Music News
Magic*Magic Crossover No. 2
San Francisco’s youthful, newest (and least definable) orchestra, Magik*Magik, will make its second appearance on Nov. 14, with an unusual program and also serving as “opening act” for a band. Not just any band; it’s 2 Foot Yard.
Benjamin Shwartz
Led by San Francisco Symphony Resident Conductor Benjamin Shwartz, the first half of the concert presents the West Coast premiere of Lisa Bielawa’s The Trojan Women, Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question, Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for String Quartet, Morton Feldman’s Madame Press Died Last Week at 90, and Arvo Pärt’s Für Alina. Just as in their Herbst Theatre debut with Wordless Music, Magik*Magik is both adventurous in their cross-genre associations and traditional in the pursuit of contemporary-classical music.
Magik*Magik founder and artistic director Minna Choi
Photo by Matt Washburn
The same description may apply to 2 Foot Yard. It consists of Carla Kihlstedt (Tin Hat, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, The Book of Knots, S.F. Contemporary Music Players, Minamo) on violin and vocals; Marika Hughes (Charming Hostess, Mary J. Blige, Charlie Burnham, Vienna Teng) on cello and vocals; and Shahzad Ismaily (Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Secret Chiefs 3, Sam Amidon) on drums, percussion, and guitar. They will perform in the second half of the concert, backed up by Magik*Magik.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Swedish American Hall. See the TicketWeb for ticket information.
2 Foot Yard: Shahzad Ismaily, Carla Kihlstedt, and Marika Hughes
Photo by Piotr Redlinski
Carnegie Hall Opening Night on TV
San Francisco Symphony’s Sept. 24 all-Bernstein gala concert opening the Carnegie Hall 2008-2009 season will be telecast nationally tomorrow, Oct. 29, on PBS’ “Great Performances” series. Locally, the program is shown on KQED ch. 9 and KQED-HD, beginning at 9 p.m., to be repeated several times later on.
A DVD of the concert is also being released. It includes SFS Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas interviewing soprano Dawn Upshaw, baritone Thomas Hampson, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Initially, the DVD is available only from the Symphony Store, but it will go on sale in January through iTunes, Amazon.com, and other online and retail outlets.
Yo-Yo Ma
Quick-Change Artists of the Opera
Boris Godunov is one of the “most choral” of operas, so it’s only right that we call attention to veteran S.F. Opera Chorus member Tom Reed’s fascinating account of switching from one character to another.
Godunov beggars
Read his account of
“From Beggar to Boyar in Two Minutes.”
Godunov boyars
Economy Meltdown’s Impact on the Arts
I thought it may take a few months, but it was a matter of weeks: All those money woes in the world are already felt in music, in a big way … and it’s likely to get a lot worse. Here are some examples from Daniel J. Wakin’s Tuesday article in The New York Times:
Michigan Opera Theater has canceled a production of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci because of the economy’s southward plunge … The Pasadena Symphony Orchestra has abandoned plans for three pops concerts, also canceled its next symphony concert, which was to have taken place next month.
As it has everywhere else these days, the economic crisis has hit classical music, a particularly fragile corner of the nonprofit world that depends as much on donations as on ticket sales. Most managers are only in the fretting stage, but the plunge in stock prices, the credit squeeze, and feelings of diminished wealth among donors and ticket buyers have begun to have concrete effects in a few places.
Orchestras and opera companies are cutting costs, eliminating rehearsals and keeping a tighter rein on overtime. New York City Opera, already walloped by a canceled season because of renovations to its house, gave employees two days off this month because of a payroll crunch. The Metropolitan Opera is making cutbacks in its health insurance for administrative staff. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been hit by increased borrowing costs.
Music at Meyer Season to Open
The Music at Meyer concert series, now in its sixth year at Temple Emanu-El, has announced its 2009 season. The Onyx Ensemble will open the series on Jan. 12, the program featuring Schubert’s Death and the Maiden and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. Tchaikovsky Competition prize winner pianist Daniel Pollack follows on Feb. 9, performing works by Bach, Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann.
David Latulippe
Liz Prior and David Latulippe wrote the script for Mozart’s Life Through His Letters and Music, to be performed by the Broderick Ensemble on March 2. The San Francisco Saxophone Quartet, once street musicians, are now a distinguished foursome, and will play transcriptions on March 16. The Israeli jazz ensemble Seeds of Sun plays on April 6.
The Laurel Ensemble — Sarah Holzman, flute; Christina Mok, violin; Jenny Douglass, viola; Lori Lack, piano; Ann Lavin, clarinet; and Krisanthy Desby, cello — performs on April 27. The program includes Simon Sargon’s Shema (Hear), based on poems by Primo Levi; Emanu-El cantor Roslyn Barak sings the soprano solo. Also on the program: the world premiere of an instrumental suite from Peter Josheff’s opera Inferno, and Fauré’s Piano Quartet #1 in C Minor, Op. 15.
The season closes on May 11, with songs by Jake Heggie, sung by Frederica von Stade, Emily Albrink, Kristin Clayton, Catherine Cook, and Brian Leerhuber.
Series subscription tickets are now available from Music at Meyer.
Jake Heggie, at a rehearsal for his Three Decembers, due in Zellerbach Hall, Dec. 11-14
‘The Future Is Now’ or Rather, in December
“The Future Is Now” concert by the 2008 Adler Fellows is due at the Opera House on Dec. 6. The cast:
Heidi Melton, soprano
Tamara Wapinsky, soprano
Ji Young Yang, soprano
Daveda Karanas, mezzo
Daniela Mack, mezzo
Katharine Tier, mezzo
Andrew Bidlack, tenor
Alek Shrader, tenor
Kenneth Kellogg, bass
Lara Bolton, coach and accompanist
Matthew Piatt, coach and accompanist
Adler class of 2008
Many of the Adlers are also being featured in the upcoming Nov. 8 and 15 family editions of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, including Ji Young Yang as Adina, Shrader as Nemorino, former Adler Fellow Eugene Brancoveanu as Belcore, and Dale Travis as Dulcamara.
Ji Young Yang, who sang Giannetta in Boston (with tenor Eric Cutler as Nemorino), will have the leading role of Adina in San Francisco
A Confluence of Elixirs
While the “regular” and Family productions of The Elixir of Love take place at the War Memorial, Opera San José will do its part, Nov. 8-23, for the greater glory of Donizetti … and the delight of audiences everywhere.
In San Francisco, the setting for the opera is Napa Valley circa 1915; Opera San José favors Santa Clara Valley, and sets the action in 1900. From the prospectus:
Our set reflects a lot of what appeared in downtown San José at the time: O’Brien’s Candy Store, for example. We added to the characters’ names to give it a hometown feel: Adina O’Brien, Nemorino Giannini, Sergeant Belcore Naglee (a Rough Rider), Dr. Dulcamara Mirassou, and Giannetta Peralta. Nemorino Giannini is a cowboy on the Coleman Younger Ranch; when his rich uncle in San Francisco dies, he really inherits a lot.
The stage director is Pocket Opera Executive Director Dianna Shuster, making her San José debut. Also new to the California Theater: tenor Alexander Boyer, singing Nemorino. Anthony Quartuccio is the conductor, yielding the baton to Joseph Marcheso on Nov. 16 and 18.
Krassen Karagiozov as Belcore, Khori Dastoor as Adina, and Alexander Boyer as Nemorino
Photo by Chris Ayers
Janos Gereben (janosg@gmail.com) is a regular contributor to San Francisco Classical Voice.
©2008 By Janos Gereben, all rights reserved.
Janos, thank you for posting the link to Tom Reed’s costume change story. I think most operagoers have no clue how much work is involved backstage to put on these spectacles which so enrich our lives. A big bravi for the chorus!
Posted by Ruth C. Jacobs on October 28, 2008 at 3:10 pm