Reviews

Jeff Dunn - March 3, 2009

“Things Fall From the Sky” was the theme of Monday’s concert, yet nary a clunker of a composition felled the good spirits of San Francisco Contemporary Music Players attendees. A refreshing eclecticism replaced SFCMP’s usual emphasis on neomodernist and spectralist genres.

Georgia Rowe - March 3, 2009

With their magical imagery and multiple musical cues, the plays of William Shakespeare have been a constant source of inspiration, for composers from the playwright’s era to our own.

Heuwell Tircuit - March 3, 2009

Holding aloft its dedication and musicianship like a banner, Artistic Director Robert Geary led the Volti chamber choir through eight contemporary works Saturday evening, four of which were premieres. The program, at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, also included the services of the amazing Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir.

Rebekah Ahrendt - March 3, 2009

In the first of its two programs at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church this past weekend, Le Concert des Nations presented a potpourri of baroque classics titled “Les Goûts Réunis.” The title really ought to have been “Greatest Hits of the Baroque,” or — better — “Savall’s Number Ones.” Of the program’s six pieces, four were bona fide classics, the others evident favorites of Jordi

Jason Victor Serinus - February 25, 2009

Mendelssohn’s great violin concerto, premiered in 1845 with the same Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig heard on this CD, has been subject to any number of interpretations.

Benjamin Frandzel - February 24, 2009
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Heuwell Tircuit - February 24, 2009

British pianist Paul Roberts’ Friday night recital-lecture at Old First Church turned out to be a rather iffy affair. On the whole, he left the impression that he’s more scholar than polished pianist. His objective was to untangle the roots of what would evolve into French Impressionism from Liszt’s piano style.

Jerry Kuderna - February 24, 2009

While speaking with one of the singers of the Pacific Collegium during the intermission of their Sunday concert giving the complete motets of Johann Sebastian Bach, I mentioned that I came to love these works only via recordings, while attending the Carter centenary at Tanglewood this past summer.

Jason Victor Serinus - February 24, 2009
Cecilia Bartoli

How can a critic fully convey the scope of Cecilia Bartoli’s magnificent artistry without running out of superlatives?

Steve Osborn - February 24, 2009

Symphony programs often resemble three-ring circuses, organized in time rather than space. In the first ring, the symphony offers an overture or similar fare to whet your aural appetite. Then, in the center ring, comes the main attraction, usually a soloist displaying his chops in a concerto or other showpiece.