The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Recital Review
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On the evening of Sunday, March 13, LCU and UO attended the highly anticipated song recital of internationally acclaimed tenor, Jonas Kaufmann. Co-presented by Cal Performances and the San Francisco Opera, the performance took place at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. What follows is a discussion of the performance between LCU and UO. LCU: Kaufmann is…
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* Notes * The pianist Nicolas Hodges paired Stockhausen and Beethoven for a recital at Cal Performances this afternoon. Hodges made Stockhausen's Klavierstück X oddly compelling for a piece played with wrists, forearms, and elbows. He was able to get quite a lot of sound out of the piano, and emphasize the percussive nature of the…
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Whilst the Opera Tattler attended the sold-out performance of Takács Quartet in Berkeley last Sunday, the Last Chinese Unicorn was over in San Francisco for Elza van den Heever's recital presented by San Francisco Performances. * Notes * My biggest complaint today when it comes to opera singers is that nobody is willing to take risks anymore.…
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* Notes * Christian Tetzlaff played Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin in Berkeley last night as part of Cal Performances 2010-2011 Koret Recital Series. In the first half he played Sonata No. 1 in G minor, Partita No. 1 in B minor, and Sonata No. 2 in A minor. It seemed he only…
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* Notes *Soprano Heidi Melton gave a recital with pianist John Churchwell for the Salons at the Rex series yesterday evening. The first half of Melton's performance consisted of art songs by Sibelius and Korngold. As far as the pieces of the former, "Tuol Laulaa Neitonen" was rather dreamy, while "Hiljainen Kaupunki" had an otherworldly quality.…
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* Notes * Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is currently in California for performances at LA Phil this week, but he stopped by Berkeley for a recital presented by Cal Performances last night. The first half of the program was devoted to Schumann, and Terfel sang Belsatzar, Liederkreis, "Die beiden Grenadiere" from Romanzen und Balladen, and Mein Wagen…
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Whilst the Opera Tattler attended the opening performance of The Makropulos Case at the War Memorial Opera House last Wednesday, the Last Chinese Unicorn was at the nearby Herbst Theatre for a program presented by San Francisco Performances. * Notes * As soon as the lovely Measha Brueggergosman stepped on stage she lit up the entire…
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* Notes * The only Berkeley Festival and Exposition event I could attend this year was a harpsichord recital played by Eugene Petrushansky. The afternoon performance began with Bach's Toccata in F#, BMV 110, which I missed entirely due to my tardiness. I managed to hear all of the Suite in B Minor from Matthias Weckmann,…
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* Notes * Tenor Eleazar Rodríguez's senior recital at San Francisco Conservatory of Music was last night. Accompanied by pianist Alexander Katsman, Rodríguez sang songs from Charles Gounod, Ottorino Respighi, Joaquin Turina, and Robert Schumann. The Gounod sounded very pretty, sweet, and bright. His voice is flexible and does not sound constricted at the top.…
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* Notes * Yesterday afternoon San Francisco Performances presented baritone Eugene Brancoveanu in a recital of Georgy Sviridov, Maurice Ravel, Henri Duparc, Franz Schubert, and Carl Loewe. The performance began with Sviridov's Russia cast adrift (1987), songs set to 12 episodic poems by Sergey Yesenin. Brancoveanu conveyed the range of emotions in the music and…
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