http://www.sfcv.org The Bay Area's Most Complete Source for Classical Music News and Reviews Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:34:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My sister forwarded me a menu last week from an early 1950s Woolworth’s diner counter, which she intended to give me price shock. It sort of did: A ham salad sandwich went for 30 cents, a slice of apple pie or layer cake was 15 cents, and a banana split ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/of-banana-splits-and-the-classics/ In the past few years, down at the Carmel Bach Festival, they've made a little addition to the logo. Beside the big "Bach" with its ornate B, the words "and Beyond" extend upward in tiny print — not in the aggressive diagonal of a Soviet propaganda poster, but in the ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/italianate-journey/ Not many musical works present a moral/political position with the power and persuasiveness of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Advocating the composer's nearly lifelong commitment to pacifism, the work was given a stirring performance by the San Francisco Choral Society on Friday at Davies Symphony Hall. The large chorus shared the ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/silencing-the-guns-of-war/ 'Tis the Season to Plan Seasons So many organizations are making season announcements in late July and early August that Music News will have only a quick roundup here, consisting of links to information, and a few highlights. Classical Voice's customary fall feature of "critics' picks" is due later this month; ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/music-news-70/ In the world of fine cello soloists, Matt Haimovitz has to be a leading adventurer. There he was at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Sunday night in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, performing a solo recital of prodigiously challenging pieces that many of his colleagues may never have heard ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/fervent-excellence/ Last week was “The Romantic Generation” week at Music@Menlo, and by the Romantic generation they mean Middle European Romantics. The music on the main concert program, which I heard on Monday at St. Mark’s Church in Palo Alto, was by Johannes Brahms and the two greatest of his close associates, ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/romantic-refinement/ Early Sunday morning, a visitor to Atherton's Menlo School might have seen a smallish crowd of eager-looking people congregating around the steps of Stent Family Hall. A number of these folks might further be seen to be carrying copies of a small, bright-red, hardbound volume. The hymnal of an esoteric ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/a-whirlwind-of-bartok/ Music@Menlo's survey of music history arrived triumphantly at 20th Century Unlimited over the weekend. Program IV, "The Rise of Modernism," shone with rousing performances of Debussy, Stravinsky, Gruenberg, Ives, Britten, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich. The sold-out house in St. Mark's Episcopal Church was hot not only in the wake of an ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/past-and-future/ Some things in life are perfect and should never change. For me they are the first whiff of fall, the creamy bite of chocolate cake, the zing of a great wine — and watching the Lamplighters Music Theatre perform Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, especially as it was viewed Friday ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/daft-tale-deftly-told/ Whatever work that Music Director Marin Alsop decides to program at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, you know it will at least be interesting and intellectually provocative. Whether it's beautiful or ultimately satisfying is more subjective, but I found Saturday's "Triple Play" concert fairly successful on those counts, as ... http://www.sfcv.org/2008/08/05/conjuring-timbres-and-climes/