The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Concert Review

  • Les Violons du Roy with Ian Bostridge

     * Notes * Tenor Ian Bostridge (pictured left, photo by Simon Fowler) performed with Les Violons du Roy at Cal Performances yesterday in Berkeley. The performance was odd but certainly of interest. For one thing, the string players of Les Violons du Roy use Baroque bows on modern instruments. The effect was bizarre, given that the…

  • The Creation at PBO

    * Notes * Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra end the season with five performances of The Creation by Haydn. Last night's offering in Berkeley was gratifying and jubilant. McGegan kept the proceedings vivacious, and only a few moments were chaotic, most evident in the end of Part II. The dynamics throughout were distinct. The chorus…

  • Vänskä conducts Larcher, Mendelssohn, & Vaughan Williams at SFS

    * Notes * This week Osmo Vänskä conducts San Francisco Symphony in a program of Larcher, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams. Thomas Larcher's eerie, cinematic Red and Green required a large number of instruments, yet was played with tasteful restraint. The sound was never overpowering, even when two of the trombone players hit their instruments with sticks.…

  • ABS performs Bach and Telemann

    * Notes * The American Bach Soloists performed secular works from Bach and Telemann last Saturday in San Francisco. The evening began with the "Wedding Cantata," with soprano Yulia Van Doren as the soloist. Her voice as a darkness to it, yet maintains a clarity of tone. She was pleasant to hear, though she did not…

  • Yuri Temirkanov conducts the St. Petersburg Philharmonic

    * Notes * The Sunday performance of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Yuri Temirkanov in San Francisco, was sold out. The program of Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, and Brahms held together well. The orchestra played with dark warmth, perhaps a bit sloppily, but with confidence. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture No. 3 with dignity and cheerful bluster,…

  • NCCO plays Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn

    * Notes * New Century Chamber Orchestra opened a series of performances entitled "Mastery of Schubert" in Berkeley yesterday evening. They began with Bach's Violin Concerto in E major, with NCCO's music director, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, as soloist. Salerno-Sonnenberg has a very peculiar motor pattern, and seemed to be brimming with energy. The piece was played…

  • Dutoit conducts CSO

    * Notes * On Tuesday night Charles Dutoit conducted Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program of Berlioz, Penderecki, and Elgar. The concert began with Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture. The brass was clear, and the piece was played with much charm. For some reason, I experienced the Concerto grosso for Three Cellos and Orchestra from Penderecki that…

  • Nott & Gluzman at Luzerner Sinfonieorchester

    * Notes * Yesterday Jonathan Nott conducted Luzerner Sinfonieorchester in a program of Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten was haunting, played with a certain tenderness, and even warmth. This was followed by the Gubaidulina’s Concert for Violin und Orchestra “In tempus praesens.” The soloist, Vadim Gluzman, played…

  • MTT & Anne Sofie von Otter at SFS

    * Notes * This week San Francisco Symphony performs a lovely program of Hindemith, Stenhammer, Nielsen, Sibelius, Grieg, and Brahms. Before Michael Tilson Thomas conducted Hindemith’s Concert Music for String Orchestra and Brass on Thursday night, he addressed the audience, saying the program notes, while good, did not convey how much joy there was in playing…

  • Zubin Mehta conducts Israel Philharmonic

    * Notes * Maestro Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra are currently on tour in the United States. Monday night’s confounding performance in San Francisco included a program of Beethoven, Webern, and Schubert. The evening started with a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” followed by “Hatikvah.” Then came the Leonore Overture No. 3. The string players…