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IN Listening Ahead
THIS WEEK:
FESTIVALS
OPERA
RECITAL
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
CHORAL MUSIC
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A Selective and Subjective Guide
to the Classical Music Scene
for August 15 – 28, 2006
By Mickey Butts and Lisa Hirsch
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FESTIVALS
Napa Valley Chamber Music Festival
The Napa Valley Chamber Music Festival allows classical music lovers to combine a day in the country, wine tasting, and great music all in one event. The festival, better known as Music in the Vineyards, has a new tag for 2006: Mozart in the Vineyards. The festival's 12 programs, performed through Aug. 27 at eight vineyards and the Jarvis Conservatory, include plenty of Mozart, but that's hardly all. On Aug. 18 at Silverado Vineyards, Mozart is joined on the program by Handel, Kernis, and Mendelssohn. And the concert on Aug. 23, at Markham Vineyards, celebrates the music and friendship of Brahms and Dvorák. As in past years, music directors Daria Adams and Michael Adams are at the heart of many of the programs, on violin and viola, respectively. They're joined by the Pacifica Quartet and a host of fine soloists. Concert venues are Beringer, Clos Pegase, Frog's Leap, Rubicon, The Hess Collection, Silverado, Markham, V. Sattui, the Jarvis Conservatory, and Vintage 1870. Plus, there are special dinners at Meadowood, at which you can meet the musicians, and at Vintage 1870 following the last concert. Through Aug. 27, times and venues vary, $40-$60 (seating is nonreserved), (707) 258-5559, www.napavalleymusic.org/. (L.H.)
(Way) Out of Town
Another notable summer music festival (J.G.):
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OPERA
Merola Grand Finale
The annual celebration of Merola's future stars is a must-see in the summer (see SFCV's review last year). Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m., War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, $25-$38, (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com. (M.B.)
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RECITAL
Noontime Concerts
Continuing in Noontime Concerts' inspired Piano Month (see previous review) is Mack McCray on Aug. 15, playing Franz Liszt's Third Mephisto Waltz, followed on Aug. 16 by Jon Nakamatsu, the winner of the 1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, in a performance of Frederic Chopin's Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58. Scott MacClelland called the playing from Nakamatsu's last local performances "a refreshing approach that sparkled and sang instead of thundered." William Corbett-Jones follows on Aug. 23 with a concert of Bach, Schubert, and Beethoven, and Elliott Dunlap closes out the series on Aug. 30 with Scriabin, Fauré, Mozart, and Chopin Aug. 15 (Mack McCray, Old St. Mary's Cathedral), Aug. 16 (Jon Nakamatsu, St. Patrick's Church), Aug. 23 (William Corbett-Jones, St. Patrick's Church), Aug. 30 (Elliott Dunlap, St. Patrick's Church), all at 12:30 p.m., San Francisco, $5 donation, (415) 777-3211, www.noontimeconcerts.org. (M.B.)
Jon Nakamatsu
Photo by Peter Schaef
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CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
Earplay at the de Young
The ensemble premieres Post-colonial Discontinuum by Guillermo Galindo, commissioned for Earplay, at the Friday Nights at the de Young series. The work mixes Mexican folk music and spirituality with video and the sound of the maiz, an instrument Galindo created out of discarded computer parts and other technological artifacts. (See the SFCV review of Galindo's last piece, Trade Routes.) For $5, the audience can enjoy admission to the concert, as well as to the "Chicano" and "The Quilts of Gee's Bend" exhibits, along with a cash bar and dinner served until 8 p.m. Aug. 18, 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Koret Auditorium, DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, $5, (415) 750-7634, www.thinker.org. (M.B.)
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CHORAL MUSIC
Summer Sing-Ins
It's summer, and most choruses are taking a break from rehearsals. If you like to sing, a summer sing-in may be just the thing for you: You turn up, you're handed a score, and you read through the work with an impromptu chorus, led by an experienced conductor. They're great fun, whether to maintain your chops, get in some extra sight-singing practice, read through a work you've never sung (or review it if you know it well), or see if choral singing is for you.
Some pieces are perennial favorites, such as the Brahms Requiem, but you can find more unusual works as well — for example, one of the Oakland Symphony Chorus' sing-ins this year includes Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem. These events can be found in various places around the Bay Area; below are listed dates, works, and other information for three sets of summer sings.
Oakland Symphony Chorus Summer Sing-Ins
The Oakland Symphony Chorus's summer sing-ins are on Tuesdays in Oakland: Aug. 15, Handel: Messiah, Trente Morant. 7 p.m., First Covenant Church, Oakland, $10, (510) 207-4093, info@oaklandsymphonychorus.org, www.oakland-sym-chorus.org.
San Francisco City Chorus Summer Sings
The S.F. City Chorus' summer sings are on Wednesdays in San Francisco: Aug. 16, Brahms: Requiem. 7 p.m., Lakeside Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, $10, (415) 701-7664, info@sfcitychorus.org, www.sfcitychorus.org.
Sonoma Choral Society Summer Sings
The Sonoma Choral Society's summer sings are on Wednesdays in Rohnert Park: Aug. 16, Brahms: Requiem, Dr. Bryan Baker. 7 p.m., Ives Hall, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, $5-$10, (707) 664-4234, sonomachoral@sonoma.edu, www.sonoma-choral.org.
(L.H.)
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Many more events are listed in the SFCV Calendar.
(Mickey Butts is executive director, editor, and publisher of San Francisco Classical Voice. His writing has appeared in Salon, The Nation, Food & Wine, The Financial Times, The Industry Standard, Wired, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Lisa Hirsch, a technical writer, studied music at Brandeis and SUNY/Stony Brook.)
©2006, all rights reserved
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