toured extensively in the U.S. and Canada as a recitalist and with the early music ensemble Tapestry, and many works have been inspired by her and composed for her to premiere. The concert on Sunday afternoon includes works from Dowland to Dallapiccola and includes accompanists Phebe Craig on harpsichord and Larry Marietta on piano.
Jan. 20, 2 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley, free, (510) 225-8206, www.fccb.org. (C.G.)
Gil Shaham
The popular violinist returns to Cal Performances, along with pianist Akira Eguchi, in a program that features music by Walton, Bach, Rodrigo, and Sarasate.
Jan. 20, 3 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, $34-$62, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (M.B.)
Ian Bostridge
Ian Bostridge is, of course, an international opera star. But he is clearly much more interested in using his well-controlled tenor voice in recitals. His recordings are mainly song recitals, including treasurable ones of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin and Schumann songs. He’s had a song cycle written for him by Hans Werner Henze, and his own Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall. Bostridge is an intellectual artist, but he has fire and panache when required, and good looks as well. His San Francisco Performances show should be a winner.
Jan 22, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $30-$49, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (M.Z.)
Ian Bostridge
Valentin Surif
As an Argentine, the pianist has often been the ambassador of the country’s musical heritage, recording works by composers like Carlos Guastavino and Alberto Williams (an ongoing project for Naxos Recordings). But for his recital at Old First Church, in addition to Guastavino and Ginastera, Surif has programmed the mighty B-Minor Sonata by Franz Liszt, another composer who has figured heavily in the pianist’s long career.
Jan. 25, 8 p.m., Old First Church, San Francisco, $12-$15, (415) 474-1608, www.oldfirstconcerts.org. (M.Z.)
Christopher Taylor
The pianist dazzled New York audiences with his command of Messiaen’s “vehemently intense and ferociously difficult” Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus (Twenty contemplations on the infant Jesus), and previously his interpretation of György Ligeti’s entire piano études (listen to a Vingt performance online and read SFCV’s 2005 review of the Ligeti performance). Now’s your chance to hear what the buzz is all about.
Jan. 27, 3 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, $34, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (M.B.)
Dance
Cunningham at Stanford
Merce Cunningham, who turns 89 on April 16, goes back to school at Stanford armed with even more new stuff than usual to go with his ever-fresh choreography. This time it’s iPods. Don’t worry. If you’re a dinosaur, he’ll lend you one of his, the better to watch the Mikel Rouse-scored version of Cunningham’s 2006 eyeSpace, which Stanford Lively Arts runs Friday night. The next night, Annea Lockwood’s score for eyeSpace will be performed live. Also on the bill: Crises, CRWDSPCR, and BIPED. If you’ve never seen the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, you’ve never seen dance, and likely, never heard fabulously weird music. Just go.
Jan. 25 and 26, 8 p.m., Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, $10-$46, (650) 725-2787, www.livelyarts.stanford.edu. (J.B.)
Contemporary Music
Kronos in Deep Space
It’s not a sci-fi movie, just another piece created for the Kronos Quartet. Terry Riley’s Sun Rings (2002), an intermissionless hour and a half, is another entry in the musical contemplation of the heavens, and was commissioned for Kronos by NASA, no less. In addition to the quartet, the work includes sounds of space collected by University of Iowa professor Don Gurnett over a 40-year period, a visual production by well-known video artist Willie Williams, and a backing choir in some of the work’s 10 sections. This is something you’ll probably want to experience live.
Jan. 18, 8 p.m., Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, $13-$44, (650) 723-2551, livelyarts.stanford.edu. (M.Z.)
Kronos Quartet Family Matinee
Introduce the kids to Kronos at this lively and family-friendly San Francisco Performances event. For a feel of what it’s like, see a previous family matinee review from this critic.
Jan. 26, 11 a.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; $10-$18, (415) 392-4400, www.performances.org. (M.B.)
Music by Helmut Lachenmann
Here’s a concert that is definitely not run-of-the-Mill(s). Helmut Lachenmann is a modernist composer (born in Stuttgart, in 1935) who has spent most of his noteworthy career exploring musical timbres and sounds, and developing extended playing techniques for instruments. The Mills program chooses several of his most highly regarded pieces, including Gran Torso, for string quartet, and Interieur I, for solo percussion.
Jan. 26, 8 p.m., Lisser Hall, Mills College, Oakland, $6-$12, (510) 430-2025, www.mills.edu. (M.Z.)
Opera
The Secret Garden
Lamplighters presents this classic of children’s literature turned Tony-award winning musical that appeals to adults and children alike. Based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Frances Hodgson Burnett, the book and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, music is by Lucy Simon, Jane Erwin Hammett directs, and Brett Strader conducts.
Jan. 18-20, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, (415) 978-2787; Jan. 31 – Feb. 3, Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; $50-$200, (925) 943-7469, www.lamplighters.org. (C.G.)
Chamber Music
Bon Voyage to St. Pat at Noontime
The perennial French Music Festival takes place at Noontime Concerts with six January performances celebrating masters from Bizet to Milhaud. But what’s different this time is that this is the last set at St. Patrick’s Church, before Noontime officially moves venues to Old St. Mary’s. The first concert features the music of Versailles — works by Marin Marais, Sainte-Colombe, and Antoine Forqueray, with Farley Pearce and John Dornenburg on viola da gamba and Katherine Heater on harpsichord. Other highlights include soprano Svetlana Nikitenko and tenor Jorge Gomez in arias and duets from the French operas by Bizet and Delibes; clarinetist Tom Rose and pianist Miles Graber in works for clarinet and piano by Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, and Philippe Gaubert; pianist Valentin Surif in works by Ravel and Debussy; bassoonist Yueh Chou and harpsichordist Jonathan Lee in Baroque works by Corrette, Couperin, and Boismortier; and Alexander Vereshagin of the Russian National Orchestra in works by Fauré and Massenet.
Jan. 16, 23, 12:30 p.m., St. Patrick’s Church, San Francisco; Jan. 22, 30, 12:30 p.m., Old St. Mary’s Church, San Francisco; $5 donation, (415) 777-3211, www.noontimeconcerts.org. (C.G.)
Adesso
Adesso is a chamber group formed by members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra that boasts an unusually high number of percussionists (three). Its concert at Old First Church features a wide variety of 20th-century and contemporary music by the likes of Astor Piazzolla, Bob Becker, John Cage, and Michael Gandolfi.
Jan. 18, 8 p.m., Old First Church, San Francisco, $12-$15, (415) 474-1608, www.oldfirstconcerts.org. (M.Z.)
Adesso
Karis Looks Back
Pianist Aleck Karis, now a professor at UC San Diego, has spent most of his career championing contemporary works and some of the more formidably challenging modernist pieces as a soloist and as the pianist of the new-music group Speculum Musicae. But when he comes to the Music at Meyer series at Temple Emanu-El, he indulges his interest in 19th-century classics. This year he brings Brahms’ dense Piano Sonata in F, Op. 99. But he’s not performing a solo recital: With cellist Charles Curtis and clarinetist Anthony Burr, he plays Brahms’ Trio, Op. 114. He and Curtis play Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, and then Burr joins him in Alban Berg’s Four Pieces, Op. 5. When the Berg item is the scariest piece on the program, tender ears have nothing to fear.
Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m., Meyer Sanctuary, Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco, $17-$20, (415) 751-2535, www.emanuelsf.org. (M.Z.)
Janice Berman was an editor and senior writer at New York Newsday. She is a former editor in chief of Dance Magazine.
Mickey Butts (www.mickeybutts.com) is executive director and editor of San Francisco Classical Voice. His writing has appeared in Salon, Food & Wine, Portfolio.com, The Industry Standard, Wired, Parenting, Sunset, The Nation, and The San Francisco Chronicle. As a professional singer, he has performed with such groups as Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Group, Artists' Vocal Ensemble (AVE), and Pacific Collegium.
Jeff Dunn (jdunnpm@yahoo.com) is a freelance critic with a B.A. in music and a Ph.D. in geologic education. A composer of piano and vocal music, he is a member of NACUSA and president of Composers Inc.
Catherine Getches is managing editor of San Francisco Classical Voice. Her writing has appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Salon.
Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph.D. in music history from UC Berkeley.
©2008 By Janice Berman, Mickey Butts, Jeff Dunn, Catherine Getches, Michael Zwiebach, all rights reserved.