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Author: Paul Hertelendy

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

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Chamber Works Focused 1850-1945  By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of July 20-27, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 78 ATHERTON, CA—During the summer doldrums, count on Music@Menlo to liven up the scene with prime chamber music. Admittedly, it’s a challenge, given this year’s Russian theme. Serious Russian music didn’t stir noticeably  till Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert were gone. But in the opening week, Music@Menlo offered a package of early works by…

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SEIWERT’S NEW IDEAS, DIRECTIONS IN DANCE 

SEIWERT’S NEW IDEAS, DIRECTIONS IN DANCE 

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By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of July 13-20, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 77 Dismayed by the sameness of too many dance performances? Amy Seiwert’s new thrusts show great promise to break out of the mold, via her Imagery company’s “Sketch 6” series of July 8-10. This was bold, invigorating innovation by four choreographers, each working to stretch the envelope of movement, performing in an intimate theater (Cowell, on the…

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REVELATIONS OF MAHLER’S ‘RESURRECTION’ SYMPHONY

REVELATIONS OF MAHLER’S ‘RESURRECTION’ SYMPHONY

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As the Apt Season Finale in S.F. By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of July. 6-13, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 76 Mahler’s Second Symphony is like the month of March twice over: It comes in like a lion, continues like a lamb, and goes out, once again, like a lion. It was thus in the interpretation of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony this weekend, one of the…

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PUT AMY X ON YOUR A LIST

PUT AMY X ON YOUR A LIST

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Contempo Singer/Composer Neuburg Stellar By Paul Hertelendy artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance Week of June 26-July 3, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 75 What impresses me most about Amy X Neuburg is not that she’s an exquisite lyric soprano who can even dip down to the baritone register, nor that she’s always in pitch, nor that she’s a techno whiz, nor that she animates contemporary repertory as though written for her. Not even that…

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A VOICE OF DECONSTRUCTION

A VOICE OF DECONSTRUCTION

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New Widmann Work at the S.F. Symphony By Paul Hertelendy artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance Week of June 25-July 3, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 74 First there was Superman. There was Batman. And now we have Widmann, flexing muscles reaching for super powers composing for orchestra. Widmann’s 19-minute “Trauermarsch” shows off all the orchestra’s versatility and extremes. The highest notes, the lowest notes. The loudest sounds and the softest sounds, starting the mighty…

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WOMEN AT THE FOREFRONT

WOMEN AT THE FOREFRONT

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Ojai Fest Is the Latest Spotlighting Their Creativity By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of June 17-24, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 73 BERKELEY—Is this the year of the woman in serious music? The entire Ojai Music Festival program this year is dominated by women’s creativity, inclluding the major opus, Kaija Saariaho’s “The Passion of Simone.” Joana Carneiro will be one of the rare woman conductors at the San Francisco Symphony…

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‘JENUFA:’ COMPELLING NATIONALIST OPERA

‘JENUFA:’ COMPELLING NATIONALIST OPERA

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  Janacek’s Wrenching Drama at the S.F.O. By Paul Hertelendy artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance Week of June 17-24, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 72 The powerful human drama of old-time village morality “Jenufa” returned to bolster the San Francisco Opera summer season after a 15-year hiatus. The work is sincere and compelling, built around the bigger-than-life role of the morally ambiguous Stepmother, as played by the magnetic star, dramatic soprano Karita Mattila. The…

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CHORUSES BRANCHING OUT

CHORUSES BRANCHING OUT

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You Can Sing—But Can You Also Dance, Act??  By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of May 16, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 70 BERKELEY—When does a youth chorus begin to meld with the concept of a dance troupe? The new reality for choruses is not only singing, but also moving about the stage theatrically—not too far from dance choreography. There are six works on the current program of the Volti chorus,…

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AN UNKNOWN REPERTORY OF SACRED MUSIC

AN UNKNOWN REPERTORY OF SACRED MUSIC

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Chanticleeer Seeks and Sings Classics of South America By Paul Hertelendy artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance Week of May 8-15, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 68 It’s time for true believers to drop down on their knees and thank the Almighty for the sacred music circulated by the chorus Chanticleer. Who can match their mining the Mother Lodes of early music that was created unnoticed, unheralded in the New World? And in our era,…

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THE ASCENT OF JOANA CARNEIRO

THE ASCENT OF JOANA CARNEIRO

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Berkeley’s Latest Venture: A Concert-Hall ‘Frankenstein’ BERKELEY—Conductor Joana Carneiro, toiling for years leading the Berkeley Symphony, has hit her California breakthrough year. She is also leading the Ojai North program coming up shortly, as well as concerts in the Hollywood Bowl (Hey, size matters too). And next winter becomes the first music director of the 47-year-old Berkeley Symphony to be tapped a guest conductor of the San Francisco Symphony across the bay—a rare accolade indeed for a nearby smaller rival….

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