Janos Gereben

Janos Gereben appreciates news tips, corrections, and words of encouragement at janosg@gmail.com.

Articles by this Author

Music News: Feb. 7, 2012 - Article
February 7, 2012

West Edge's Marley/Manga Flute

West Edge Opera's <em>Flute</em> No matter how many productions you might have seen of Mozart’s Magic Flute, almost certainly none was like what West Edge Opera is serving up March 4–11.
Music News: Jan. 31, 2012 - Article
January 31, 2012

Saluting the Inexhaustible Peter Ilyich

Maria Kotchetkova dances Tatiana in <em>Onegin</em> Tchaikovsky is not always fully appreciated among listeners whose ennui is triggered too easily.
Music News: Jan. 24, 2012 - Article
January 24, 2012

Happy New Chinese Music!

Dragon timeThe lunar new year, which started yesterday, means celebrations for Vietnamese (Te’t), Koreans (Seol-nal), Mongolians (Tsagaan Sar), and many others, but the shorthand reference is usually “Chinese New Year.” And, for Chinese, Chinese-Americans, and and all San Franciscans, it is Year 4710 (or 4709 or 4649, depending).
Welcome Aboard: Lamplighters Gondoliers - Review
January 22, 2012

Gilbert & Sullivan: opera, operetta, or musical? Answer: Yes.

Happy are the Lamplighters' gondoliers William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan always traversed those genres, and some more. The safest description is that these buoyant, sparkling theater pieces are "G&S."

S.F. Opera: Cautious Optimism - Article
January 17, 2012

David GockleyThere is a story going around the Internet about the San Francisco Opera's financial problems. Curiously, it's a 14-month-old report, presented as if it described the situation today.

It does not, General Director David Gockley said in an interview about the announcement of the 2012-2013 season.

Music News: Jan. 17, 2012 - Article
January 17, 2012

Unheralded Tasks in the World of Music

Nathan Millstein: cash only The deeply moving Sunday New York Times story about a man and his cello recalls how Bernard Greenhouse, playing a replica of his Strad at age 95, failed to recognize the difference from the cello he had
Music News: Jan. 10, 2012 - Article
January 10, 2012

Merola Year Starts with a Big Boost

Blance ThebomMerola Opera Program’s 55th season opens with announcements of bequests totaling $3.5 million from the Jack H. Lund Charitable Trust and the Blanche Thebom Trust. Lund was a native San Franciscan supporter of the arts whose trust fund was established in 2000, especially dedicated to the training of young musicians.
S.F. Symphony's Wondrous Bait and Switch - Review
January 7, 2012

Christian TetzlaffThe 2012 portion of the San Francisco Symphony's centennial season opened with a marketing-trophy invitation: "MTT conducts Tchaikovsky's First Symphony." Quick, Mabel! Grab the kids and let's hurry to Davies Symphony Hall — Winter Daydreams by the composer of The Nutcracker. What could be more pleasant?!

Music News: Jan. 3, 2011 - Article
January 3, 2012

Festival Opera Marches Into 2012

Festival Opera's <em>La Traviata</em>  Photo by Robert ShomlerMercifully varying from the demise of Opera Boston, Walnut Creek’s Festi
Green Music Center Joins the Country's Outstanding Venues - Article
January 2, 2012

Weill Hall on New Year's Day Photos by Michael StricklandProduct of a difficult birth — of great effort, difficult fundraising, delays, and mounting costs — Sonoma State University's Donald & Maureen Green Music Center is finally reality; a splendid one.

Music News: Dec. 27, 2011 - Article
December 27, 2011

Top News #1:  S.F.

Music News: Dec. 20, 2011 - Article
December 20, 2011

Festival Opera: A Challenge Bigger Than Funding

Michael MorganMoney problems have caught up with the Walnut Creek company, and it will have to go without a production in 2012.
Music News: Dec. 13, 2011 - Article
December 12, 2011

Celebrating Pippin of the Pocket: 86/60/34

Donald Pippin, entertaining at his own birthday party Photos by Yen Nguyen BachmeierDonald Pippin marked his 86th birthday with business as usual: working.
Go For Wagner, Be Thrilled by Salonen - Review
December 9, 2011

Hundred-year-old SFS: shining bright Who knew that just a few months after the San Francisco Opera splendid Ring cycles, there would be another great Wagner experience, just across Grove Street. But so it is, and you can be part of it Friday and Saturday.

Music News: Dec. 6, 2011 - Article
December 6, 2011

Flicka Gala: So Much More Than Opera's First Lady

Flicka at the gala Photos by Drew Altizer“Joyce DiDonato and Susan Graham are here courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera,” Marilyn Horne told a full house in Herbst Theatre Saturday. “Richard Stillwell is here courtesy of the Chicago Lyric.
Berkeley Symphony Wins NEA Grant: Onward and Upward - Article
December 2, 2011

Three decades of collective effort under Kent Nagano's direction established Berkeley's admittedly "regional" (meaning small) symphony orchestra as a major presence in adventurous, contemporary programming and support for local composers.

Music News: Nov. 29, 2011 - Article
November 29, 2011

Flicka Gala: So Much More Than Opera's First Lady

Flicka at the gala Photos by Drew Altizer"Joyce DiDonato and Susan Graham are here courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera," Marilyn Horne told a full house in Herbst Theater Saturday. "Richard Stillwell is here courtesy of the Chicago Lyric.
Music News: Nov. 22, 2011 - Article
November 22, 2011

Defying Recession: Wilsey Center for Opera

On the National Historic Register, from left to right: War Memorial, City Hall, Opera HouseSaving cultural institutions in the days of the Supercommittee failure and continuing recession is hard enough. To build and expand are rarer than hens’ teeth.
San Francisco Symphony's Un-Teutonic German Requiem - Review
November 19, 2011

Johannes Brahms never cared for the name given to his Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), and no wonder.

Music News: Nov. 15, 2011 - Article
November 15, 2011

Well-Planned Transfer of Power at S.F.