Reviews

Lost in Song

Anna Carol Dudley - May 6, 2008
Felicity reigned Thursday night at Herbst Theatre as San Francisco Performances presented a concert by two superb musicians, soprano Felicity Lott and pianist Graham Johnson. The program, German in the first half and mainly French in the second, grouped songs according to the lyrics: settings of particular poets.
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Review

Charming Voyage

Lydia Mayne - May 6, 2008
The San Francisco Opera premiere of Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince was a great success Friday night at Zellerbach Hall.

Musical Fragrances in the Air

Jonathan Russell - May 6, 2008
On Monday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players presented a polished, energetic performance of four colorful recent works by composers from the United States, Argentina, and France. The most effective of these works was Reynold Tharp's gorgeous San Francisco Night (2007), a premiere which closed the concert's first half.

Dulled Impact

Jason Victor Serinus - May 6, 2008
What is all the fuss about Mason Bates? The 31-year-old DJ cum classical and electronica composer, whose works have been championed by his teacher, John Corigliano, has received both a Rome Prize and an American Academy in Berlin Prize.
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Review

Dynamically Constrained

Michelle Dulak Thomson - April 29, 2008
An entire program's worth of Haydn is not something the San Francisco Symphony is apt to serve up every year, so thanks are due up front to guest conductor Bernard Labadie for Friday night's generous helping.

Moseying Down China's Silk Road

Heuwell Tircuit - April 29, 2008
Yo-Yo Ma’s and his Silk Road Project have come up with a new CD featuring a host of young performers supported by the Chicago Symphony. Titled Traditions and Transformations, the disc includes two standard works, Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo and Prokofiev rambunctious Scythian Suite, Op.
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Review

Mystic Rapport

Kwami Coleman - April 29, 2008
The audience quickly found itself in the dark last Wednesday at Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium.

No Winning Combination

Jeff Dunn - April 29, 2008
Three performances that ranged from superb to problematic, three pieces that ranged from problematic to superb — match up the combinations and you come up with Saturday's concert by the University Chorus and the University Chamber Chorus at Hertz Hall at UC Berkeley. The concert began with a terrific rendition of Steve Reich's 1986 version (reduced strings, no brass) of Desert Music, with
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Review

Souvenirs of Spirituality

Noel Verzosa - April 29, 2008
On Sunday afternoon, as part of the Noe Valley Chamber Music series, a small gathering in San Francisco was treated to "Traveling Polyhymnia," a program of chamber music assembled by the Adorno Ensemble.
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Review

Inner Demons Unleashed

Vera Breheda - April 29, 2008

When the Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto in D Minor appears on a piano recital, and it is performed by a local 16-year-old high schooler, it is truly a cause of interest and celebration.
Chloe Pang, a supertalented student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, ended her Saturday recital at the Conservatory with a powerful performance (with faculty Miles Graber on second piano) of the Rachmaninov, whose technical and dramatic challenges can evoke fear and trepidation even in the most seasoned of pianists.