Recital

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Preview

A Century’s Worth of Piano

Heuwell Tircuit - March 24, 2009
One of the best-planned and at the same time oddest-looking piano recitals I’ve ever encountered is coming up two Sundays hence, in San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. There, the distinguished French pianist Pascal Rogé will play a survey of basic French piano music from 1830 (Chopin’s Op. 10 Étude No. 1) to 1929 (Poulenc’s First Nocturne).
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Preview

Schiff at the Summit

Jerry Kuderna - March 21, 2009
Hans von Bülow once described Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas as the Old and New Testaments of music.
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Preview

Murray Perahia

Jason Victor Serinus - March 11, 2009
The last two decades have not been easy for Murray Perahia. Complications from the much-publicized cut to his right thumb, followed by surgery for a bone spur, have continued to haunt him, causing at least rounds of cancellations. But Perahia has reacted to his misfortune by embracing his challenges as opportunities for growth. He initially devoted his hiatus to deep study of the works of J.S.
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Review

A Marvelous Curio

Heuwell Tircuit - March 9, 2009
Although the music of Olivier Messiaen is extremely popular these days, his songs are rarely encountered in live performance. Little wonder, for they're so overly demanding. Dramatic soprano Heidi Melton and pianist John Parr took on the major beast of the field, his largest cycle, Harawi, Sunday afternoon in Old First Church, and pulled off a triumph.
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Review

Charming Communicator

Jason Victor Serinus - March 9, 2009
How many tenors who hail from New Zealand can put across the Neapolitan songs of Francesco Paolo Tosti as if born and raised in southern Italy? James Benjamin Rodgers can.
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Review

Honoring a Pioneer

Scott Cmiel - March 3, 2009

The Spanish guitarist Margarita Escarpa offered a recital notable for finely wrought emotion, beautiful sound, and flawless technique on Saturday at the Green Room of San Francisco’s War Memorical Veterans Building.

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Review

All-American Songstress

Georgia Rowe - March 3, 2009

The American song repertoire is often an afterthought for recital singers, but soprano Nicole Cabell made it the centerpiece of her program Sunday afternoon at Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. It was a wise choice, one that showed the young artist’s voice to better advantage than the more traditional repertoire that comprised the balance of the program.

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Review

Hearts Unmoved

Stephanie Friedman - March 3, 2009

Time and adversity have not been kind to Barbara Bonney, once the possessor of a silvery, clear soprano that responded to her every musical intention. After time off for personal reasons, she has been attempting to place her voice once again on its former secure plane. But the voice will not cooperate: It is unresponsive and unyielding. Gone is the pliability, the suavity, the subtlety — and with them, the artistry.

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Review

Handel Flashes By

Jonathan Rhodes Lee - March 3, 2009

After I was admitted to the Conservatory in the Hague, I was allowed to see my adjudication sheet. The director had written one sentence: “He has fast fingers.” Bemused, I showed this to my teacher, who clasped me on the shoulder, and said in the most comforting way possible, “That was not a compliment, my boy.”

Barbara Bonney

Lisa Houston - February 25, 2009

The soprano and teacher discusses her upcoming concert of André Previn songs, her professorship at Salzburg’s Mozarteum, and life on the links.

You performed songs by André Previn in a San Francisco Performances recital at Herbst Theatre on Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. This was the U.S. premiere. Have the songs been premiered in Europe?