July 2009 – Repeat Performances

July 28, 2009

Music@Menlo magical in its seventh season

Mendelssohn in his element The magic continued at Music@Menlo Monday, July 28, in the third of five concert programs exploring Mendelssohn’s music and influence. Titled “Midsummer Night Dreams” after his musical setting of Shakespeare’s text, the concert focused on...

Categories: music

July 23, 2009

Renee Fleming wows Napa

Home run for Festival del Sole Groined vaults, arched windows, colonnades marching to an ancient vanishing point, and fourteenth century stones drenched with the orange hues of a setting sun. This is not Italy, but the north end of...

Categories: music

July 19, 2009

When stars collide— cat fight in Yountville

Festival del Sole at Lincoln Theatre Violin superstar Sarah Chang and young conducting sensation Alondra de la Parra sparred in the third movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s glorious Violin Concerto in E minor, a contest of bow versus baton. And yes, each was brilliant at what they did. But what they didn’t agree on was the tempo. ...

Categories: music

July 18, 2009

Chamber Music Festival showcases Mendelssohn

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="275"] Pianist Wu Han, photo by Christian Steiner[/caption] World class Festival returns to Menlo Music@Menlo hit the ground running in its seventh season as the peninsula’s prestigious chamber music festival....

Categories: music

July 11, 2009

Turandot at Lesher Center

Festival Opera kicks out the jambs A true spectacle. Lavish sets, outlandish costumes, bloodthirsty villagers, and the roar of a bewitched crowd. That was the July 11 premiere of Turandot, a Festival Opera production at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts. Two years in the making,...

Categories: opera

July 10, 2009

Merola Opera artists in concert at Herbst Theatre

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="125"] Kate Crist[/caption] A glimpse into the future of opera Thirty finalists out of 750 applicants showed their mettle Friday evening, July 10 in the first of four concerts of the Merola Opera program, a 12-week summer intensive for singers culled from...

Categories: opera