Reviews

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Review

The Sound of Idealism

Heuwell Tircuit - November 4, 2008
High-minded Herbert Blomstedt is in town for his annual two weeks with the San Francisco Symphony, fulfilling his obligations as its conductor emeritus. In his first program, he created a sensation Wednesday evening in Davies Symphony Hall with only two pieces — but what two pieces they were!
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Review

The Elixir of Generous Casting

Janos Gereben - November 4, 2008
Donizetti's most effervescent music, a simple and heartwarming story, melodies galore — The Elixir of Love is a virtually foolproof opera. Small companies, even schools produce it successfully, and even in a big house, you can't really fault a "prudent" approach to casting young singers, not-quite-stars, and such.
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Review

Stravinsky's Plain Folks

William Quillen - October 28, 2008
The Oakland Opera delighted listeners Saturday with a double bill of Stravinsky's theatrical works, Histoire du Soldat (1918) and Renard (1916).
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Review

Challenge Fest

Jeff Dunn - October 28, 2008
On Thursday, guest conductor Fabio Luisi brought a program to the San Francisco Symphony season that challenged performers and listeners alike. First he conducted Richard Strauss' multifaceted tone poem Don Juan, demanding a tempo in the faster portions as high as this month's Investor Panic index. Could the orchestra hold on?

Beautifully Balanced

Lisa Hirsch - October 28, 2008
The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra is in the second year of its search for a music director to succeed Kent Nagano, who has led the orchestra since 1978.

Soloist Save

Noel Verzosa - October 28, 2008
On Sunday in Berkeley, the Jerusalem Symphony offered an evening of music by 20th-century Jewish composers, performing old favorites alongside works that have disappeared from the canon.
Review

Youthful Voices Rise

Heuwell Tircuit - October 28, 2008

The 30th anniversary season of the esteemed San Francisco Girls Chorus opened on Friday in Calvary Presbyterian Church. As usual, the chorus offered a terrific display of fine musicianship that traversed a complicated variety of musical styles. What else is new with this group? Even so, it was sometimes hard to fathom the precision and intonation with which these high school kids sang.

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Review

The Ives Have It

Be'eri Moalem - October 28, 2008
Any ensemble that calls itself the Ives Quartet had better not play like sissies, as Charles Ives himself would threaten. "I don't write music for sissy ears," he used to quip. When an audience member once booed a dissonant piece, he stood up and shouted back, "Stop being such a God-damned sissy!
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Review

Godunov, in Short

Janos Gereben - October 28, 2008
Not all Russians are alike. Modest Mussorgsky wrote big, earthshaking operas.
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Review

Reverberations

Noel Verzosa - October 28, 2008
In a tribute to the composer Elliott Carter's centenary birthday, Earplay devoted part of last Monday's concert at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre to his music and the rest to American composers.