Archives By Year

2002 Article Index

(Note: Main pages from 1998 to 2002 often lack images and their links have broken. Please use the individual article links listed below.)

December 31, 2002 (No Issue)

December 24, 2002

Feature:

"Christmas, the Music — It's About Peace" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Christmas music)

Column:

Music News

Tribute:

William Glackin

Reviews:

New Chamber Century Orchestra
Magnificat

December 17, 2002

Feature:

"The More Things Change ..." by Robert Commanday (Subject: Article by Alfred Frankenstein)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Santa Rosa Symphony (Jeffrey Kahane)
San Francisco Symphony (Mikko Franck, Midori)
EARPLAY
California Bach Society

December 10, 2002

Feature:

"Playing Eighteenth-Century Music: "Right" Ways, "Wrong" Ways, Fun Ways" by Michelle Dulak (Subject: 18th century repertoire)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Edwin Outwater, Geraldine Walther)
Giles Vonsattel
Empyrean Ensemble
Anonymous 4
Parallèle Ensemble
Lionheart
Kitka
American Quartet (Richard Stoltzman)

December 3, 2002

Feature:

"The Opera Battle is Joined: Concept vs. Artistry" by Robert Commanday (Subject: San Francisco Opera and Pier Luigi Pizzi)

Columns:

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Paavo Järvi, Stewart Goodyear)
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Marin Symphony (Edward Cumming, Alban Gerhardt)

November 26, 2002

Feature:

"The Opera’s Season and Questions of Judgment" by Robert Commanday (Subject: San Francisco Opera season review)

Columns:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Alcina)
Maxim Vengerov
Symphony San Jose Silicon Valley (David Loebel)
Daniil Shtoda
Sacramento Opera (La Bohème)
San Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble (Nicole Paiement)
San Francisco Opera (The Youth's Magic Horn)
San Francisco Lyric Chorus
New Pacific Trio

November 19, 2002

Feature:

"The Opera’s Season and Questions of Judgment" by Robert Commanday (Subject: San Francisco Opera Fall Season review)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Hansel und Gretel)
Oakland East Bay Symphony (Michael Morgan)
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (Jaap ter Linden)
San Francisco Symphony (David Zinman, Kyoko Takezawa, Han-Na Chang)
Gwendolyn Mok
Borromeo Quartet (Christópheren Nomura)
Prazak Quartet
Composers Inc.
Masters Sinfonia

November 12, 2002

Feature:

"Go With What You Got, Music" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Black Wednesday and the musical experience)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Osmo Vänskä, Alicia De Larrocha)
San Francisco Opera (Faust)
San Francisco Chamber Singers
Jeffrey Kahane
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Joshua Bell)
Orlando Consort
Other Minds Film Festival
The Sixteen
Kit Armstrong
California Youth Symphony

November 5, 2002

Feature:

"CDs for the Here and Now" by Robert Commanday (Subject: CD devoted to Andrew Imbrie works)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Kat'a Kabanova)
San Francisco Symphony (Jiri Belohlávek, Ivan Moravec)
Jacques Thibaud Trio
Orpheus Quartet
Worn Ensemble
Empyrean Ensemble
Kronos Quartet
Masters of Persian Melody

October 29, 2002

Feature:

"Sacred Works in a Time of Need" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Music as a tribute to tragedy, Britten's War Requiem and Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Kurt Masur, War Requiem)
Kurt Masur (San Francisco Conservatory)
Isabel Bayrakdarian
Garrick Ohlsson
Marin Symphony (Alasdair Neale, Cho-Lian Lin)
San Francisco International Guitar Competition
William Corbett-Jones
San Jose Chamber Orchestra (Barbara Day Turner)
Jupiter String Quartet

October 22, 2002

Feature:

"BluePrint: A Bold New Music "Season" by George Thomson (Subject: BluePrint New Music Festival)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Die Entführung aud dem Serail)
Schola Cantorum de Caracas and Orquesta La Pasión (La Pasión Según San Marcos)
San Francisco Symphony (Peter Oundjian)
Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company (Orion Quartet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center)
Dui Concertante
San Jose Symphony Silicon Valley (Dwight Oltman)
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
California Bach Society
Philip Glass (Glass Shorts)

October 15, 2002

Feature:

"Upsizing, Downsizing, "Rightsizing" by Michelle Dulak (Subject: String chamber orchestras drawing on string chamber-music repertory)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Otello)
Left Coast Ensemble
Santa Rosa Symphony (John Adams, Jeffrey Kahane)
Voices of America's Future
John Holloway
West Bay Opera (Tosca)
Robert Dick

October 8, 2002

Feature:

"Trying to Fathom the Faith in Saint François d’Assise" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Olvier Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise)

Column:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas, Mondavi Center Opening)
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Paul Hersh and Friends (Tribute to Nathan Schwartz)
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
Shostakovich Quartet
Marilyn Nonken
Emerson String Quartet
CityWinds

October 1, 2002

Feature:

"With a Song In Your Body, And Heart" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Olvier Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise)

Columns:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Saint Francois d'Assise)
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas)
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
Magnificat
Vallejo Symphony (David Ramadanoff)
St. Lawrence Quartet
Stanford Early Music Center
Ives String Quartet

September 24, 2002

Feature:

"Willing That Quality Should Prevail" by Robert Commanday (Subject: San Francisco Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Dawn Upshaw recital)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Berkeley Symphony, Pacific Mozart Ensemble (Kent Nagano)
Dawn Upshaw
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas)
Lariche & Co.
Messiaen Celebration
Kiev Symphony and Chorus
Gregory Sauer and Joan Nagano
Carla Moore and Friends

September 17, 2002

Column:

Music News
Editorial (The bounties of Fall)

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Ariadne auf Naxos)
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas, Joshua Bell)

September 10, 2002

Feature:

"Now, Sheet Music Delivered Online" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Byron Hoyt)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Turandot)
Philharmonia Baroque
San Francisco Symphony Opening Gala (Michael Tilson Thomas)
San Francisco Lyric Opera (La Bohème)
Los Angeles Opera (La Fanciulla del West)

September 3, 2002

Feature:

"Peter Henschel — Unflagging Enthusiasm, Passion" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Peter Henschel)

Column:

Music News

Review:

Geraldine Walther and Roy Bogas

August 27, 2002

Feature:

"With Pardonable Pride ..." by Robert Commanday (Subject: SFCV's fourth anniversary)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Cinnabar Theater Opera (Don Pasquale)
Alexei Romanenko
Peabody Trio
Letter From London

August 20, 2002

Feature:

"The Sound of Silence" by Alan Rich (Subject: Thomas Quasthoff at the Hollywood Bowl)

Columns:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

August 13, 2002

Feature:

"Opera On High" by Alan Rich (Subject: Santa Fe Opera)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Festival Opera (Susannah)
Chanticleer
Cabrillo Music Festival
Music in the Vineyards Festival, Napa

August 6, 2002

Feature:

"The St. Louis Blues, the Aftermath and Lessons" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Itzhak Perlman at the St. Louis Symphony)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Michael Zwiebach Merola Opera Program (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
Midsummer Mozart Festival (George Cleve)
Cabrillo Music Festival
Lamplighters Music Theater (Pirates of Penzance)
Conspirare
San Francisco Choral Society
Mack McCray and Gwendolyn Mok

July 30, 2002

Feature:

"Carmel Bach Festival Making Tough Adjustments" by Barbara Rose Shuler (Subject: Carmel Bach Festival)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Thomas Schultz (Midsummer Mozart Festival)
Carmel Bach Festival
Carmel Bach Festival
Berkeley Opera
San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival
Aspen Music Festival
Aspen Music Festival

July 23, 2002

Feature:

"Symphony Seasonings: 2002-2003" by Michelle Dulak (Subject: Bay Area Symphonies, upcoming seasons)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

City Summer Opera (PlumpJack)
San Francisco Symphony (Patrick Summers, Candide)
Green Music Festival

July 16, 2002

Feature:

"CDs by Our Own, Made Right Here" by Robert Commanday (Subject: CDs by Bay Area artists)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Festival Opera (Don Pasquale)
Don Pasquale (Set view)
Andrew Rangell

July 9, 2002

Feature:

"Dim Recorded Future, Bright Past" by Alan Rich (Subject: Record label cutbacks)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

July 2, 2002

Feature:

"Our Musical Independence Day" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Bay Area Music)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas, Mlada)
Adler Fellows (Nicholas McGegan)
San Francisco Electronic Music Festival
Contemporary Opera Marin (Sinful Operas)
Oregon Bach Festival

June 25, 2002

Feature:

"Agnes Albert, Your Dear Friend" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Agnes Albert)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Giulio Cesare)
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas, Vladimir Feltsman)
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas)
San Francisco Lyric Opera (Le nozze di Figaro)

June 18, 2002

Feature:

"Negotiating the Early/Mainstream Border" by Michelle Dulak (Subject: Modern music and period music)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Garrick Ohlsson)
San Francisco Boys' Chorus
Letter From L.A. (Long Beach Opera)

June 11, 2002

Feature:

"Programming as a Fine Art, and Otherwise" by Robert Commanday (Subject: The art of programming)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Opera (Madama Butterfly)
San Francisco Opera (Carmen)
Oakland East Bay Symphony (Michael Morgan)
Davitt Moroney (Con Tutto L'Anima, Twyla Whittaker)
Artaria Quartet
Musica Pacifica
Capriccio Stravagante
American Bach Soloists
New Chamber Century Orchestra (Sir Simon Rattle)
CityWinds

June 4, 2002

Feature:

"Music in Schools, Changing Lives" by Joan Murray (Subject: Youth and music education)

Tribute:

Nathan Schwartz Memorial Concert

Column:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

David Daniels
San Francisco Symphony (Geraldine Walther)
Worn Ensemble
Los Angeles Opera
Letter From Ojai

May 28, 2002

Feature:

"Small Opera Can Be Big" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Small operas)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
Robert Help Memorial Concert
Berkeley Opera (Women in the Garden)
San Francisco Conservatory Honors Quartets

May 21, 2002

Feature:

"The Case for the School of the Arts, and Arts in the Schools" by Joan Murray (Subject: San Francisco School for the Arts)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
California Symphony (Barry Jekowskyde)
San Francisco Chamber Singers
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas, Dmitri Hvorostovsky)
Chanticleer
New Century Chamber Orchestra (Stuart Canin)
Elizabeth Caballero, Jeffrey Picon, and Hugh Russell
Ives Quartet
Rossetti Strin Quartet
Oakland Opera Theater (Asi Que Pasen Cinco Años)
May Festival (Cincinnati)

May 14, 2002

Feature:

"The Arts Community’s Foundation Rocks" by Robert Commanday (Subject: 19th annual Business Arts Council Cyril Awards luncheon)

Columns:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

Composers Inc.
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas)
Berkeley Symphony (Kent Nagano)
Sergei Nakariakov
Thomas Schultz
Muir Quartet
Cabaret Opera (Arachne)

May 7, 2002

Feature:

"American Opera Keeps On Rolling, More or Less" by Alan Rich (Subject: American opera)

Columns:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (David Robertson)
Simon Keenlyside
Santa Rosa Symphony (Jeffrey Kahane)
Russell Sherman
Christine Schaefer
Earplay
California Bach Society
Pocket Opera (Stuttgart Opera DVD)
S.F. Symphony Chamber Players

April 30, 2002

Feature:

"East Meets West, and All Points Between" by Robert Commanday (Subject: The Silk Road Project)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Yo-Yo Ma (Silk Road Ensemble)
San Francisco Symphony (David Robertson)
San Jose Symphony (George Cleve)
Anonymous 4 and Lionheart
Paul Dresher Ensemble
Korean Music Ceremony (Ensemble Parallèle)
American Bach Soloists
Hilliard Ensemble
SF Symphony Chamber Players
SF Symphony Chamber Players (Empyrean Ensemble)

April 23, 2002

Feature:

"Building an Early-Music Ecology" by Michelle Dulak (Subject: San Francisco Early Music Society)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Yo-Yo Ma (Silk Road Ensemble, Mark Morris Dance Group)
San Francisco Symphony (Herbert Blomstedt)
San Francisco Opera Center (La Finta Giardiniera)
Santa Rosa Symphony (Jeffrey Kahane)
Berkeley Contemporary Players
Peter Serkin
Marin Symphony (Alasdair Neale)
Oakland East Bay Symphony (Michael Morgan)
San Francisco Choral Society (Israel in Egypt)
Paolo Pandolfo (Les Violes du Roi)

April 16, 2002

Feature:

"For a School of the Arts, a Model and Challenge" by Robert Commanday (Subject: San Francisco School of Arts)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Herbert Blomstedt, Christian Tetzlaff)
Tribute to Ali Akbar Khan
Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel
S.F. Contemporary Music Players
Musicians from Marlboro
Moses Hogan Singers
Opera San Jose (Madama Butterfly)
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (Nicholas McGegan)
Burhan Öçal's Istanbul Ensemble
Pacific Chamber Symphony (Lawrence Kohl)

April 9, 2002

Feature:

"Nathan Schwartz, Musician Extraordinary" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Nathan Schwartz)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

April 2, 2002

Feature: (MISSING)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

March 26, 2002

Feature:

"If Not First, The Words Come Close" by Robert Commanday (Subject: The importance of words in choral works)

Columns:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Hugh Wolff)
Leila Josefowicz
Tallis Scholars
Jessye Norman
Laura Claycomb
Earplay
American Bach Soloists
S.F. Youth Symphony, California Youth Symphony (Edwin Outwater, Leo Eylar)
New Century Chamber Orchestra
Pocket Opera (La Rondine)
Martin Mastik

March 19, 2002

Feature:

"One Composer Speaks Up, Talks Back" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Michael Tilson Thomas)

Columns:

Music News
Listeners' Box

Reviews:

Arditti Quartet
San Francisco Symphony (Sir Peter Maxwell Davies)
Thomas Quasthoff
Magnificent Youth
Alicia de Larrocha
Oakland East Bay Symphony (Patrick Summers)
S.F. Contemporary Music Players
Andras Schiff
Lang Lang
Arcangeli Baroque Strings
Letter from L.A.

March 12, 2002

Feature:

"The Ecology of the Performing Arts and SFCV" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Coverage in SFCV)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

San Francisco Symphony (Donald Runnicles)
California Symphony (Barry Jekowsky)
Berkeley Symphony (Vance George)
Composers Inc.
Other Minds Festival Symphony
Other Minds Festival Symphony
Academy of Ancient Music (Robert Levin)
Philharmonia Baroque (Jordi Savall)
San Francisco Symphony (Festival of Choirs)
Petersen Quartet
Petersen Quartet
Empyrean Ensemble
Fremont Symphony (David Sloss)
Pacific Mozart Ensemble

March 5, 2002

Feature:

"Choral Singing, the Pursuit of Happiness and a Lot Else" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Choral singing)

Column:

Music News

Tribute:

Earl Bernard Murray Tribute

Reviews:

Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas
Cypress Quartet
California Bach Society
king'singers
Katarina Karneus
Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players

February 26, 2002

Feature:

"Remembering Jess Shenson, Playing It By Heart" by Robert Commanday (Subject: Jess Shenson)

Column:

Music News

Reviews:

Berkeley Opera (Così fan tutte)
St. Petersburg Philharmonic
David Finckel and Wu Han
San Francisco Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas)
Hugh Russell
Kevin Kenner
American Bach Soloists
West Bay Opera (The Marriage of Figaro)
Marin Symphony (David Alan Miller)
Marin Symphony Composers Symposium (Gary Sheldon)
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Fortune's Wheel
Cypress Quartet

February 19, 2002

Feature:

"Living in the Now—the Symphony’s Short-Term View" by Robert Commanday (Subject: The next music director of the S.F. Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas?)

Column: