Classical Music Reviews

Every week, our professional critics attend concerts throughout the Bay Area to let you know what went well...and occasionally what didn't. Let their insights enrich your musical experiences, and feel free to share your own views!


Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 New Century Chamber Orchestra  NCCO Premiere of Soul-Searching Masterpiece
May 23, 2013

Russian composer Lera Auerbach's new string symphony, Memoria de la Luz (“Memory of the Light”), is transformative — a don't miss experience, as indicated in its premiere by NCCO.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra  SFS Youth Orchestra Inspires
May 19, 2013

The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra closed its 2012-2013 season with an inspired concert that included interesting and meaningful juxtapositions.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 San Francisco Symphony  SF Symphony Scales the Heights of <em>Missa Solemnis</em>
May 11, 2013

The San Francisco Symphony’s Beethoven Project reached a radiant high point over the weekend, as Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas returned to the composer’s Missa Solemnis.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 Santa Rosa Symphony  A Perfect 10 for the Tenth
May 11, 2013

The Santa Rosa Symphony, with guest pianist Olga Kern, parade Russian classics in a resounding season-capper.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 Marin Symphony  Marin Symphony Goes to Sea
May 5, 2013

The Marin Symphony, with pianist Joyce Yang, provides an illuminating session of compare-and-contrast of Debussy’s La Mer, along with some delicious Ravel.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 San Francisco Symphony   Splendid Cause for Alarm at the S.F. Symphony
May 4, 2013

There was a lot of excitement at the San Francisco Symphony Saturday night. But even by this orchestra’s high standards, this was a thrilling, surprising — and even alarming — night.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 San Francisco Symphony  Projecting Beethoven: Balance and Symmetry
May 2, 2013

Michael Tilson Thomas began a two-week “Beethoven Project” with his S.F. Symphony, appropriately enough, with a concert of early Beethoven.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 San Francisco Chamber Orchestra  Young Artists Aired by S.F. Chamber Orchestra
April 26, 2013

In its free concert of semistaged works, S.F. Chamber Orchestra provides a platform for younger singers to strut their stuff in works both old and fresh.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 San Francisco Symphony  Herbert Blomstedt's Helm of Energy Efficiency
April 17, 2013

Herbert Blomstedt draws mixed results and leaking energy from the S.F. Symphony, conducting Beethoven and Nielsen.

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra REVIEW
 Marin Symphony  Marin Symphony: Majestic Even In Mourning
April 16, 2013

Consolation and beauty are offered to those mourning a loss, including SFCV founding editor Robert Commanday, in a spellbinding concert by the Marin Symphony and Orchestra.

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