San Francisco Classical Voice

Barbara Bonney, Entertainer
Sure, Barbara Bonney is a world-class soprano, a petite giant in the worlds of opera, oratorio, and lieder. But she is also a vastly entertaining artist, both in performance and in lectures and master classes, sharing such information as her use of an Excel spreadsheet to avoid appearing in the same outfit twice on her tours and wonderful practical tips for young singers on how to survive those pesky early years. In her master classes, she usually invites anyone from the audience who feels like singing to come to the stage to work with her. The results are often hilarious and, at times, vastly surprising. For S.F. Performances, Bonney is giving a recital with the brilliant accompanist Malcolm Martineau, singing works by F.X. Mozart (son of Wolfgang), Schubert, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wolf, Copland, Griffes, and Barber. The advertising slogan for her appearance, "Radiance and Charm," is no hype. April 18, 8 p.m., $27-$49, Herbst Theatre, (415) 398-6449, www.performances. (J.G.)

Composers Inc.
Composers Inc. presents a program featuring Mason Bates' From Amber Frozen (winner of the 2005 Lee Ettelson Composer's Award); Eric Chasalow's Out of Joint; Tom Cipullo's Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House; Robert Greenberg's Anything You Can Do ...; Allen Shearer's Memory Beams; and John Wilkes' Fantasy for Flute and Piano. April 4, 8 p.m., Green Room, San Francisco, $14-$20, (415) 392-4400, www.composersinc.org. (M.B.)

Under Construction in Berkeley
Now in its 12th year, the Berkeley Symphony's free Under Construction program provides new works with an audience and audiences with a glimpse of how a concert is prepared. Associate Conductor George Thomson leads rehearsals and first performances all in one, and Music Director Kent Nagano is the host, interviewing composers. On tap this time: Scintilla One for orchestra, by Helena Michelson; The Twilight of Our Minds, for orchestra with electronics, by Per Bloland; and an excerpt from Mirrors, a concerto for bass by Mark Winges, with Michel Taddei as soloist. April 6, 8 p.m., St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, free, (510) 841-2800, www.berkeleysymphony.org. (J.G.)

San Jose Symphonic Choir
The 81-year-old, 110-voice volunteer chorus presents the premiere of the full orchestral version of San Jose composer Henry Mollicone's Beatitude Mass, in a benefit for the homeless of Santa Clara County. The work's libretto, by William Luce, intersperses Latin texts with English-language interviews of homeless people in San Jose and Oregon. The concert is part of a celebration of Mollicone's 60th birthday, which includes the San Jose Chamber Orchestra's "Mostly Mollicone" event on April 9 and a new work on San Francisco Choral Artist's program in June. SJCO, April 9, 7 p.m., Le Petit Trianon, San Jose, $20-$40, (408) 295-4416, www.sjco.org/index.html. (M.B.)

Die Kölner Akademie
It's not everyday you hear a U.S. premiere in the early music world. German composer Johann Valentin Meder's St. Matthew Passion, written in 1701, is more of a chamber piece, compared to Bach's later version, with five singers and six period instruments. Hear these accomplished early-music specialists before they head to that other early music capital to perform the work as part of the Boston Early Music Festival concert series the following week. April 7, 8 p.m., Memorial Church, Stanford, $19-$38, (650) 725-2787, livelyarts.stanford.edu/. (M.B.)

Conservatory Mozart at Fort Mason
On its next outing to Cowell Theater, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Opera Theater presents Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, marking the debut of the program's new director, Richard Harrell. The conductor is Judith Yan. Both Harrell and Yan have worked with the S.F. Opera Center. Conservatory students will sing the work in Italian, with English supertitles supplied. The double-cast roster features Philip Sokolov and Paul Murray as Figaro, Sepideh Moafi and Jennie Litster as Susanna, Patrycja Poluchowicz and Elizabeth Amisano as the Countess, and Adam Meza and Justin Smith as the Count. April 6-8, 7:30 p.m.; April 9, 2 p.m.; Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco, $15-$20, (415) 345-7575, www.sfcm.edu. (J.G.)

Miró Debut at Kohl Mansion
The Miró Quartet, currently in residence at the University of Texas at Austin, will make its debut at Kohl Mansion, performing the music of Brent Michael Davids (Tinnitus Quartet), Smetana (Quartet in E Minor, From My Life), and Schubert (String Quartet in D Minor, Death and the Maiden). Quartet members are violinists Daniel Ching and Sandy Yamamoto, violist John Largess, and cellist Joshua Gindele. April 9, 7 p.m., Kohl Mansion, Burlingame, $19-$38, (650) 762-1130, www.musicatkohl.org. (J.G.)

Sandpaper Ballet
Mark Morris is among the most "musical" of choreographers, breathing new life into the classics he uses for his works, from Purcell to Schumann. His Sandpaper Ballet is both typical of Morris' style and a kind of holiday for him — it certainly is for the audience. The composer is Leroy Anderson, and that silly, trivialized, commercial-jingle stuff ("The Syncopated Clock," "The Typewriter," and the like) sparkles brightly here, making the dancers — and the audience — swing. San Francisco Ballet's Program No. 5 also includes George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, to Tchaikovsky's music; Helgi Tomasson's Chaconne for Piano and Two Dancers, to Handel; and a new work by company director Tomasson, called The Fifth Season. Through April 8, various times, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, $10 (students, seniors, standing room) to $199, (415) 865-2000, www.sfballet.org. (J.G.)

Tchaikovsky Live
Live music used to be a normal, vital element of ballet, but budget problems are making recorded music the new standard, an inferior substitute for dancers and audiences alike. This is especially true for touring, so it's a welcome surprise to see Matthew Bourne's phantasmagorical and gender-bending version of Swan Lake in the Orpheum accompanied by a live (and lively) orchestra. Conducted by Earl Stafford, there are 27 local musicians in the pit for the three-week run. Some — no, most — of the choreography and story line is surprising, even amazing, but the Tchaikovsky score is original to a T (except for the amplification). Through April 16, Tuesday-Sunday, 8 p.m.; plus Wednesday and Saturday matinees, 2 p.m.; Orpheum Theater, San Francisco, $35-$85, (415) 512-7770, www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. (J.G.)

Scene from Bourne's Swan Lake

Photo by Bill Cooper.

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BROADCAST

Local Orchestras on the Air
Broadcasts of recent S.F. Symphony concerts are available on KDFC-FM, 102.1, or on the Internet. Upcoming concert broadcasts include an SFS concert conducted by Alasdair Neale, with violinist Elmar Oliveira: Ravel, Gaspard de la Nuit; Saint-Saëns, Violin Concerto No. 3; Haydn, Symphony No. 103. April 4, 8 p.m. (J.G.)

NPR World of Opera on KUSF-FM
National Public Radio's "World of Opera" series is now available on a local FM station, in addition to many Internet sites. KUSF, the University of San Francisco station, which already offers Saturday morning live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera, followed by a "Post-Met" program, now makes available the "World of Opera" Sunday evenings, eight days after the schedule listed on NPR. Next Sunday, you can hear Atalanta, from the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, with San Francisco's own Philharmonia Baroque, conducted by Nicholas McGegan. Next up: Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, René Jacobs conducting. April 9 and 16, 8:30 p.m., KUSF-FM, 90.3, www.kusf.org. (J.G.)

Alexander Quartet on KALW-FM
The Alexander Quartet's performance of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 3 in D, Op. 18, with a preconcert lecture by Robert Greenberg, will be heard on KALW-FM, in the opening program of a new broadcast partnership with San Francisco Performances (see Music News for details). April 16, 10 a.m., KALW-FM, 91.7, and www.kalw.org. (J.G.)

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INTERNET

Remember The Standard Hour? Probably Not ...
The irony about San Francisco Opera's long absence from broadcasting and recording is that the company was among the American pioneers of an electronic presence: From the 1930s on, "The Standard (Oil of California) Hour" brought the nation our city's music, conducted by Gaetano Merola and, later, by Kurt Herbert Adler. Now, Mike Richter's unique online archive site is providing a resurrected broadcast from 1950, featuring Dorothy Kirsten, Eugene Conley, and Yi-Kwei Sze, in a program of arias. From a note with one of the early recordings: "To check the quality of these live broadcasts, air checks were made of approximately one-third of the 1,456 programs, beginning in the mid-1930s. The early air checks ... are now in the collection of the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum and may be listened to in person at PALM by appointment." Available through April 7 at www.mrichter.com. (J.G.)

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Many more events are listed in the SFCV Calendar.

(Janos Gereben is a regular contributor to San Francisco Classical Voice. His e-mail address is janosg@gmail.com. Mickey Butts is executive director, editor, and publisher of San Francisco Classical Voice. His writing has appeared in Salon, Food & Wine, The Industry Standard, The Financial Times, Wired, The Nation, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Michelle Dulak Thomson is a violinist and violist who has written about music for Strings, Stagebill, Early Music America, and The New York Times.)

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