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Music
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Recommended Concert: ECO ENSEMBLE TOSHIO HOSOKAWA PORTRAIT CONCERT (Cal Performances at UC Berkeley)
CAL PERFORMANCES AT UC BERKELEY PRESENTSECO ENSEMBLETOSHIO HOSOKAWA PORTRAIT CONCERTFEATURING STACEY PELINKA, FLUTESSATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5 AT 8PMIN HERTZ HALL Cal Performances at UC Berkeley welcomes back the university’s ensemble-in-residence, Eco Ensemble, in a concert showcasing the music of Toshio Hosokawa, one of Japan’s pre-eminent living composers, on Saturday, February 5 at 8pm at Hertz Hall. The…
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Music Concert Recommendation: GAUTIER CAPUÇON & YUJA WANG (Michael Tilson Thomas & SF Symphony, Jan. 20-29, 2022)
Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) returns to conduct the San Francisco Symphony in two weeks of concerts at Davies Symphony Hall featuring two longtime collaborators. January 20–22 concerts include Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2 performed by cellist Gautier Capuçon and January 27–29 concerts feature pianist Yuja…
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Music, Dance, Theater & Concerts: THE BROAD STAGE (Santa Monica)
The Broad Stage is presenting these twenty-eight attractions Jan to June 2022 Subscription packages, starting at $47, are on sale at thebroadstage.org or 310.434.3200. Premieres — The Broad Stage is a theatre conceived and designed toshowcase new work; 2022 season features a world premiere and three Los Angeles premieres Iphigenia (February 17-19) premiere opera by jazz great esperanza spalding and…
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Music Review: JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, Piano (Debussy’s Preludes at Walt Disney Concert Hall)
C’EST MAGNIFIQUE In a recent interview Jean-Yves Thibaudet described his decision to “stick with” the piano over the violin after years spent learning both as a child. On the keys, he realized, “You feel like king of the world. You can create every color, every dynamic.” And last week, on a foggy night in his…
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Upcoming Concert: NOCHEBUENA (The Soraya at CSUN)
Happy Holidays’”LA Style! Now a popular holiday tradition at The Soraya, the lively Nochebuena celebration returns live on stage for two free performances Friday, December 10 at 8pm and Saturday, December 11 at 3 pm. These are the final 2021 free concerts presented by The Soraya as a thank to audiences returning to live performances….
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Opera Review: HANSEL AND GRETEL (Pacific Opera Project)
HANSEL AND GRETEL GO POP Humperdinck began his career as an assistant to Richard Wagner; mercifully, this did not influence his composition of Hansel and Gretel, which is light and folksy throughout, and its unWagnerlike running time comes in at less than two hours. Perhaps the most commendable takeaway from his association with Wagner is…
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Music Review: MTT: MOZART, TILSON THOMAS & SCHUMANN (Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony)
WELCOME HOME, MAESTRO THOMAS There are concerts and, then, there are concerts. The first of the two programs marking the return of Michael Tilson Thomas, after serious brain surgery, belongs to the latter category. This was an occasion that might even be counted among the more significant events in the history of the San Francisco…
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Music Review: MOZART AND RAVEL (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Sunwook Kim, piano; Los Angeles Philharmonic)
RAPTUROUS RAVEL Of all the entertainment venues in Los Angeles denied us during the COVID years, perhaps the one I’ve missed most is the Disney Concert Hall. So it was a joy to be back there on Saturday, in a packed audience, to experience a splendid program presented by one of the finest philharmonics in…
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Music Preview: RAVEL, HIGGINS & COPLAND (Michael Tilson Thomas & Ludovic Morlot with the SF Symphony, Nov. 18-20, 2021)
LUDOVIC MORLOT JOINS MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS TO CONDUCT SF SYMPHONY NOVEMBER 18–20 Ludovic Morlot joins Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) to conduct part of the November 18–21 San Francisco Symphony concerts at Davies Symphony Hall. Morlot — recently appointed Music Director of the Barcelona Symphony — will conduct the first half of the program, including Maurice…
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Music: MILLER THEATRE (2021-22 Season, Columbia University)
MILLER THEATRE IS BACK Miller Theatre at Columbia University is the leading presenter of new music in New York City; now, one of the most vital forces nationwide for innovative programming is back. The 2021-22 season sees the beloved, bold venue return to in-person programming for the first time since March 2020, a boon to…
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Film and Music Review: “GET OUT” WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA (LA Opera at The Theatre at Ace Hotel)
COME IN TO GET OUT In an immensely satisfying Halloween entertainment, Jordan Peele’s splendid thriller, Get Out, was accompanied by the LA Opera Orchestra playing the score live under the baton of the composer Michael Abels. Composer/conductor Michael Abels conducts “Get Out with Live Orchestra” (taken on opening night, October 29, 2021 by Lawrence K….
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Music Review: BRONFMAN PLAYS BEETHOVEN (SF Symphony)
OCTOBER SURPRISE The last of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s four October concerts was, to put it as succinctly as possible, quite wonderful. The draw was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and the audience, there to hear master pianist Yefim Bronfman, wholeheartedly responded — with rapt silence at first and finally cheers — to Bronfman, whose sonorous and…
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Music Review: DUDAMEL CONDUCTS MAHLER (LA Phil)
THREE HOOTS FOR HOOTEN! Gustavo Dudamel’s formidable venture into Mahler’s symphonies with the LA Phil hit a real high mark with the magnificent performance of the Fourth Symphony the Fourth Symphony. The LA Phil is now one of America’s finest playing ensembles, and its amazing stratospheric association with Dudamel has already produced grand results. There…
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Music Preview: TCHAIKOVSKY AND SAARIAHO WITH Mí„LKKI (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Italian pianist Beatrice Rana may be young (28!), but she’s already established herself touring the world and recording an amazing album catalog, including awesome attacks on The Goldberg Variations and Chopin. She also recorded the quintessential Russian piano concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Number One. Now, The LA Phil’s amazing Principal Guest Conductor, Susanna Målkki — who has…
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Opera Review: TANNHí„USER (Los Angeles Opera)
IF BEING WRONG IS A VENUSIAN SEX ORGY, WHO WANTS TO BE RIGHT? Being Japanese, I am innately programmed to keep clutter to a minimum. Not much adorns my computer desktop screen, save the bare essentials ’” amongst which is the full score to Tannhåuser, some of the most inventive, majestic music constructed to date,…
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Music Review: JONAS KAUFMANN, tenor, & HELMUT DEUTSCH, piano (The Broad Stage in Santa Monica)
THESE LIEDERS ARE NOW ON MY LISZT Something incredibly special is happening in Santa Monica. The Broad Stage has reopened this week with live performances from German Tenor Jonas Kaufmann last night and The Danish String Quartet last Saturday, both of whom are in extraordinary demand in their fields of opera and chamber music. Both…
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Music Review: SCHUBERT 5 & DESSNER VIOLIN CONCERTO (Pekka Kuusisto, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the SF Symphony)
BRYCE DESSNER AND PEKKA KUUSISTO: AN EXTRAORDINARY TEAM Last night, I had the rare and honored experience of being present at what I think may have been an historic musical event. It was the first United States performance of Bryce Dessner’s Violin Concerto (2021) which was co-commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony, and which, under…
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Music Review: EXOTIC BIRDS: DEBUSSY, MESSIAEN AND SAARIAHO (Esa-Pekka Salonen and the SF Symphony)
EXOTIC BIRDS, 47 SPECIES OF BIRDS, AND DEBUSSY BY LAND AND BY SEA Esa-Pekka Salonen walked slowly to the podium and when he arrived, he stood, frozen, for an extended period of time, as if he were calling upon a moment of silence and so, when the first bars of Claude Debussy’s Prélude í L’Après-midi d’un faune…
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Music: AMERICAN TRADITIONS VOCAL COLLECTION (2021-2022 Season in Savannah, GA)
The American Traditions Vocal Collection (ATC), previously known as the American Traditions Vocal Competition, has expanded its organizational name to be more inclusive of its year-round offerings. Originally producing one annual event – its namesake competition — the ATC has grown to include year-round musical concert events, a large-scale education program that takes place in…
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Music Review: DUDAMEL CONDUCTS STRAUSS (LA Phil)
CONSIDER YOURSELF TRANSFIGURED Americans are weary. We remain as divisive as ever, a situation fueled by social media, news, and other white noise. We are working harder and longer yet struggle to pay bills — at the same time quitting jobs in record numbers. Instead of being inspired to do more to combat the speed…
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