The Opera Tattler

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Martha Argerich at SFS

Argerich * Notes *
San Francisco Symphony gave a concert of Gabrieli, Ligeti, Ravel, and Liszt last Friday. In ecclesiis from Gabrieli's Symphoniae sacrae was lead by chorus director Ragnar Bohlin. The piece sounded both clear and lovely. Michael Tilson Thomas took over for Ligeti's Requiem, an eerie work in which both wails and hives could be detected.

Martha Argerich was the soloist for Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, she played crisply and charmingly. The piece has a martial flair but is rather light. The concert ended with Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo from Liszt, which struck me as maudlin but not unenjoyable.

* Tattling * 
The audience was fairly quiet. MTT was his usual talkative self, mentioning Rilke, Bellini, Fra Angelico, Brian Wilson, and Freddie Mercury.

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2 responses to “Martha Argerich at SFS”

  1. sfmike Avatar
    sfmike

    He was doing quite the high-to-low intellectual name-dropping, wasn’t he? Loved the concert, with all its hives and wails and polyphonic choral stuff. Not to mention Ms. Martha, who is the symphonic equivalent of Maria Callas. She doesn’t usually show up but when she does the audience goes mad.

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  2. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I seemed to be in an uncharacteristically good mood last week, and was pleased with nearly everything I heard or saw. So I had a lovely time as well!

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