Listening Ahead
Our Critics’ Choices of Upcoming Events in the Bay Area
for April 29 – May 12, 2008
Recital
Felicitous Recital
Felicity Lott is one of the few singers who could put together a recital ranging from Mahler to Noel Coward, and make it into a compelling journey, as well. In her upcoming appearance at San Francisco Performances, she begins with two German poets, Friedrich Rückert (as seen through Mahler’s Rückert Lieder and Schumann’s Myrthen) and Goethe (in Schumann and Hugo Wolf settings). Then she pivots, via Charles Baudelaire, into the French chanson, ending with French and English operetta to texts by Sacha Guitry and Coward. Along the way there are all kinds of cool connections: Mignon’s paean to her lost home, Kennst du das Land, leads to Baudelaire’s L’invitation au voyage, also about a distant, southern country. Likewise, the final line of Baudelaire’s La vie antérieure (Former Life), “The dolorous secret that made me languish,” leads to Coward’s “I’ll Follow My Secret Heart.” Isn’t that neat?
May 1, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $30-$40, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (M.Z)
Soulful Schubert
Having been mentored by his idol, Alfred Brendel, you would expect pianist Paul Lewis to have a way with Schubert, Mozart, and Beethoven. But Lewis’ cycle of Schubert sonatas in 2002-2003 was more rapturously received than Brendel’s own, years earlier, and his two recordings of the sonatas won major European awards. (Listen here.) In his Cal Performances recital, he brings the Schubert G Major Sonata, D. 894 to Hertz Hall, along with Mozart’s C-Minor Fantasia, K. 475, and Gyorgy Ligeti’s wonderful Musica Ricercata.
May 4, 3 p.m., Hertz Hall, $42, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (M.Z.)
Paul Lewis
Jillian and Johnathan Khuner
Soprano Jillian Khuner and conductor Jonathan Khuner, the musical couple beloved by Berkeley Opera audiences, shifts gears to a more intimate venue for a rare recital appearance at St. John’s Presbyterian. This should be a real treat: As if Berlioz’ ravishing song cycle Les Nuits d’été and Schumann‘s Frauenliebe und-leben weren’t enough, the couple will also perform songs by Schubert, arias from Puccini’s Tosca and Manon Lescaut, as well as Douglas Moore’s Ballad of Baby Doe.
May 4, 4 p.m., St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, $10-$20, www.stjohns.presbychrurch.net. (C.G.)
Messiaen’s 100th
The organ mass, like most of the older genres of Catholic church music, has pretty much gone the way of the dodo, and there are not many great 20th-century examples. Not surprisingly, Olivier Messiaen composed one, and it’s long. Excerpts may be the best way to enjoy his Pentecost Mass, and that’s what Benjamin Bachmann, assistant music director at Grace Cathedral, will present in his concert on the organ in the great quire, on the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
May 11, 4 p.m., Grace Cathedral, free (donation requested), (415) 749-6355, www.gracecathedral.org/. (M.Z.)
Jesse Blumberg, baritone
Fans of the American Bach Soloists will recognize baritone Jesse Blumberg’s name, as he has graced several of their concerts with his resonant voice. On his own he has won several vocal competitions and is rising in the opera world. Now San Franciscans have a chance to hear him in a recital originally presented by the Marilyn Horne Foundation.
May 12, 7:30 p.m., Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco, $17-$20, (415) 751-2535, www.emanuelsf.org. (M.Z.)
Jesse Blumberg
Photo by Nick Granito
Chamber Orchestra
Conservatory Orchestra
Audiences may now be accustomed to the Conservatory Orchestra’s grand new venue, but the quality of performances, and the variety of repertoire, always promise to keep things vibrant and fresh. Andrew Mogrelia conducts the Orchestra in a program of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op.19 (with Li Pan, violin); Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64; and the winning piece of the Jim Highsmith Composition Competition.
May 3, 8 p.m., S.F. Conservatory of Music Concert Hall, San Francisco, $15-$25, (415) 503-6275, www.sfcm.edu. (C.G.)
Chamber Music
Fairy Tales and Love Songs
The Gold Coast Chamber Players, masters of the art of intimate, welcoming entertainment, get in a dancelike mood with a program united by endlessly approachable, but not always commonly heard works — all of which might tempt concertgoers to waltz, march, or cavort their way out of the concert hall … in a good way, of course. First there’s Ravel’s Mother Goose suite, which sometimes begs to be in its rightful place, accompanying a ballet, and always sounds better in its original piano-duet scoring (as it will be performed here). Rounding things out are Bolcom’s Fairy Tales, sure to be an audience pleaser (even to new ears), Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs — set to poems by his wife and featuring Acalanes High Chamber Singers — and Schumann’s Quintet in E-flat, with its joyful marchlike bravura, one of the composer’s finest achievements.
May 10, 8 p.m., Acalanes Performing Arts Center, Lafayette, $10-$30, (925) 798-1300, www.gcplayers.edu. (C.G.)
Mother’s Day Celebration
Avedis — the country’s foremost chamber music series devoted to the flute — highlights strings in an endlessly enjoyable program in celebration of Mom. Alexandra Hawley, Roy Malan, Susan Freier, Stephen Harrison, and Paul Hersh team up with the San Francisco Conservatory String Ensemble for Beethoven’s Serenade in D Major, Op. 25; Kirke Mechem’s Divertimento, Op. 12; the Quintette, by Jean Françaix, a composer whose stated goal was to “give pleasure;” and if that doesn’t fit the bill then John Rutter’s Suite Antique will, with its Bach-like aria and Richard Rodgers-style waltz.
May 11, 2 p.m., Florence Gould Theatre, San Francisco, $10-$20, (415) 392-4400, www.avedisconcerts.org. (C.G.)
Alexandra Hawley
Opera
The Magic Flute
Mozart’s charming opera Die Zauberflöte comes to Opera San José for a run of performances featuring two stellar casts. (See review.) Fans of this fairy tale will flock for the staple of romance, war, and comedy; but the standouts behind the handsome prince, gentle heroine, wicked queen, and wise sorcerer will be the real draw. How do you choose between these Queens of the Night (Svetlana Nikitenko and Maria Alu), Paminas (Rochelle Bard and Khori Dastoor — who recently made an impressive OSJ debut in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor) and Taminos (Isaac Hurtado and Christopher Bengochea), Papagenos (Kenneth Mattice and Daniel Cilli), and Papagenas (Jilian Boye and Giovanna Hutchison)?
Through May 4, times vary, $68-$90, California Theatre, San Jose, (408) 437-4450, www.operasj.org. (C.G.)
Kenneth Mattice (Papageno) and Jillian Boye (Papagena)
Photo by Chris Ayers
Bluebeard’s Castle and L’enfant et les sortilegès
Berkeley Opera’s May offering is an inspired pairing of Ravel’s charming L’enfant et les sortilegès, starring, among other characters, a child, a teapot, and a pair of cats, with Bartók’s spooky and searing Bluebeard’s Castle. The two operas will be presented with projections rather than sets, and with a larger orchestra than Berkeley Opera’s usual, on the Julia Morgan stage, rather than in the pit. For a preview of the productions, catch the discussion at the Berkeley Public Library on April 24 at 12:15 p.m.
May 3, 9, 8 p.m., May 7, 7:30 p.m., May 11, 2 p.m., Julia Morgan Theater, Berkeley, $15-$44, (510) 841-1903, www.berkeleyopera.org (L.H.).
Madama Butterfly
A year and a half ago, Martinez Opera gave its first, full opera production, La traviata, and they did all right. They’re back with another crowd-pleaser, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Olga Chernisheva, who holds down the title role, received a good notice from SFCV for her Manon Lescaut at West Bay Opera (February 2006), and she is partnered by Daniel Holmes, who has a busy schedule with regional American companies. The reliable John Minagro sings Sharpless. Will this fledgling company show improvement? Stay tuned.
May 10, 17, 7:30 p.m.; May 11, 18, 2:30 p.m.; Alhambra Performing Arts Center, Martinez, $25-$50, (925) 372-6617, www.mtzo.com. (M.Z.)
Symphony
Marin Symphony
Alasdair Neale conducts the Symphony’s season-ending concerts, featuring two works that are striking in their originality. There’s Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, the choral romp based on the secular poems from a 13th-century Latin and Middle German codex, to be performed by the Marin Symphony Chorus, Schola Cantorum, the Marin Symphony Youth Chorus, and soloists Ronit Widmann-Levy (soprano), Corey Head (tenor), and Igor Vieira (baritone). The introductory and concluding “O Fortuna” movement (see here) will be instantly recognizable to audiences from numerous film scores and television commercials. Matching in its originality is Colin McPhee’s Tabuh-Tabuhan, which emulates the sounds of the Balinese gamelan. Pianists Peter Grunberg and Keisuke Nakagoshi will solo. After the season finale on April 29, head to the Tuesday Night Wrap Party — mingle with the musicians, and enjoy free hors d’oeuvres and a no-host bar at the Four Points by Sheraton San Rafael.
April 29, 7:30 p.m., Marin Center, San Rafael, $27-$65, (415) 499-6800, www.marinsymphony.org. (C.G.)
Symphonic Dances
Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances is one of those pieces more honored than played, and the San Francisco Symphony under Associate Conductor James Gaffigan rights that wrong in their first May concert. The superb violinist Vadim Gluzman turns up the heat with Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. As an opener for a concert that ends with dances, Gaffigan has whimsically chosen the “Bluebird Pas de deux” from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty.
May 1, 2 p.m.; May 2-3, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, $25-$125, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (M.Z.)
Vadim Gluzman
Photo by Mark Berghash
Intrepid Academicians
The new Berkeley Akademie again conjoins members of the Berkeley Symphony with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, in a program led by Kent Nagano and Stuart Canin. Stravinsky’s Apollon musagète is bookended by a C.P.E. Bach symphony and Mozart’s “Posthorn” Serenade.
May 1, 8 p.m., First Congregational Church of Berkeley, $40-$60, (510) 841-2800, www.berkeleysymphony.org/. (M.Z.)
To 25 and More in Vallejo
The Vallejo Symphony is celebrating 25 years with conductor David Ramadanoff, and its last concert of the season features a work with a fantastic finale of its own: Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor, arguably the composer’s most well-known symphony.
May 3, 8 p.m., Hogan Auditorium, Vallejo, $10-$35, (707) 643-4441, www.vallejosymphony.org. (C.G.)
Philharmonia Live
Bay Area music lovers have a chance to hear the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, which bills itself as “the world’s most recorded orchestra,” in two live concerts during their U.S. tour under Christoph von Dohnányi. Dohnányi, who relinquishes the post of Principal Conductor to Esa Pekka Salonen next season, will lead this tremendous group in the first symphonies of Schumann and Mahler, and the following day in Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and Beethoven’s Fifth. If these warhorses don’t pack in the crowds, nothing will.
May 4, 7 p.m.; May 5, 8 p.m.; Davies Symphony Hall, $25-$95, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (M.Z.)
Christoph von Dohnányi
Pleasures and Perils
The California Symphony wraps up its season with a program titled “Pleasures and Perils.” Staying true to the “orchestra as laboratory” approach, it will feature a new work by Composer in Residence Mason Bates. More than 200 musicians will take the stage for a work that seems to be everywhere these days, Camina Burana.
May 4, 4 p.m.; May 6, 7:30 p.m., Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, $27-$65, (925) 943-7469, www.californiasymphony.org. (C.G.)
Gershwin Favorites
Symphony Silicon Valley has added a performance to its season-ending Gershwin fest. Hosted by KDFC’s Hoyt Smith, and featuring Sarah Uriarte Berry (seen most recently on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast and The Light in the Piazza) singing some of the brothers’ G. standards, the concert is a Pops-audience’s dream. Gwendolyn Mok performs in the inevitable run-through of Rhapsody in Blue, and the bouncy, optimistic Concerto in F. Paul Polivnick conducts.
May 8, 7:30 p.m.; May 10, 8 p.m.; May 11, 2:30 p.m., California Theatre, San Jose, $37-$73, (408) 286-2600, www.symphonysiliconvalley.org. (M.Z.)
The Russians are Coming
The Santa Rosa Symphony features three Russian composers in a high-energy, yet diverse and colorful program: Cliburn silver medalist Philippe Bianconi debuts with the SRS for Rachmaninov’s deviliishly difficult Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, also his final work for piano and orchestra. The music of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Golden Cockerel shares the spotlight with Stravinsky’s dramatic and exotic The Firebird, in its complete 1910 version.
May 10, 8 p.m.; May 11, 3 p.m.; May 12, 8 p.m.; Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, $27-$50, (707) 564-8742, www.santarosasymphony.org. (C.G.)
Choral
Rilling Approaches in the Bach Mobile
Helmuth Rilling will never claim infallibility, but otherwise, there is a similarity to the Pope in the matter of being a kind of global representative for J.S. Bach. In charge of great temples to the composer on three continents (will Antarctica be next?), Rilling has been an exceptional force on behalf of Bach for almost a half century. The founder-director of Bach festivals in Stuttgart, Oregon, and Venezuela is about to make one of his rare visits to the Bay Area. He will work with the San Francisco Concert Chorale, which is preparing Bach’s Mass in B Minor to conclude the group’s 35th season (on May 31 in Mission Dolores Basilica, conducted by John Emory Bush). Rilling’s public appearance is scheduled for May 10, at a lecture-demonstration focusing on the Mass.
May 10, 1 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church, San Francisco, $60, (415) 840-0675, www.sfconcertchorale.org (J.G.)
Helmuth Rilling
A Cut Above
The women’s chorus Voci presents a concert of sacred music for treble voices. Included on the program are works by 17th-century female composers. Adolf Hasse, the 18th-century opera composer most favored by the castrato Farinelli and the poet Metastasio, is represented with a setting of the “Miserere.” And the concert features a mass for the Salzburg Cathedral by Michael Haydn, a composer unlike Mozart, who seems to have been perfectly happy in the employment of the Archbishop Colloredo.
May 10, 4 p.m., Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, Oakland; May 18, 4 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, $17-$20, (510) 531-8714, www.vocisings.com. (M.Z.)
Contemporary Music
Nightlife
Appropriately enough, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players end their season with a set devoted entirely to San Francisco-based composers. The program begins with the premiere of Reynaldo Tharp’s San Francisco Night (2007), and ends with the U.S. premiere of Bruno Mantovani’s Les Danses interrompues (2000).
May 5, 8 p.m., Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, San Francisco, $10-$27, (415) 278-9566, www.sfcmp.org. (M.Z.)
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.
Lisa Hirsch is a technical writer. She studied music at Brandeis and SUNY/Stony Brook.
Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph.D. in music history from UC Berkeley.
©2008 By Janos Gereben, Catherine Getches, Lisa Hirsch, Michael Zwiebach, all rights reserved.