Reviews

Gesture Into Sound

Michelle Dulak Thomson - April 28, 2009

It’s a strange sensation, finally hearing in the flesh an ensemble you’ve wanted to hear in concert for a couple of decades. Judging by the friends I met and talked to at the Quatuor Mosaïques’ Bay Area debut Wednesday at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, I’m not alone in having followed the quartet for decades without having had an opportunity to hear them live.

Review

Vivacity From Down Under

Georgia Rowe - April 27, 2009

There’s a lot to be said for youthful exuberance, particularly when it’s combined with the kind of stylish and refined playing offered by the Australian Chamber Orchestra Sunday afternoon at Zellerbach Hall.

Review

Conducting the Organ

John Karl Hirten - April 27, 2009

Paul Jacobs is the first organist in several generations who, by the sheer breadth of his accomplishments alone, has managed to restore the public perception of the organ as a viable concert instrument.

Review

Music From Two Great Cities

Heuwell Tircuit - April 26, 2009

Guest conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier split his San Francisco Symphony program right down the middle last week to form a gratifying string of four evenings at Davies Symphony Hall. His first half offered two contrasting works from Paris, his second half two wildly contrasting works from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ London.

Review

Landscapes of War

Jules Langert - April 26, 2009

Long considered to be one of his finest works, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem of 1962 can be difficult to bring off successfully, even with the most skilled and dedicated professional musicians. All the more reason, then, to cheer UC Berkeley’s stirring and spectacular performance last Wednesday, before a large, enrapt audience in Zellerbach Hall. UC’s Marika Kuzma, who conducted, got it splendidly right.

Review

Navigating Songs

Lisa Hirsch - April 26, 2009

Members of New York’s venerable Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center are spending April touring a program called American Voices. Thursday at Herbst Theatre, the centerpiece of the program, which spans the 18th to 21st centuries, was a new song cycle by Alan Louis Smith, Vignettes: Covered Wagon Woman.

Review

Nothing But the Music

Janos Gereben - April 26, 2009

Good old Herbst Theatre had a fabulous 24 hours over the weekend. Friday night, it hosted the Philharmonia Baroque's world-class presentation of Handel's Athalia. On Saturday — instead of soloists, chorus, and orchestra squeezed onto the small stage (how do they do that?!) — Herbst showcased Nelson Freire, a solitary artist in recital ...

Review

Cold Case

Stephanie Friedman - April 23, 2009

As was announced before the concert by Ruth Felt, the gracious president of San Francisco Performances, Magdalena Kožená had been battling a nasty cold for several days, but the mezzo-soprano had decided to go through with her Herbst Theatre recital nevertheless. Red flags went up in my mind. A singer singing with a cold can present a problem for a reviewer: How to evaluate what the ears pick up?