Jeff Dunn
Jeff Dunn is a freelance critic with a B.A. in music and a Ph.D. in geologic education. A composer of piano and vocal music, he is a member of the National Association of Composers, USA, a former president of Composers, Inc., and has served on the Board of New Music Bay Area. A photomontage enthusiast, he illustrates his own reviews.
Articles by this Author
If you ever wondered how today’s symphonies contrast with those of a century ago, a trip to the Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium Tuesday evening to hear Alasdair Neal conduct the Marin Symphony would have been enlightening. The West Coast premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s 2010 Symphony No. 3, Op. 113 began a program that ended with Antonín Dvořák’s 1893 “New World” Symphony No. 9, Op. 95.
Fans of Charles Mackerras should be thrilled by this Supraphon release of a 2007 live concert of Josef Suk’s (1874–1935) masterpiece, Asrael. It’s a fascinating work, superbly guided by the American-born, Australian-raised conductor who has been universally acclaimed for his championship of Czech music and aptly described in one eulogy (he died in July 2010) as “one man for all seasons of music who lived for his
The California Symphony performed a fine concert Sunday afternoon, but I was worried at first. Robert Moody, the guest conductor, strode out just before the 1919 Edward Elgar Cello Concerto was to begin and confessed to the audience that he really didn’t know the score. I knew Elgar was insufficiently appreciated in the U.S., but surely ...
There’s nothing like a trip to the chastity of the desert to clear the mind and do some productive cogitation. Even better, to relax afterward at a voluptuous oasis.
Will the history of John Harbison’s opera The Great Gatsby parallel that of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel? Neither the 1999 opera nor the 1925 book was a big hit when they first came out.
age artistry and inconsistently appropriate voice for repertoire characterized Karita Mattila’s recital of French, Finnish, and German songs Tuesday night at Herbst Theatre. The world-renowned soprano achieved ironclad perfection in Aulis Sallinen’s deeply disturbing Four Dream Songs after intermission.
Ondine’s latest CD of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s music is a gloomy and otherworldly motel. Every track on it is a room with a sign chained to its doorknob: PLEASE DISTURB.
Sunday’s Marin Symphony concert was remarkable for its thoroughly audience-pleasing results. A warm glow and the evident enjoyment of Kenji Bunch’s Piano Concerto made up the first half, and an instant, universal, and cheer-accompanied standing ovation followed the second-half’s Symphony No. 1 of Gustav Mahler. Should we thank the composers or the performers for this?
Comfortable on the podium, commanding yet avuncular, Semyon Bychkov led substantial performances of two 
If you’ve been avoiding “modern” music like the plague, you may not realize that fashion has brought new music back into audience-pleasing land. One of the more attractive young exponents of this trend is Kenji Bunch, the Oregon-born, multistylistic composer whose Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra brings back the glory days of melody.
BluePrint Artistic Director and Conductor Nicole Paiement dealt two pairs of intriguing ensemble works with heartfelt moments to an appreciative audience in the San Francisco Conservatory’s Hume Hall on Saturday. That it was not a full house meant that many missed one of the better concerts of the season, unfortunately. Two concertos and two vocal works were revealed, each of which provided interesting cross-comparisons.
Our times should be ripe for a Howard Hanson revival. It’s OK to be tonal again; the 12-tone music of Schoenberg sounds passé; critics no longer shoot at sunrise composers who write memorable melodies. Hence Naxos’ re-release of Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony’s Hanson symphonies under the American Classics series is a welcome event.
Singing the Cello Electric: Johannes Moser, Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic
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Preview
October 17, 2011
Let’s hear it for “More power to the cello!” The L.A. Philharmonic and its dynamic director arrive in town and play an exciting contemporary program: Enrico Chapela’s Concerto for Electric Cello, John Adams’ Tromba lontana, and one of the most melodic of mid-20th-century symphonies, Prokofiev’s 5th. Johannes Moser will be plugging in his instrument for the Mexico City native’s concerto.
If you’ve been dying to hear Shostakovich, his Symphony No. 14 is the one for you, because the end of life is what it’s all about. Soprano and baritone join the orchestra in 11 poems by various authors on topics of ill-fated love, war, suicide, political oppression, and decay. The piece will receive its first performance here by the San Francisco Symphony.
