The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Concert Review

  • Stucky, Sibelius, & Stravinsky at Berkeley Symphony

    * Notes * Last night Berkeley Symphony played a program of Steven Stucky, Sibelius, and Stravinsky. The program was quite coherent, the pieces all hung together well, each having a certain ethereality. The orchestra shimmered under Joana Carneiro, though perhaps lacking precision, the musicians did produce a lovely, hazy sound. Stucky's Radical Light started off almost…

  • Dudamel conducts City Noir

    * Notes * On Friday Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lou Harrison, and John Adams. The Salonen is heavily orchestrated in the manner of much contemporary music, with a plethora of percussion, including six bongos and four tom-toms. Dudamel kept the volume to non-deafening levels, even if the…

  • Confess the Flame her Tongue Denyes

    * Notes * Yesterday in San Francisco, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra performed the first of six performances celebrating Henry Purcell. The evening started with his "O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song," Chacony in G minor, "Hear My Prayer, O Lord," and the Suite from Abdelazer, or The Moor's Revenge. Conducted by Music Director Nicholas McGegan,…

  • Vänskä conducts Beethoven’s 8th

    * Notes * Last night Osmo Vänskä lead San Francisco Symphony in a program of Sallinen, Sibelius, and Beethoven. Aulis Sallinen's Symphony No. 1 was rather oceanic, filled with waves and swells. The viola solo, played by Yun-Jie Liu, was particularly lovely, as was the duet between the viola and second violin. Sibelius' Concerto in D…

  • Osmo Vänskä and Antti Siirala at SFS

    * Notes * Last night Osmo Vänskä lead San Francisco Symphony in a program of John Adams' Slonimsky's Earbox, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, and Dvořák's Symphony No. 7. Slonimsky's Earbox was quite cute, a sort of jaunty circus music. The orchestra crackled under Vänskä, and it was a good opportunity to hear the new principal…

  • PBO’s The Concerto

    * Notes * Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra gave a performance entitled “The Concerto: An Adversarial Friendship” yesterday in Berkeley. The concert featured violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch as the main soloist and leader, and together they played Muffat, Telemann, Biber, Schmelzer, and Bach. In general, the musicians produced a crisp, jaunty sound, their dynamic constrasts were clear, and…

  • Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at SFS

    * Notes * On Friday Michael Tilson-Thomas lead San Francisco Symphony in a program about the origins of the Adagietto from Mahler's 5th Symphony. MTT talked quite a bit and gave musical examples, as he was being filmed for the public television show Keeping Score. He even had Thomas Hampson come out to sing bits from…

  • Rückert Lieder at SFS

    * Notes * Yesterday evening mezzo-soprano Susan Graham opened San Francisco Symphony's latest Mahler Festival with the Rückert Lieder. Graham sang with a gorgeous ease, her voice sounds both pure and lush. Michael Tilson Thomas conducted the orchestra in a straightforward manner. Some of the brass entrances were harsh, but the playing was fairly clear. The…

  • Gil Shaham plays Berg at SFS

    * Notes * The Schubert/Berg Festival over at San Francisco Symphony ends this week with performances of Berg's Violin Concerto and Schubert's Mass No. 6 in E-Flat major, D. 950. The soloist for the former, Gil Shaham, seemed very immersed in the work, and made frequent eye-contact with the members of the orchestra. Shaham played assiduously, the…

  • Nagano conducts Berkeley Akademie

    * Notes * The Berkeley Akademie Ensemble gave a concert of Bach, Ives, and Beethoven last Sunday at the First Congregational Church. The evening began with a rather strange version of Bach's Concerto in the Italian style for solo harpsichord in F Major, BMV 971 arranged for chamber orchestra by Joachim F. W. Schneider. The first movement…