The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Concert Review
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* Notes * Over the weekend Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted Los Angeles Philharmonic in the world premiere of Shostakovich's Prologue to Orango. The piece was orchestrated by Gerard McBurney, based on surviving piano sketches. There was relatively little singing in the 40 minutes of music, as the 11 parts included an overture and three dances. Some…
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* Notes * Michael Tilson Thomas is conducting San Francisco Symphony in a program of Wagner and Brahms this week. Yesterday's performance began with the Prelude to Act II of Lohengrin. For some reason, without the rest of the opera, this music struck me as being a bit more absurd than it usually does. The brass…
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* Notes * Voices of Music opens the 2011-2012 season with delightful concerts that feature tenor Thomas Cooley (pictured left, photograph by Michael Schilhansl) this weekend in the Bay Area. At Saturday's San Francisco performance the small ensemble consisted of only five musicians: Lisa Grodin (violin), Carla Moore (violin), Elizabeth Reed (viola da gamba), David Tayler…
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* Notes * Apollo's Fire, lead by harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell, performed in Berkeley yesterday afternoon as part of a North American tour with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky (pictured left). The Cleveland-based early music ensemble is aptly named, and the musicians certainly do play with fiery passion under Sorrell's direction. The intonation was imperfect, but it was heartening…
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* Notes * Cal Performances presented Nicola Luisotti and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra (pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) in a performance of Beethoven on Friday evening. The musicians began with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The oboe was especially fine in the Allegro con brio, and the brass were lovely in the Andante con molto.…
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* Notes * Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel (pictured left, photograph courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association) returned for a second performance at San Francisco Symphony on Monday night. This program also began with a fanfare from John Adams, this time the more meditative Tromba lontana. The playing was fine, though perhaps a bit…
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* Notes * Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel (pictured left, photograph by Mathias Bothor courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon), marked the first of six visiting American orchestras to take residency at San Francisco Symphony with Sunday’s performance. The program began with Short Ride in a Fast Machine from John Adams. The piece does not pull…
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* Notes * The tenth season of the BluePrint project opened yesterday evening at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The concert started with John Harbison‘s North and South, with mezzo-soprano Julienne Walker. The New Music Ensemble sounded clear and together under the expert direction of Maestra Nicole Paiement (pictured left, photograph by Roger Steen).…
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* Notes * This week James Conlon conducts San Francisco Symphony in Verdi’s Requiem. Fabio Luisi was originally scheduled to take the podium, but took over most of James Levine’s fall engagements at the Met. Perhaps it is just as well, Maestro Conlon did a fine job with the work, the phrasing was lucid and taut.…
The Opera Tattler 