Reviews

Brubeck's Devotions' and Brahms' Lovesongs

Dan Leeson - December 16, 2008

To say that the Pacific Mozart Ensemble concerts are eclectic is a serious understatement. Having researched a few of their previous programs, I can’t think of a single San Francisco group — and very few elsewhere — that display this much variety, creativity, and invention in programming. Certainly, their December 18 concert in the Green Room at the Veterans War Memorial Building, and titled “Brubeck and Brahms: Canticles and Love Songs” fit this mold.

Taking the Grand Approach

Noel Verzosa - December 16, 2008

Last Thursday, the Berkeley Symphony welcomed Joana Carneiro, the last of six candidates to appear at Zellerbach Hall and make a case for their being appointed as music director. Carneiro's selection of pieces was probably the least eclectic of all the candidates' programs, though she chose hers strategically.

Review

Birthday Moods

Jules Langert - December 16, 2008

Born a hundred years ago, just a single day apart, Olivier Messiaen and Elliott Carter, otherwise such strange musical bedfellows, had their December birthdays jointly celebrated Monday in San Francisco's Green Room, in a concert by the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.

No Double Whammy

Jeff Dunn - December 16, 2008

Even in opera, where plots deal with the structure of destiny, it’s music, not words, that provides power. — Marcel Marceau, 1987

A composer may write fabulous music, but a weak libretto can kill it as an opera. — Jake Heggie, 2008

Every composer dreams of writing fabulous music to the perfect, dramatic libretto.

Review

Viva la Revolution

Be'eri Moalem - December 16, 2008

"Music didn't always use to be so [bleepin'] pretentious," whispered one of the "concert" goers as he stood on the sidewalk, rolling a cigarette while listening to the Brahms G-minor Piano Quartet. As the performers started to play the Alla Zingara "Gypsy" movement, listeners whistled, whooped, and yelled "Yeah!

Review

Holiday Cheer

David Bratman - December 16, 2008

Christmas time is here, by golly. Time to mix a punch of Baroque orchestral music, sacred vocal music of various periods, and a medley of Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs. That's what the New Century Chamber Orchestra served up for its December concerts last weekend. I heard Friday's performance at First United Methodist Church, the "concrete tent," in downtown Palo Alto.

Review

Double Impact

Heuwell Tircuit - December 16, 2008

Cello recitals have rarely created the kind of audience reactions witnessed Thursday evening at Herbst Theatre, under the auspices of San Francisco Performances. There, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan blew the crowd away with several performances of a lifetime — all the while largely avoiding repertoire that is frequently performed. That's doing it the hard way.

Singing for the Joy of It

Jason Victor Serinus - December 16, 2008

What would Bay Area choral groups do without Christmas? Even if our amateur choruses can’t compete with the professionals, the warmth and good cheer they generate among audience members, plus the delicious postconcert receptions, go a long way toward justifying the price of admission. A good example is Voices of Musica Sacra, a chamber chorus of some 40 volunteer members.

Labor of Love

Jeff Dunn - December 9, 2008

Many times people have asked me, shaking their heads: “How can anyone like that [dissonant, earsplitting, academic, boring, pointless, random — pick your adjective] modern music?” But the fact is, incredible as it may seem to some traditional classical music fans, many people do, as evidenced by the crowd filling the risers to near capacity in the Yerba Center for the Arts Forum Monday evening. Th