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Listening Ahead

Our Critics’ Choices of Upcoming Events in the Bay Area
for February 5 – 18, 2008

By Janice Berman, David Bratman, Jeff Dunn, Janos Gereben, Catherine Getches, Michelle Dulak Thomson, Michael Zwiebach

Symphony

Ligeti at San Francisco Symphony

Guest conductor Ingo Metzmacher hones in on Central Europe and Russia in a program divided between Hungarians in the first half and Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony in the second. György Ligeti’s San Francisco Polyphony shows that there really were some exciting avant-garde works written in the 1970s, and Hélène Grimaud’s rendition of the exquisite second movement of Béla Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto should not be missed.

Feb. 7-9, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, $25-$125, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (J.D.)

Redwood Symphony: The American Sound

Baritone Cole Grissom will sing arias from three great American operas: Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe, Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, and Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. The program is filled out with a variety of bright American orchestral sounds by Tobias Picker, Joan Tower, Vivian Fung, and Arturo Marquez, plus Copland’s Appalachian Spring, without which no Americana program would be complete. Eric Kujawsky and Barbara Day Turner will conduct.

Feb. 9, 8 p.m., Cunningham Memorial Chapel, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, $10-$25, (650) 366-6872, www.redwoodsymphony.org. (D.B.)

From Russia With Love

The sheer dynamic range of the Russian National Orchestra, one of the former Soviet Union’s finest ensembles, is something not to missed. Based in Moscow, the RNO spends a large part of each season touring Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and it boasts a growing discography. Under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski the orchestra will lend its big, warm sound to the U.S premiere of Anton Safranov’s completion of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. Pianist Stephen Hough will join the orchestra to play Brahms’ kaleidoscopic Piano Concerto No.1. Hough will sign CDs in the lobby after the concert.

Feb. 14, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, $25-$81, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (C.G.)

Vladimir Jurowski

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Recital

Jubilant Sykes

Baritone Jubilant Sykes’ career is almost two decades along now, and covers both classical standards and “crossover” projects. His solo recordings for Sony have included pairings with jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, on a program of spirituals, and with guitarist Christopher Parkening in a musical journey through Spain, Brazil, and the United States. His latest release is a selection of songs by contemporary popular masters like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Sykes’ recital, presented by Stanford Lively Arts, conveys something of the breadth of this extraordinary artist’s repertory. He is, as Duke Ellington would have said, “beyond category.”

Feb. 9, 8 p.m., Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, $19-$42, (650) 723-2551, www.livelyarts.stanford.edu. (M.Z.)

Yuja Wang

Pianist Yuja Wang has consistently drawn rave reviews, including from SFCV’s Janos Gereben, for her interpretive finesse. In her recital for San Francisco Performances, the 20-year-old Gilmore Award winner challenges herself with a program packed with fingerbusters by Ligeti, Liszt, Scriabin, Bartók, and a piano transcription of Ravel’s La Valse.

Feb. 10, 2 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $30, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (M.Z.)

Yuja Wang

Photo by Christian Steiner

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Early Music

S.F. Renaissance Voices

Love is in the air at the S.F. Renaissance Voices February concert, “A Feast for St. Valentine.” The group focuses on the Franco-Flemish Renaissance with music for lute, with lutist Sean Smith performing Airs de Coeur and chansons including Clement Janequin’s La Guerre. Also on the program is Orlando di Lasso’s Missa super Mon cœur se recommande à vous (My heart is offered still to you), a parody mass based on his motet of the same name.

Feb. 10, 4 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco; Feb. 17, 5 p.m., St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ross; Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m., Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church, San Francisco; $12-$18, (415) 664-2543, www.sfrv.org. (C.G.)

Academy of Ancient Music

The terrific orchestra returns to the Bay Area, courtesy of Stanford Lively Arts. With harpsichordist Richard Egarr in tow, the group navigates a program of popular concertos by Bach, Handel, and Telemann.

Feb. 13, 8 p.m., Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, $22-$48, (65o) 723-2551, www.livelyarts.stanford.edu. (M.Z.)

Benjamin Alard

At age 22, harpsichordist/organist Benjamin Alard’s win in the prestigious Bruges Competition is already three years behind him. His fascinating first album (on the indie Hortus label), garnered accolades not only for his dazzling technique, but also for an intelligent, adventurous program (listen at his MySpace page). He appears in the Bay Area at MusicSources, a conspicuously small location, where tickets are apt to sell out fast. Don’t be left behind.

Feb. 15, 8 p.m., MusicSources, Berkeley, $15-$18, (510) 528-1685, www.musicsources.org. (M.Z.)

Benjamin Alard

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Dance

Back-to-Back Giselles

The wonderful and peripatetic Georgian ballerina Nina Ananiashvili came to the United States when she was 19 to dance with the New York City Ballet, founded by George Balanchine, another Georgian, at the beginning of the thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations (and she did an interview without a Soviet minder in the room). Ananiashvili was one of the first Russian stars to freelance widely outside of Russia. Now she’s bringing the State Ballet of Georgia, where she has been director since 2004, to Cal Performances. The music will come from the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, which did such a bang-up job last season playing for American Ballet Theatre’s visit. After a Thursday opener consisting of Balanchine’s Chaconne (music by Gluck), plus U.S. premieres as yet unannounced from Yuri Possokhov and Alexei Ratmansky — two of the most inventive choreographers around — Ananiashvili, now in her gorgeous 40s, will star in her company’s Giselle, Saturday night only, at Zellerbach Hall.

Ballerina Nina Ananiashvili

But wait, what’s that sound across the Bay? Why, it’s San Francisco Ballet, opening its own run of Giselle Saturday night, Feb. 16. Theirs, with a dazzling array of Giselles to choose among, is choreographed by artistic director Helgi Tomasson, with the orchestra directed by Martin West. Perfect for Valentine’s Day weekend: If Giselle’s story and the dancing plus the Adolphe Adam score don’t combine to break your heart, then you don’t have one. After that, we can look forward to the three-night streak of premieres and parade of composers (John Adams, for one) commemorating SFB’s 75th anniversary.

Feb. 14-16, 8 p.m., Feb. 17, 3 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, $34-$90, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu; Feb. 16-24, times vary, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, $15-$265, (415) 865-2000, www.sfballet.org. (J.B.)

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Contemporary Music

Wine, Art, … and “Gnarly” Music

Be a part of the live audience in this multisensory event, recorded as part of the Adorno Ensemble’s award-winning podcast series, the Gallery Sessions Radio Show. Bay Area composers Kurt Rohde and Ronald Caltabiano, long dedicated to the new-music scene, come together in a concert of, as the program says, “‘gnarly’ music that is filled with everything that your ears can possibly grasp in one listening. This is serious ear candy and brainy ooze.” Director Cynthia Mei will translate what that means in her conversation about the works: Rohde’s Plain and Simple for string quintet, a string quartet by Caltabiano as well as his Ellington Sonata for solo bass.

Feb. 7, 7 p.m., Varnish Fine Art and Wine Bar, San Francisco, $10-$15, (415) 682-9946, www.adornoensemble.org. (C.G.)

Bang on a Can

The three founders of Bang on a Can — composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe — are still working on their ongoing project to break down barriers between different musical styles and audiences. For its San Francisco appearance, the group has constructed not just a concert, but an all-day marathon event featuring an eclectic group of musicians mostly drawn from the city’s thriving alternative music scene. A wide variety of musical genres will be represented, along with unusual groups like Edmund Welles: The Bass Clarinet Quartet. The culminating evening concert will feature Iva Bittová, a Romani singer/violinist who creates her “own personal folk music,” and Don Byron, a composer/clarinetist who has played and recorded jazz, klezmer, and German lieder, among other things. In addition the concert features the music of Annie Gosfield, another New York “downtown” composer, who samples industrial noise and uses prepared or altered instruments in her music, and Thurston Moore, the songwriter/guitarist of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Better leave preconceptions at home.

Feb. 9, 12-6 p.m. (marathon), 8 p.m. (concert), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, free (marathon), $26-$45 (concert), (415) 978-2700, www.ybca.org. (M.Z.)

Unorthodox Journeys

Mary Chun leads Earplay in a concert of contemporary works, some of which are premieres or commissions by the group known for celebrating the new and the daring. A work by Claude Vivier (the Canadian great who was murdered at 34) starts off the program with Paramirabo, next up is Peter Maxwell Davies’ Hymnos, followed by two premieres — Martha Callison Horst’s poetic Creature Songs and Aaron Einbond’s Beside Oneself, which attempts to blur boundaries between vaious instruments and electronica — as well as Morton Feldman’s i met heine on the rue fürstenberg and Richard Festinger’s Diary of a Journey. All the pieces were composed after 1967.

Feb. 11, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $10-$20, (415) 585-9776, www.adornoensemble.org. (C.G.)

Mary Chun

Turtle Island String Quartet

This Grammy-winning ensemble is known for pushing the boundaires of the classical music genre, fusing the classic string quartet aesthetic with everything from jazz to folk music. This concert features a take on jazz legend John Coltrane’s landmark work A Love Supreme as well as the premiere of a new work written jointly by the quartet’s members and commissioned for Stanford’s Lively Arts.

Feb. 16, 8 p.m., Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford, $20-$44, (650) 723-2551, www.livelyarts.standford.edu. (C.G.)

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Opera

Youth Rigoletto

Opera San José offers Verdi’s Rigoletto, as always with young artists. Scott Bearden and Andrew Fernando split performances in the title role, Christopher Bengochea and Isaac Hurtado appear as the Duke of Mantua, and Khori Dastoor and Rochelle Bard, as Gilda. Fans of Opera San Josè will certainly recognize the Duke and Gilda. The four singers share the lead roles in all of the company’s productions this year.

Feb. 9-24, 8 p.m. (Sunday matinees, 3 p.m.), California Theatre, San José, $66-$88, (408) 437-4450, www.operasj.org. (M.Z.)

Così fan tutti

If you’ve had enough of carnations, chocolate, cheesy cards, and cupid then Mozart’s Così fan tutti — filled with tests of faithfulness, swapping of mates, bribes, flirtation, and sweethearts in disguises — may be the perfect foil for all that love-is-in-the-air feeling. The tale comes to the West Bay Opera for a run of six performances. Douglas Nagel directs, Barbara Day Turner conducts, and the costumes by Beth Gilroy are available for advance viewing at the WBO’s Web site.

Feb. 15, 16, 22, 23, 8 p.m.; Feb. 17, 24, 2 p.m.; Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto, $15-$50, (408) 437-4450, www.wbopera.org. (C.G.)

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Chamber Orchestra

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra With Robert Levin

Fortepianist Robert Levin is renowned for his improvisational skill and also his willingness to add ornamentation to familiar classical concertos outside of the expected space, the cadenza. When he plays Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with the Philharmonia Baroque, you might imagine he’ll be restrained, given that the pianist’s part is unusually fully notated for a Classic-era concerto. But be prepared to be surprised. Also on the program, Schubert’s rarely played Symphony No. 3, and an overture by Anton Reicha, a contemporary of the two famous composers.

Feb. 7, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; Feb. 8, 8 p.m., First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto; Feb. 9, 8 p.m. and Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; $30-$72, (415) 252-1288, www.philharmonia.org. (M.Z.)

Robert Levin

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Chamber Music

Brahms Trifecta

The brothers Capuçon, Renaud (violin) and Gautier (cello), have teamed with pianist Nicholas Angelich (the old-timer in the group, at 37) to make a heralded recording of the complete Brahms piano trios. High-profile artists on their own, they are taking their first tour together, which begins in San Francisco with the Brahms set. It’s a full evening, but if the musicians do their part, Brahms will hold up his end.

Feb. 5, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $30-$45, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (M.Z.)

Emerson Quartet

As though to balance its all-Brahms recital last fall, the Emerson Quartet’s next Bay Area program, courtesy of Stanford Lively Arts, is a cache of enticingly unfamiliar music. Béla Bartók’s tersest and thorniest quartet, the Third, is the one reasonably standard repertoire item on offer. Alongside it are Bohuslav Martinu’s 1929 Third Quartet (his tersest, and a bright and colorful little romp it is), as well as his Three Madrigals for violin and viola, and Bay Area premieres of new quartets by Bright Sheng and Kaija Saariaho.

Feb. 6, 8 p.m., Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, $44-$48, (650) 725-2787, livelyarts.stanford.edu. (M.D.T.)

Emerson Quartet

Photo by Mitch Jenkins

Cypress Quartet and Dan Coleman

The Cypress String Quartet continues its “From the Artist’s Studio” series at Montalvo Arts Center, with a performance and discussion of Dan Coleman’s String Quartet No. 2. Coleman will attend and, as always, there will be an informal reception following the concert.

Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m., Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, $30, (408) 961-5800, www.montalvoarts.org”. (M.Z.)

Ives Quartet

“Composing in Isolation” is the title of the Ives Quartet’s winter concert. On the program is Leo Ornstein’s Quartet No. 2; Haydn’s Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No.2 — the composer’s take on the fugue — and the second string quartet that Beethoven composed, the Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, the second movement of which was inspired by the tomb scene from Romeo and Juliet.

Feb. 8, 8 p.m., St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto; Feb. 10, 7 p.m., Le Petit Trianon Theatre, San Jose; $15-$25, (650) 224-7849, www.ivesquartet.org. (C.G.)

Ives Quartet

Eroica Trio

The Eroica Trio — Adela Peña (violin), Sara Sant’Ambrogio (cello), and Erica Nickrenz (piano) — is one of the most sought-after ensembles performing today. And “performing” is a particularly apt word, as these musicians aren’t just a delight to hear, they put on a good show. The program sounds entertaining as it is: Loiellet’s Trio Sonata in B Minor, Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite, and Dvořák’s Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65.

Feb. 15, 8 p.m., Fort Cowell Theater, San Francisco, $24-$45, (415) 345-7575, www.chambermusicsf.org.org. (C.G.)

Eos Ensemble With Richard Savino

Craig Reiss, violin; Mariya Borizina, violin; Caroline Lee, viola; and Thalia Moore, cello, are some of the finest musicians from the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras. Known together as the Eos Ensemble, here they team up with guitarist Richard Savino in a cultural exploration dubbed “From Fandango to Tango” — music from 17th-century Spain to 20th-century Argentina, including works by Falconieri, Piazzolla, and Shostakovich’s powerful String Quartet No. 8.

Feb. 15, 8 p.m., Old First Church, San Francisco, $12-$15, (415) 345-7575, www.oldfirstconcerts.org.org. (C.G.)

Craig Reiss

Alexander String Quartet, “Inspirations”

For some years now the ensemble has busied itself giving Bay Area quartet lovers good reasons not to sleep in on Saturday mornings. This season its 10 a.m. Herbst Theatre series features a not unprecedented but still irresistible design: two quartets per program, one “standard rep,” one more recent, less familiar, and in some way related (see review of the season opener). On the former side of the ledger are the likes of Haydn, Bartók (two of his six), and Schubert; on the latter, Carter (No. 2), Wayne Peterson, George Crumb (Black Angels). The Alexanders’ longtime colleague Robert Greenberg provides the preconcert inspiration.

Feb. 16, 10 a.m. (through May 17, dates vary), Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $22-$34, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (M.D.T.)

Alexander String Quartet

The Haydn Chronicles

Performances of complete cycles of a composer’s works are pretty easy to find, but the New Esterházy Quartet has undertaken a remarkable one: Over a two-year period and 18 concerts, which began last summer, it will play all 68 (yes, 68) of Haydn’s string quartets, on original instruments. Haydn, a relatively underappreciated sting-quartet great, is an appealing choice, as he can be credited with laying the groundwork for both the modern symphony and the string quartet. The concerts so far have been a great success. The combined talent of violinists Katie Kyme and Lisa Weiss, violist Anthony Martin, and cellist William Skeen have found a novel way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death in 1809.

Feb. 16, 4 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco; $10-$25, (650) 322-2455, www.newesterhazy.org. (C.G.)

Morrison Artists Series

San Francisco State University’s free Morrison Artists Series presents the Formosa Quartet in a program of Mozart (String Quartet in F Major, K. 590), Richard Wilson (Quartet No. 3), and Brahms (String Quartet in Bb Major, Op. 67). Formed for a concert tour of Taiwan in 2003, the quartet — Jasmine Lin, Ayano Ninomiya, Che-yen Chen, and Jacob Braun — has gone on to win recognition and awards, including first prize and the Amadeus Prize at the 10th London International String Quartet Competition in 2006.

Feb. 17, 3 p.m., McKenna Theatre, Creative Arts building, SFSU, San Francisco, free admission, (415) 338-1358, www.morrisonseries.org. (J.G.)

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