Listening Ahead
Our Critics’ Choices of Upcoming Events in the Bay Area
for March 4 – 17, 2008
Choral
Clerestory
The professional men’s choir, which put on one of the best concerts of 2007, goes green with “O Sweet Spontaneous Earth,” the first line of an e.e. cummings poem and a tribute to the natural world. Works scheduled on the program include madrigals and folk songs by Byrd, Weelkes, Morley, Vaughan Williams, and Britten.
March 7, 8 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco; March 9, 7:30 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; $8-$15, info@clerestory.org, www.clerestory.org. (M.B.)
Sacred Service
Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service is one of the few, well-known settings of the Jewish Sabbath service in classical music. It isn’t performed a great deal, but compared to Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Psalm 13, composed in 1935, but first performed only after being discovered in a Library of Congress collection in 1971, it’s a repertory warhorse. Cantare Con Vivo, 110 voices strong, has taken the bold step of putting both these works on the same program, a month ahead of the Passover holiday. And the chorus has chosen to sing the Bloch in Hebrew, instead of the English translation. Bloch’s work is a singularly fine, lyrical piece, a transcendental hymn that reaches its inevitable climax at the “Torah tzivoh,” the moment in the service when the Torah is displayed to the congregation. Choral aficionados have a lot to chew on in March, but don’t pass over this one.
March 8, 7:30 p.m., Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church; March 9, 3 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, Oakland; $10-$35, (510) 836-0789, www.cantareconvivo.org. (M.Z.)
Aphrodite’s Muse
Chora Nova is preparing an intriguing concert to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, with the music of — surprise! — women composers, such as Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Lili Boulanger, Grace Williams, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards, and Emma Lou Diemer. Countertenor and conductor Paul Flight is artistic director, and the concert is titled “Aphrodite’s Muse.”
March 8, 8 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley, (preconcert lecture at 7:15 p.m.), $10-$18, www.choranova.org (J.G.)
Chanticleer Goes Chinese (and French and Hungarian)
Chanticleer, the a capella par excellence vocal assembly, will employ a string quartet for its next concerts. Offering the premiere of Chen Yi’s From the Path of Beauty, a work described as the composer’s “musical reflections on her native China,” Chanticleer and the Shanghai Quartet will also perform songs by Ravel and Ligeti, as well as Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major. The Quartet, although originally formed in Shanghai 25 years ago, is in residence at Montclair State University, in New Jersey. The series of concerts will include a free event, a discussion by Chen Yi of her work, and performances by students from Crystal Children’s Choir, on March 16, 2:30 p.m., at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
March 13, 8 p.m., March 16, 5 p.m., San Francisco Conservatory of Music; March 14, 8 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; March 15, 8 p.m., Mission Santa Clara; $25-$44, (415) 252-8589, www.chanticleer.org. (J.G.)
Chanticleer
In Praise of Mary
Cantabile Chorale’s March concert surveys the vast repertoire composed in honor of the Virgin Mary. There is everything from Gregorian chant, to recently composed scores on the program, which in effect tracks the musical evolution of what are essentially prayers transformed into music. Some works are familiar — Ave Marias by Victoria, Schubert, and Rachmaninov, and Magnificats by Buxtehude and Tavener — others are less well-known — pieces by local composers Frank Ferko and David Conte. Together this concert weaves together a historical tapestry of works inspired by one woman.
March 14, 8 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco; March 15, 8 p.m., Campbell United Methodist Church, Campbell; March 16, 7:30 p.m., St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto; $6-$25, (650) 424-1410, www.cantabile.org. (C.G.)
Song of Peace
On the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, choruses around the world are joining together to sing a song of peace. Singers pledge to perform a setting of “Dona nobis pacem,” or words that call for peace in another language, during the month of March. Check the Web site for updates, but so far participating choruses in the Bay Area, where the initiative began, include American Bach Soloists, Clerestory, Schola Cantorum San Francisco, San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Threshold Choir, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, Sonoma Valley Chorale, and numerous church choirs.
March 2008, dates, times, and locations vary, info@songofpeace.org, www.songofpeace.org. (M.B.)
Contemporary Music
Other Minds
The 13th-annual Other Minds music festival brings nine innovative artists from around the world to the Bay Area for a four-day residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside. The result is a wealth of opportunities for audiences: three days of concerts, panel discussions, and symposia up the road in San Francisco. Guest performers — Anthony Brown (percussion), the Del Sol String Quartet, Lisa Moore (piano), David Shively (percussion), Kathy Supové (piano), and the Adorno Ensemble — will perform premieres by cutting-edge composers from across the musical spectrum, many of whom incorporate new technologies and multidisciplinary collaborations. On the roster are both familiar and new faces: Michael Bach, Dan Becker, Elena Kats-Chernin, Keeril Makan, Åke Parmerud, Dieter Schnebel, Wadada Leo Smith, Morton Subotnick, and Frances-Marie Uitti.
March 6-8, 8 p.m., Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center, San Francisco, $25-$35, (415) 934-8134, www.otherminds.org. (C.G.)
BluePrint Bridging Cultures
First the senses were bridged, and then time, so it only makes sense that Nicole Paiement and BluePrint are “Bridging Cultures” in their season-ending concert. The program of modern oratorios includes The Soup, by S.F. Conservatory of Music faculty composer Alden Jenks, a work of dark humor that meditates on human history. Soprano Patrice Maginnis, mezzo-soprano Wendy Hillhouse, and baritone Leroy Kromm come together for Henry Cowell’s Atlantis, full of moans, wails, sighs, grunts, and squeals of ecstasy. Also on the program is a scene from Luciano Chessa’s Urlo di Pietra, featuring the the UC Davis Gospel Choir; Kui Dong’s Blue Melody; and the UC Davis Gospel Choir in a premiere of Psalms 1, by choir director Calvin Lymos, featuring alto soloist Melinda Watts.
March 8, 8 p.m., S.F. Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, (415) 503-6231, www.sfcm.edu. (C.G.)
Nicole Paiement
Name That Tune, Doc!
Quartet San Francisco has had two consecutive nominations at the Grammy Awards in the quaint category of “classical crossover album.” The quartet offers music from the latest nominated album, Whirled Chamber Music, at the Crowden School’s “Sundays@4” series. Raymond Scott, the musician whose music is celebrated on the album, was a favorite of the Looney Tunes musical department, and a number of his tunes are instantly recognizable because of that exposure. That programming thread probably explains the presence of Alan Mencken’s Under the Sea (from Disney’s The Little Mermaid) on the album, as well. All of which should make for an animated concert.
March 9, 4 p.m., Crowden Music Center, Berkeley, $12 (children under 18 free), (510) 559-6910, www.crowden.org. (M.Z.)
Classic Stockhausen
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players offer the opportunity to hear a landmark in electronic music this month, when it performs Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Kontakte for piano, percussion, and electronic sounds (1960). Counterpointing this classic are two recent works in a similar vein by Georgia Spiropolous and Rand Steiger.
March 17, 8 p.m., Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, San Francisco, $10-$27, (415) 278-9566, www.sfcmp.org. (M.Z.)
Symphony
Heroics at the Symphony
Gil Shaham is just the virtuoso to take on Schuman’s fiery violin concerto, which matches nicely with Beethoven’s Eroica. Michael Tilson Thomas conducts.
March 5-7, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, $25-$125, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (C.G.)
Napa Valley Symphony
At 26, Soyeon Lee has been at the piano for more than two decades, and the gifted Korean promises to intrigue in more ways than one. In addition to honest full-bodied sound, she puts on eco-friendly concerts: For her performance at Zankel Hall in New York, she wore a stunning strapless gown made of 6,000 recycled grape juice containers. She was introduced by activist Daryl Hannah and the idea behind it all was to promote recycling — a pet cause of hers, in addition to great music-making. Looks like the works on the program won’t be recycled, but given a fresh interpretation: Bolcom’s Commedia for (almost) 18th-century orchestra, Mozart’s Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D Major.
March 8, 8 p.m., March 9, 3 p.m., Lincoln Theater, Napa, $25-$60, (707) 226-8742, www.napavalleysymphony.org. (C.G.)
Soyeon Lee
California Symphony
In a wide-ranging program, the California Symphony introduces 15-year-old guitarist Travis Johnson in the Giuliani (Mauro, not Rudy) Guitar Concerto No. 1 in A Major, Op. 30. This is followed by Lou Harrison’s occasional piece, Elegy, to the Memory of Calvin Simmons, and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. Throw in tango dancer Yaelisa, and you have a recipe for a variety show, classical style. Bring scorecards.
March 11, 4 p.m., March 13, 7:30 p.m., Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, $20-$59, (925) 280-2490, www.californiasymphony.org. (M.Z.)
Persian Excursions
The Oakland East Bay Symphony offers a rare opportunity to hear the music of two cosmopolitan Iranian composers. Aminollah Hossein, born in Samarkand, spent much of his life in Paris. His Piano Concerto No. 2 will be performed by Californian Tara Kamangar. Loris Tjeknavorian, of Armenian parents, studied in Vienna and later lived in Salzburg while working on his magnum opus, the opera Rostam and Sohrab. The Suite from the opera will be conducted, along with Strauss’ Don Juan, by Music Director Michael Morgan.
March 14, 8 p.m., Paramount Theater, Oakland, $20-$65, (510) 444-0801, www.oebs.org. (J.D.)
Tara Kamangar
Symphony Silicon Valley
Every principal tubaist’s dream is to be the soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto, accompanied by his own orchestra. This is the chance for SSV’s Tony Clements, who’s been tooting for San Jose orchestras for a long time. Conductor Sara Jobin will also lead the Symphony in popular works by Aaron Copland (Appalachian Spring again) and Richard Strauss.
March 15, 8 p.m., March 16, 2:30 p.m., California Theatre, San Jose, $37-$73, (408) 286-2600, www.symphonysiliconvalley.org. (D.B.)
Early Music
Voices of Music
Voices of Music, an affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society, presents its annual young artists concert, which promotes the next generation of musicians and is also a benefit for food charities. Directors Hanneke van Proosdij and David Tayler will lead the the rising stars in a performance of early music.
March 8, 8 p.m., St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Albany, $25, (415) 771-3352, www.voicesofmusic.org. (C.G.)
The Queen of Egypt
With the Ides of March approaching, Philharmonia Baroque has engaged fabulous soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian to impersonate the equally fabulous femme fatale, Cleopatra, in its upcoming concerts. The Egyptian queen inspired 18th-century composers no less than Roman conquerors. Bayrakdarian displays the charms of several of these operas — Handel’s Giulio Cesare, obviously, and Carl Heinrich Graun’s Cleopatra e Cesare, which opened the new opera house in Berlin in 1742. Rounding out the portrait is the other highly regarded German opera composer of the time, Johann Adolph Hasse, whose Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra was written for Naples in 1725, with the hero being sung by the great castrato, Farinelli. If you want a recording of this music, Bayrakdarian has already done the honors, backed by Tafelmusik (Cbc, 2004).
March 13, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; March 14, 8 p.m., First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto; March 15, 8 p.m., March 17, 7:30 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; March 18, 8 p.m., Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church; $30-$72, (415) 252-1288, www.philharmonia.org. (M.Z.)
Recital
Breakout Baritone
The time is rapidly approaching when former Adler Fellow baritone Eugene Brancoveanu will have many administrators competing for his services. He makes his New York City Opera debut this year, in addition to singing in The Little Prince at S.F. Opera, and in Michael Tilson Thomas’ The Tomasshevskys. For the present, local concertgoers have the chance to see more of Brancoveanu, as he sings a concert at San Francisco’s Hotel Rex through San Francisco Performances. The program includes Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Ravel’s Don Quichotte, separated by the fastidious Finzi’s Let Us Garlands Bring.
March 12, 6:30 p.m., Hotel Rex, $20, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (M.Z.)
Manuel Barrueco
Classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco has more than a dozen recordings under his belt — with the likes of greats as distinctive as Plácido Domingo, Emmanuel Pahud, and Al Di Meola — as well as a full schedule of appearances slated at the world’s leading concert halls. His San Francisco Performances recital promises that agile fingering and gorgeous tone his fans have come to love, and a sampling of his mastery of repertoire ranging from classical show-stoppers and music of his native Cuba, to crossover duos. On the program: Barrueco’s transcription of Bach’s Sonata in G Minor, Piazolla and Barrueco’s Tango Etudes, as well as works by Turina and Albeniz.
March 15, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $30-$42, (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org. (C.G.)
Manuel Barrueco
Richard Stolzman
Richard Stolzman has achieved high visibility on an instrument that usually isn’t in the spotlight. In his Chamber Music San Francisco recital, Stolzman takes on a couple of the beloved warhorses of the clarinet repertory: Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73; and Brahms’ Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120/1. He also finds time to present Peter Sculthorpe’s Songs of Sea and Sky.
March 16, 2 p.m., Florence Gould Theater, San Francisco, $44-$48, (415) 759-1756, www.chambermusicsf.org. (M.Z.)
Chamber Music
Handel and Telemann
Not surprisingly, SFCV counts a number of fine musicians within its ranks. Coming up is a chance to see two reviewers onstage rather than in the audience: harpsichordist Jonathan Rhodes Lee and gambist Rebekah Ahrendt, along with Annette Bauer (recorder) and Jennifer Paulino (soprano), in a program of cantatas and sonatas by Handel and Telemann. The music department’s Noon Concert series at UC Berkeley’s Hertz Hall is just the length of a lunch hour, and frequently turns up musical treasures in fine performances. Don’t be late; the hall fills up quickly.
March 5, 12:15 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, free, (510) 642-4864, http://music.berkeley.edu. (M.Z.)
Brentano Quartet
Any visit by the Brentano Quartet demands attention. The ensemble practices a kind of textural introspection — a concentration on the intricate interrelationships of the four voices — that sets it somewhat apart in today’s quartet field, where unanimity and blend remain the cardinal virtues. March’s San Francisco Performances program runs to temperamental extremes, setting Mendelssohn’s bristly, tormented F-Minor Quartet, Op. 80, alongside Beethoven’s ineffably lyrical Op. 127. Also sharing the program: a new work written for the Brentanos by Bay Area native Gabriela Lena Frank.
March 5, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $30-$45, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (M.D.T.)
Brentano Quartet
Photo by Christian Steiner
Friends of Wolfgang Amadeus
The title of the Gold Coast Chamber Players first concert, “Mozart and Those Who Loved Him,” would allow the group to program pretty much anything it wanted to. Sharing the bill with the G Minor Piano Quartet, K. 478, are FOWAs Ludwig van Beethoven, (Violin Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23) and Richard Strauss (Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op. 13). The Strauss is a fine piece that doesn’t turn up too often, and the audience-friendly GCCP has found a pleasant new venue at St. Mary’s College.
March 9, 2 p.m., Claey’s Lounge, Soda Center, St. Mary’s College, Moraga, $10-$30, (925) 283-3728, www.gcplayers.org. (M.Z.)
Janaki String Trio
Dedicated string trios are uncommon: The body of music for violin, viola, and cello may be of unusually high quality, but it’s still awfully small to support a specialized ensemble. The Janaki Trio, formed at Los Angeles’ Colburn School of Music in 2005 and already winner of two high-profile competitions, is one of the few ensembles making a go of it in this corner of the repertoire. The trio’s Temple Emanu-El recital (program not yet announced) should give us an idea of what the considerable buzz is all about — and incidentally affords a chance to hear Katie Kadarauch, a Janaki member and the San Francisco Symphony’s newly hired acting associate principal violist, up close.
March 10, 7:30 p.m., Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco, $20, (415) 355-9988, www.musicatmeyer.com. (M.D.T.)
Janaki String Trio
Dynamic Duo
If you’ve never heard of the Wolford-Rosenblum Duo, that may be because long-lasting saxophone-piano partnerships are rare. Naturally, the repertory of saxophonist Dale Wolford and pianist Ivan Rosenblum is a bit on the idiosyncratic side. A lot of unusual works for this pairing come from the 20th century — witness French composer Charles Koechlin’s Epitaphe de Jean Harlow in the two players’ upcoming concert for Berkeley Chamber Performances. But the duo flesh out these and the inevitable transcriptions, with lively accounts of jazz standards, improvisations, and pretty much anything else that strikes their fancies.
March 11, 8 p.m., Berkeley City Club, $20, (510) 525-5211, www.berkeleychamberperform.org/alpha.html. (M.Z.)
Four Horns Sounding
A range of emotions will be on display in Quadre’s upcoming concert. The group of four horns and one percussionist — Lydia Van Dreel, Nathan Pawelek, Daniel Wood, and Jessica Valeri on horns, and Jim Kassis on percussion — will perform original works by composer/members Pawelek and Wood. Its In Time; Reason to Rhyme and Moonshine on the Hills of Attleby and Midlife Crisis and Suite No. 1 are the centerpiece of the concert. Also on the program are a few, well, lighter, works: Three Pieces by Nicolas Tcherepnine, Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture, and Copland’s Zion’s Wall.
March 14, 8 p.m., Old First Church, San Francisco, $12-$15, (415) 474-1608, www.oldfirstchurch.org. (C.G.)
Takács Quartet
The Takács players are back to Beethoven again — Op. 59/3 and Op. 130 this time, the latter with the Grosse Fuge in its original place as finale. Those of us who have heard their previous all-Beethoven programs over the past few years will need no prodding to anticipate this one; those who haven’t … well, be advised that there just is no quartet playing much better than this (it gave one of the best concerts of 2007). As usual with this ensemble, the concert’s been sold out for some months, so you’ll have to hope for late openings.
March 16, 3 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, sold out, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (M.D.T.)
Takács Quartet
Events
Stanford’s Stravinsky Project
A two-concert festival at Stanford commemorates the master’s 125th birthday. On Friday, Alexander Toradze and pianists from his studio will play a selection of his keyboard works, including the four-hand version of Le Sacre du Printemps. On Saturday and Sunday, Toradze will join the Stanford Symphony, conducted by Jindong Cai, in the piano concerto Capriccio. And the Symphony will play The Firebird accompanied by a puppetry troupe. (Shouldn’t that have been Petrushka?) Author Joseph Horowitz talks with Toradze and members of Stanford’s music faculty on March 7 at 5:30 p.m., and he gives the preconcert lecture on March 8-9 (see last week’s feature article).
March 7-8, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.; March 9, 2:30 p.m.; Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford, $15-$40, (650) 725-2787, www.livelyarts.stanford.edu. (D.B.)
Opera
Orpheus by the Golden Gate
If ever there were a perfect match for Donald Pippin’s witty libretto-translating talents, it would have to be Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. The famous musical tidbits, like the cancan, have put the operetta on the perennial hit list, but you rarely get a production that is true to the scathingly funny satire and oh-so-French witticisms of the Hector Crémieux-Ludovic Halévy libretto. (For a how-to primer, listen to Marc Minkowski’s EMI recording.)
March 8, 9, 15, 2 p.m., Florence Gould Theatre, San Francisco, $20-$37, (415) 972-8930, www.pocketopera.org. (M.Z.)
Young Loves
La Bohème is the opera of eternal youth and hopefulness. Mimi’s sentimental death, you imagine, will be the subject of many tearful reminiscences from the friends, as it is for the audience. (“I never thought she would die!” exclaims Cher in the 1987 comedy Moonstruck.) And perhaps the death inaugurates adulthood for the others. (“You’re a good woman, Mimi,” says Marcello in the last act, in a moment of true understanding.) No more playacting at life. That’s why local opera companies working with young singers are wise not to shelve La Bohème for too long, and also why you can always return to it. San Francisco Lyric Opera’s production features two singers’ debuts with the company (Darynn Zimmer, as Mimi, and Nathaniel Hackmann, as Masetto) and, probably, plenty of youthful high spirits.
March 14, 21, 22, 7:30 p.m.; March 16, 2 p.m., Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco, $18-$32, (415) 345-7575, www.sflyricopera.org. (M.Z.)
David Bratman is a librarian who lives with his lawfully wedded soprano and a wall full of symphony recordings.
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.
Janos Gereben (janosg@gmail.com) is a regular contributor to San Francisco Classical Voice.
Catherine Getches is managing editor of San Francisco Classical Voice. Her writing has appeared in publications such asThe Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Salon.
Michelle Dulak Thomson is a violinist and violist who has written about music for Strings, Stagebill, Early Music America, and The New York Times.
Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph.D. in music history from UC Berkeley.
©2008 By David Bratman, Mickey Butts, Jeff Dunn, Janos Gereben, Catherine Getches, Michelle Dulak Thomson, Michael Zwiebach, all rights reserved.