ArtsSF

On Halloween (Oct. 31) the Los Angeles Philharmonic knocked the socks off almost every one at Davies Hall with Tchaikovsky’s familiar Symphony No. 4, playing it like a true virtuoso orchestra and sounding like a European ensemble. Music Director Gustavo Dudamel’s melding with this group is total. And, in today’s era of strict tempos, he stretches tempi in heart-warming ritards and rubatos that were commonplace till about a century ago. He has pillowy-soft descents from brassy heights into wind-and-string valleys….

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Alisa Weilerstein Shares Stage with Heras-Casado Stemming from a distinguished musical family, Alisa Weilerstein seems determined to be the dynamo of the younger performing generation. Last week back east she squeezed two recitals into one, playing all six unaccompanied Bach suites for cello in one intensive three-hour swoop, a feat that could leave both audience and performer in a sweat-drenched tingle. With the San Francisco Symphony in a more subdued mode, she played the Schumann cello Concerto in A Minor…

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BERKELEY—Esa-Pekka Salonen brought his Philharmonia Orchestra from London to Zellerbach Hall to do a two-program tribute to Stravinsky, recalling the 1968 opening ceremonies of the same site. The 2,000-seat hall is a major site, filling a big yawning void at the University of California for nearly half a century. The Londoners are supreme performers. As one colleague noted after “The Rite of Spring,” the muted horns played so softly, so subtly, it was as if they were offstage. Overall however,…

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As London’s Philharmonia Plays Berkeley BERKELEY—Esa-Pekka Salonen brought his Philharmonia Orchestra from London to Zellerbach Hall to do a two-program tribute to Stravinsky, recalling the 1968 opening ceremonies of the same site. The 2,525-seat hall is a major site, filling a big yawning void at the University of California for nearly half a century. The Londoners are supreme performers. As one colleague noted after “The Rite of Spring,” the muted horns played so softly, so subtly, it was as if…

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Again, Cabrillo Does It its Own Way By D. Rane Danubian artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of Aug. 15-22,  2016 Vol. 18, No. 85 SANTA CRUZ—The high affection of the Cabrillo orchestra members for outgoing conductor Marin Alsop resulted in a tribute probably unique since the days of Napoleon. They commissioned composer Kevin Puts to write a piece for her, to be played with an empty podium. Puts’ “Last August,” to mark…

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Cabrillo Festival Mantra: Never Look Back By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of Aug. 14-21, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 84 SANTA CRUZ—-Astute programming brought off the Cabrillo Festival concert featuring a knuckle-busting violin concerto, a sci-fi-oriented score, and a scherzo with a puzzle. Take note of Bay Area composer Mason Bates, 39, who marches to a very different drummer from the rest. His “B-Sides,” inspired by terminology of recordings, combines…

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New Works by Adams et Al Resonate in Santa Cruz By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of Aug. 6-13, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 83 SANTA CRUZ—Though her departure was still a week away, Cabrillo’s Music Director Marin Alsop was given a farewell-love-in treatment in the concerts of Aug. 6. Rarely has a conductor been held in such high esteem by audience and players alike; to judge by the accolades and…

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Arresting Works of MacMillan, Rouse, Clyne  By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of Aug. 6-13, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 81 SANTA CRUZ, CA—Rarely known for its performing arts, Santa Cruz trumps them all every August with its Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, a nonpareil orchestral showpiece with music of the past decade as well as numerous important American composers in person, living and breathing (zounds!). These range from Old Guard…

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In Bill Shared by Rachmaninoff By Paul Hertelendy  artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance  Week of July 24-31, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 79 This time of year, the San Francisco Symphony serves up a melange–some pop artists, some movies with live orchestral accompaniment, and a few classical concerts with mainline repertoire which resemble Tanglewood’s doings in Massachusetts—familiar works which can be played on minimal rehearsal time. An all-Russian concert program materialized in this mix…

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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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