January 28, 2011
Oakland East Bay Symphony
Mixed salad at Paramount
The Oakland East Bay Symphony played to an indulgent audience last Friday, January 28, with a surprising combination of...
Younis Raza
January 26, 2011
Vertavo String Quartet in Palo Alto
Stellar quartet graces Stanford
A less-than-capacity crowd greeted the Vertavo String Quartet at Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Auditorium last Wednesday, January 26. But those that came were rewarded with a rare appearance by one of Norway’s top quartets. This all-female quartet is the winner of Norway’s coveted Grieg Prize, while their CD’s have won France’s Diapason...
January 16, 2011
Four-hands piano in Atherton
Music@Menlo winter concert virtuosic and playful
If two heads are better than one, than four hands would trump two. Or so Wu Han, Alessio Bax and Anne-Marie McDermott would have us believe, and they made a very good case for that last Sunday, January 16, at the new Menlo-Atherton Center for the Performing Arts.
These three renowned pianists played a program entirely consisting of four-hands piano works, alternating players in a blistering display of challenging virtuosity...
November 21, 2010
New Century in Marin
Difficult program, dazzling moments
The New Century Chamber Orchestra dazzled a full house at San Rafael’s Osher Marin Jewish Community Center last Sunday.
But that was after the intermission.
On their first half they embarked on a long and arduous mission, Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s chamber orchestra version of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Bach’s...
November 13, 2010
Makropulos Case at SF Opera
Stars and shadows at War Memorial Opera House
Acting at the San Francisco Opera House? Real seize-the-moment acting? Yep.
Karita Mattila sang the title role in a lurid thriller that...
October 30, 2010
Pianist Alice Sara Ott at Davies Hall
Perfection in Liszt…
After a fabulous blue-themed gala opening and quick trip to Europe the San Francisco Symphony has settled down to some serious music making, some of it with guest conductors. On Saturday, October 30, a young Spanish conductor was paired with a very young—and accomplished—soloist in a program with memorable moments.
The 33-year-old Pablo Heras-Casado conducted and 22-year-old Alice Sara Ott gave a sharply chiseled rendition of Franz...