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Author: Paul Hertelendy

POWER LUST AND POLLUTION IN WAGNER FINALE

POWER LUST AND POLLUTION IN WAGNER FINALE

You can blame us music critics for all the long, uncut Wagner opera performances, as in the four “Ring” works currently on the boards. Whenever cuts are actually made in five-hour-long operas, you can bet that some one will complain in print. Well, the Wagner operas can benefit from cuts, which are made even at the holiest of the holy, the Bayreuth (Germany) Wagner Festival. These works are clogged with static narration, particularly recounting of the drama that had gone…

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VALKYRIES GALORE, ‘CHUTING OUT OF THE SKY

VALKYRIES GALORE, ‘CHUTING OUT OF THE SKY

Of the four Wagner “Ring” operas, “The Valkyrie” (Die Walküre) the one with the Valkyries is the most popular and most played. Not because all those fetching female deities come tumbling out of the sky, but because it has very compelling love scenes, both sexual and familial. I mean, those evil sorcerers and gods and giants and dragons and dwarves running wild in the other operas can only take you so far. They’re stunning, but with emotional limitations. In addition…

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LATEST RUSSIAN PIANO SENSATION AT THE SYMPHONY

LATEST RUSSIAN PIANO SENSATION AT THE SYMPHONY

Nearly a month at the S.F. Symphony’s season end is currently devoted to music and artists from Finland and Russia, blending new and old congenially. The last of these shone the spotlight on the versatile and resourceful pianist Daniil Trifonov, 26, in that legendary knuckle-buster, Rach3 (Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto). Trifonov is a unique figure, reveling in such supreme virtuoso tests, a man smiling the whole time where others might well resort to a Rasputin-like scowl. He offers an amiable…

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THE WAGNER ‘RING:’ THE GREATEST SHOW

THE WAGNER ‘RING:’ THE GREATEST SHOW

The greatest show on earth? Now that a certain circus is no more, the greatest show is arguably Richard Wagner’s “Ring” cycle, 17 hours of potent song and drama spread over four nights. Though presented at the S.F. Opera every decade or so, the audience for these masterful 19th-century operas seems limitless. Going to the first-night “Rheingold” June 19 I was impressed that the Opera House was once again sold-out. The gent next to me had actually flown in for…

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MUSCOVITES ARE BACK WITH GLOOM AND DOOM

MUSCOVITES ARE BACK WITH GLOOM AND DOOM

The dearth of Russian opera in these parts has been addressed, not by the S.F. Opera but rather the S.F. Symphony. And it’s high time. For the most candid view of Russian culture, tumultuous history and power-grabs, there’s no better place to start than Mussorgsky’s gloom-and-doom opera “Boris Godunov,” launched a century and a half ago. Despotic rulers, the poverty-stricken mobs of the oppressed, the focal role of religion, they all feed into this epic nationalist drama having no hero,…

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INFALLIBLE CHORUS: FINALLY FALLIBLE

INFALLIBLE CHORUS: FINALLY FALLIBLE

DANVILLE, CA—Thanks, Chanticleer. The chorus did us all a huge favor in their latest concert and restored my faith in humanity. I’ve heard this elite all-male chorus do many hundreds of selections over the years. Usually quite flawlessly. Paragons of perfection. One began to think they were robotic in their pursuit, with great pitch (lacking any accompaniment guidance), command of many languages, and a breadth of notes spanning almost four octaves. It’s as if every work were ready to record…

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CANCELLATIONS AND EAR-OPENERS, AS WOMEN DOMINATE

CANCELLATIONS AND EAR-OPENERS, AS WOMEN DOMINATE

A symphony program featuring exotic Eastern-European moderns, substitutes and  women-at-the-forefront provided a late-season highlight at the San Francisco Symphony, where the street might still be resounding from the unaccustomed claps and cheers of both musicians and audience. And once again Susanna Mälkki was on the podium, clearly a strong prospect to be the S.F. Symphony’s next music director, with a big IF: provided she could be wrenched away from the current podia of Los Angeles, Helsinki and the Metropolitan Opera in…

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MAHLER’S SYMPHONIC FAREWELL TO US ALL

MAHLER’S SYMPHONIC FAREWELL TO US ALL

ROHNERT PARK, CA—After 12 years, the Santa Rosa Symphony is bidding au revoir, or perhaps adieu, to Music Director Bruno Ferrandis. Never one to skimp on challenges, the French conductor programmed the fiendishly difficult 81-minute Mahler Ninth Symphony—an apt adieu for the composer himself—along with a contemporary concerto. In this go-round of the  Ninth of 1910,  for all but the first movement I’d give glowing reviews. The rustic country dance of the second movement went spiritedly, rowdy enough to contrast…

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12 BALLET WORLD PREMIERES: AND NO STUMBLES

12 BALLET WORLD PREMIERES: AND NO STUMBLES

What a way to end a ballet season! By any conventional measure, the 12 world premieres within a month unreeled by the San Francisco Ballet in its “Unbound” Festival were a cheeky challenge and a collective success. Though costly, time-consuming and for performers undeniably fatiguing, the final   ticket income was well above budget, with near sellouts at the Opera House prevailing for programs like the “Björk Ballet.” Undeniably it showed off the creativity of youngish choreographers (48 or younger, mostly)…

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BJÖRK, AND OTHER NEW BALLETS

BJÖRK, AND OTHER NEW BALLETS

The Opera House doors flew open this week  for the throngs converging on the “Unbound D” program of world premieres. They were no doubt swelled by pop music fans anxious to savor the “Björk Ballet,” named after the mercurial pop singer featured on the sound track. But the flamboyant “Björk Ballet” by Arthur Pita had a double appeal: It is as futuristic as a Star-Trekky sci-fi special. The Marco Morante designs alone, with bizarre masks and costumes composed of little…

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