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LISTENERS' BOX
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Responses to Recent Issues
Tristan und Isolde
Regarding "Chord Resounding," in the Oct. 10 issue, thank you, Janos Gereben, for an extremely well-written, egoless, thoughtful, and accurate review of the San Francisco Opera's current production of Tristan und Isolde. I am forwarding it to as many people as I can think of who might otherwise have only read the recent "review" in a major local newspaper. I find myself increasingly dependent on SFCV for quality reviews of not only smaller or less-known performing organizations and artists, but also major companies. The difference in quality from the major paper is astounding. — Tom Hart Not being a fan of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, and not persuaded to see it by the lecture we attended, and thoroughly put off by the review in the Chronicle, we offered our tickets to a friend. Then, a fellow operagoer phoned to say we absolutely must not miss this production, and your reviewer, Janos Gereben, did a marvelously detailed writeup that persuaded us it was a performance not to be missed. On the spur of the moment we decided to drive to San Francisco, and we bought tickets at the door for a most impressive and memorable performance. This is a production that will be hard to better, and we immediately decided to take the opportunity to see it again this week. Christine Brewer is an extraordinary Isolde, with a beautiful, youthful voice free from the swooping, off-pitch characteristics that cause some opera lovers to avoid Wagnerian sopranos. The tenor, Thomas Moser, was a revelation as a mellow-toned hero. The rest of the cast, as the article stated, was also outstanding; and the orchestra under Donald Runnicles, particularly the woodwinds, couldn't have been better. It's important to urge opera lovers not to miss this production at the San Francisco Opera, and to check Gereben's review if they missed it last week. — Stephanie Smith
Giving Nielsen His Due
Regarding "The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Control," Oct. 10: Thank you for your review of the Nielsen Fifth. I spent all morning Friday listening to the Blomstedt recording with Jack Van Geem (does that man ever smile?) and agree that it is a terribly underrated work. I loved Jeff Dunn's original description, a while back in Listening Ahead, [of] the attack of a "demented drummer." I am a great fan of composers who gave a lot of musicians jobs: Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich, Scriabin, Mahler, Berlioz, and Nielsen.
— Ruth C. Jacobs
A Lead for the "Top Ten"
Myrna Hymens, the reader who requested a "top 10" ranking of orchestras, might try this link:
www.geocities.com/laurent_lin/classic_music/123.html.
— Thalia Moore
Praise
Regarding "Three Bs, Modified", Oct. 10: I enjoy Heuwell Tircuit's leads and writing. Good job.
— Richard Evenson
A Question
Does anyone know how I can find out the instrumentation of
Brahms' Schicksalslied in the choral with orchestra version?
— Marion Fay
Thanks for Teachers
The last few newsletters have been excellent, instructive, and enlightening
for someone like me: a lover of listening, an attempter of several
instruments, and master of none — which doesn't matter. From childhood on, I’ve been fascinated by classical music and, in the past several years, by the inner structure and lively energy of musicians and their art. Music teachers from childhood through early college gave me very great riches and still do. That does matter.
Bravo to all of you who clarify and teach!
— Mary Kilgore
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