The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Concert Review
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* Notes * This weekend James Conlon (pictured left, photograph courtesy of the Ravinia Festival) conducts San Francisco Symphony in Shostokovich's Symphony No. 14 and the Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Before the soprano and baritone took the stage on Friday evening, Conlon spoke about the two pieces in turn, noting that the…
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* Notes * The English Concert, lead by Harry Bicket, played at Walt Disney Concert Hall last night as part of a tour that goes on to Chicago, Boston, Toronto, and New York. The program consisted of entirely Baroque music and started with Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Sonata No. 6 for trumpet, strings, and continuo. The…
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* Notes * This week San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas performs a program of Mozart, Adès (pictured left, photograph by Maurice Foxall), and Stravinsky. Saturday's performance began with Mozart's Symphony No. 35 in D major, K.385, Haffner, which was played with much volume and heft. The tempi were not particularly distinctive, and the Menuetto…
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* Notes * New Century Chamber Orchestra began the 2011-2012 season with a program entitled “Carmen Revisited,” including works from Bloch, Mendelssohn, and Shchedrin. The first performance last night in Berkeley commenced with Bloch’s Concerto Gross for String Orchestra with Piano Obbligato, the pianist in this case being Miles Graber. Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the rest…
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* Notes * This week San Francisco Symphony and Chorus have been performing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas kept the musicians synchronized. The orchestra was often rather loud, but the playing was clean. Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik’s the violin solo in the Sanctus was beautiful. The brass was warm and pretty. The chorus was impressive,…
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* Notes * Berkeley's Chora Nova ended the 2010-2011 season with a performance of psalm settings from the Italian Baroque last Saturday. The evening began with Pergolese's Confitebor tibi and Galuppi's Nisi Dominus. The both pieces were played and sung at a pretty mezzo-forte under the direction of Paul Flight (pictured left). The two sopranos…
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* Notes * New Century Chamber Orchestra ends the 2010-2011 season with a world premiere of Mark O'Connor's Elevations. The performance in Berkeley yesterday evening began with two Elgar pieces, the Larghetto from Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20 and the Introduction and Allegro for Solo Quartet and Strings. The pieces sounded florid,…
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* Notes * The final concert series this season of American Bach Soloists included works by Antonio Lotti (pictured left) and Johann Sebastian Bach. Last Sunday's San Francisco performance began with Lotti's Mass for Three Choirs. The ensemble, conducted by Jeffrey Thomas, sounded characteristically clear and clean. Concertmaster Elizabeth Blumenstock was particularly splendid in her…
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* Notes * Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie (pictured left, photo by Luc Delisle) had a second performance at Berkeley’s Cal Performances yesterday. This one featured the ensemble’s harpsichordist, Alexander Weimann. The entire program consisted of pieces by J.S. Bach. Again, Labadie got a lot of airiness out of the players, the playing was…
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