ARTS COME ALIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO  BAY AREA!
                          Classical Music, Books, Theater, Dance
            The life of a zine is about a minute
                                                        ---San Francisco Chronicle headline.
            But clearly, they weren't talking about the arts-review 'zine artsSF.com!

            Welcome to the launching of the  FOURTEENTH good-luck season underway at www.artssf.com, the independent, non-commercial observer-critic of the arts, your best source in the San Francisco Bay Area for reviews.
            With weekly reviews on WHAT'S NEW on the arts scene: Modern music (non-commercial), premieres, theater reviews, dance, rarities, and new-book reviews involving Northern California authors or themes. At times, even a review or two from far-off lands. Also some  reports from the major symphonic, chamber and operatic concerts, all emphasizing new or modern creativity.
            Read the reviews first on artssf.com. Reports are compiled by veteran Bay Area critics Paul Hertelendy, D. Rane Danubian, Carol Benet, V.I. Hambleton, J. Charles, Georgia Rowe, Alix Schwartz, Karl Toepfer et al in a vast (?) staff of  a good (very good!) six-to-seven collaborators. Then there's our secret-weapon time machine: roving critic Steven Emanuel, who scouts theater, thespians, books  and other themes in varied bailiwicks, anticipating hits that may land in Northern California before long. .
         The 13th season had again featured more than 100 reviews in toto from the above contributors---122, to be exact. The Greater S.F. Bay Area remains a bellwether in new works and modern approaches, as stimulating as ever, fed by an audience thirsty for the fresh, novel and profound. Most reviews appear within 24 hours after a performance..
         CURRENT REVIEWS and news follow, starting with the most recent:
  -- (SYMPHONY) Nostalgia and romanticism prevail  with Mahler, the "Pastoral" and Schnittke at the S.F. Symphony.
  -- (THEATER) Is Beckett's "Endgame" simple? Profound? Realistic? Existential? Eternal questions remain.
  -- (SYMPHONY) NY Philharmonic on tour: Magnus Lindberg provides the Finnish, but there's a great Tchaikovsky conclusion. 
  -- (CHAMBER MUSIC) The ever-innovative Kronos Quartet in new and recent music from Vietnam and the Arctic-Inuit tradition.
  -- (SYMPHONY) An admirable all-French program---but why on Cinco de Mayo, when the Mexicans had defeated the French?
  -- (BALLET) "Don Quixote" may not retain much Cervantes, but nowhere will you get more dance all evening long.
       Earlier  reviews include:
  ---  (SYMPHONY) A Berkeley Symphony premiere on women of faith---and a surprise male conductor.
  -- (SYMPHONY) Los Angeles' Philharmonic  pours out a wealth of Schubert with guests.
  -- (THEATER) Magic Theatre's new play resonates with existential family drama. 
   -- (THEATER) Intriguing new play, "Aliens," in social critique: We cannot cope, we cannot adapt.
    -- (THEATER) The comedy "Maple and Vine" says, just forego those portable electronics, and it's a trip to the 1950s.
    -- (DANCE) Lines' dancers shine, but the second time around, "Squinches" dulls.
    -- (THEATER) Berkeley Rep's 'Red' is a talky two-man show about painter Mark Rothko.
    -- (OPERA) God gets injured, composer Wold takes the stage, and 'Certitude and Joy' is saved from disaster.
   -- (BALLET) A troupe takes us to three strange places, poles apart. Three poles? Sure, it's just the versatile  S.F. Ballet at work.
   -- (BALLET) Edwaard (sic) Liang creates a maarvelous (sic) new piece on Rachmaninoff for the S.F. Ballet.
   -- (BALLET) Menlowe, a new ballet company on the S.F. Peninsula, soaks up talent from all over to fill the bill.
    -- (SYMPHONY) S.F. Symphony readies for the NY tour with four moderns, including Bates and Adams premieres.
   -- (BALLET) S.F. Ballet's 'Romeo' features two stellar ballerinas from opposite ends of the earth as Juliet.
   -- (SYMPHONY) Life too structured? S.F. Symphony has the antidote, via John Cage's "Song Book" guideposts.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Terrain too familiar: the S.F. Symphony repeats its modern hits by Copland, Ives and Harrison.
   -- (CHORUS)  The chamber chorus Volti aims high in precarious navigation through unaccompanied new scores.
   -- (THEATER) Moliere's riotous humor comes to life in trimmed modern adaptation at BRT.
   -- (THEATER) Powerful drama of family malfunction "Becky Shaw," at the admirable SFPlayhouse.
   -- (ORATORIO) Exquisitely performed Bach St. Matthew Passion by the American Bach Soloists.
   -- (CHAMBER MUSIC) An emotional night, with late Beethoven, and Kevin Puts' "Call and Response."
   -- (SYMPHONY) Michael Morgan's symphony in Oakland undertakes unique ventures.
   -- (BALLET) An evocative program at the S.F. Ballet, capped by a powerful new "Francesca da Rimini."
   -- (SYMPHONY) The fearless Chicago Symphony and Muti boldly program new music on tour.
   -- (BALLET) S.F. Ballet's all-contemporary program with Morris, MacGregor, Wheeldon.
    -- (OPERA) Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby" on the opera stage captures the Jazz Age, but without pathos.
   -- (THEATER) The imagined dissolute youth of Jesus, in Magic Theatre's problematical "Jesus in India."
   -- (CHAMBER MUSIC) San Francisco's plucky Earplay offers three new pieces, still looking for its audiences.
   -- (SYMPHONY) Surprises at the Marin Symphony: An unexpected wispy ending, and an unexpected teenaged cellist's triumph.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Carneiro's Berkeley Symphony comes to life with protest music in a  Dutilleux, Shostakovich, Debussy program. 
   -- (BALLET) A grand new evening-length, "Onegin," brings a Russian touch to the S.F. Ballet in a wildfire winner. 
   -- (SYMPHONY) New young faces: A pianist from abroad in Georgia and a Spanish conductor, at the S.F. Symphony. 
   -- (THEATER) Lorenzo Pisoni's one-man comedy at ACT sparkles.
   -- (BALLET) The S.F. Ballet serves up black-tie dinners, then gala pas de deux and excerpts exquisitely.
   -- (THEATER) 'Food Stories' lampoons foodies in a restaurant where all goes awry.
   -- (THEATER) The aftermath of the S.F. Mayor Moscone murder in Berkeley's world premiere play.  
   -- (CANTATA) Serenity and religious reverence mark the S.F. Symphony's centennial tribute, 'The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian."
    -- (CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) In San Jose, poetic texts and cellos dominate yet another premiere-studded program.
    -- (FUSION RECITAL) Haimovitz-O'Riley in a grand shuffle of pop and classics on cello-piano.
    -- (SYMPHONY) The intricacies of the Ligeti Violin Concerto, and the Liszt centennial. At the S.F. Symphony.
     -- (MUSIC, YEAR'S BEST) 'Heart of a Soldier,' Avner Dorman, David Jaffe, Thomas Ades---many new offerings of note.
    -- (DANCE, YEAR'S BEST) The interplay of astute new designs with dance was the story in 2011.
    -- (CHORUS) With the advent of the dazzling Chanticleer singers, can Christmas be far behind?
    -- (SYMPHONY) And now the S.F. Symphony, with a dazzling new violin concerto by Salonen, and swan-song Wagner.
    -- (SYMPHONY) It's the other BSO, the Berkeley Symphony, spotlighting the moderns with distinction.
    -- (DANCE) Trey McIntyre's modern dancers from Idaho animate the Berkeley scene in a compact one-nighter.
    -- (NEW MUSIC) You go for the modern music; then you get some mime theater on the side. Adventures at the SFCMP.
    -- (SYMPHONY) David Carlson's song cycle in Santa Rosa, reflecting eloquently on evanescent life.
    -- (SYMPHONY) A new piano concerto by a husband-wife team, and Mahler's First, light up the Marin Symphony night.
    -- (DANCE) Naomie Kremer's new video designs set the wow standard in Jenkins-Dresher's new "Light Moves." 
    -- (THEATER) A rerun of the DSK saga? No, but Mamet's "Race" grapples with a black-white trial. 
    -- (SYMPHONY) The S.F. Symphony under guest Alan Gilbert tackles Dutilleux's Violin Concerto.
    -- (BALLET) Meanwhile, back in Washington, ballet and Balanchine are stirring, via the Farrell Ballet.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Once again in Russia, a pessimist's view in music. Shostakovich's eloquent Symphony No. 14.
    -- (MODERN CHAMBER MUSIC) The Kronos Quartet locked up with the minimalist music of Steve Reich.
    -- (THEATER) ACT's rollicking comedy about early talkies, "Once in a Lifetime."
    -- (NEW MUSIC) Do long Alaskan winters encourage ultra-long compositions? Music of J.L. Adams might be a textbook case.
    -- (THEATER) The Bosnian War---neither uplifting nor informative. At SFPlayhouse.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Let the versatile London composer Thomas Ades take you into space, to his Polaris.
    -- (BALLET) The versatile Smuin Ballet---that's S, as in show-biz---unveils a charming new Seiwart picce.
    -- (SYMPHONY) A Mozart horn fragment, rolled out into a concerto pasticcio, at Philharmonia Baroque.
    -- (SYMPHONY) A resplendent Mahler Third. But where were all those soloists?
    -- (OPERA) Puccini's foray to ancient China, "Turandot," scores again at the S.F. Opera.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Yo-Yo Ma tussles with Hindemith once again at the S.F. Symphony.
    -- (OPERA) A non-fiction world-premiere opera on Rick, an American hero.  At San Francisco Opera.
    -- (OPERA) A spectacular, and essentially uncut, mounting of Mozart's "Idomeneo" triumphs in San Jose. 
    -- (THEATER) Albee's back, with a hopelessly dysfunctional suburban family. At the Aurora, Berkeley.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Video projections, a PBS shoot, Lang Lang, Perlman---S.F. Symphony's grand multi-dimensional centenary.
    -- (DANCE) Multiple twists in Zhukov's dream dances---along with film, speech, art work.
    -- (SYMPHONY) When it comes to movers and shakers, the Cabrillo Fest fills the bill literally AND figuratively.
    -- (OPERA) Santa Fe (N.M.) doesn't click on all three summer operas, but the vitality and ambiance is unique.
    -- (CHAMBER FEST) Ottawa's chockfull festival of chamber music and recitals offers stimulus up to eight a day.
    -- (CHAMBER MUSIC) The S.F. Peninsula is enlivened by Music@Menlo's chamber music for three densely-packed weeks.
    -- (DANCE) Amy Seiwert's new company kicks off the West Wave Festival on the right foot.
    -- (SYMPHONY) An ageless founder/music director George Cleve conducts the Midsummer Mozart Festival for the 37th festival.
    -- (ORGAN) The resonant Gothic cathedral is a compatible habitat for the organ as the AGO pulls out the stops, while chests pound.
    -- (CHAMBER MUSIC)  Coordinating live music with environmental sounds or film takes a particular talent.
    -- (MUSICAL THEATER) Billy Elliot is dancing his head off on stage, with a big draw but little comprehension.
    -- (THEATER) The new "Tigers Be Still" play provides comedy, both light and dark.
    -- (CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) New works by Bay Area composers, and Churchill takes a bath.
    -- (SYMPHONY) A season-ending Beethoven 'Missa Solemnis:' a succès d'estime, capped by the SFS Chorus.
    -- (MUSIC-THEATER) Peter Sellars concocts an uneven new program, partly George Crumb. partly Afghan music.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Yuja Wang astonishing in Bartok's blazing Second Piano Concerto, and injuries be damned.
    -- (CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) Soprano Dawn Upshaw's mastery of moderns and languages, at Berkeley's "Ojai North."
    -- (DANCE) A promising new local company has dancers striving to take flight.
    -- (BALLET) The Royal Danish Ballet men are uniquely nimble-footed and aerial.
    -- (OPERA) Wagner's overwhelming "Twilight of the Gods" goes modern, with guns and remote controls on stage.
    -- (CHORUS) A jewel of a Vivaldi choral work, lost for three centuries, sung with drama in Berkeley by Chora Nova.
    -- (OPERA) The new "Ring" moves into high gear, with even the chancey, modernized "Siegfried" garnering ovations.
    -- (DANCE) Time for cheers---Oakland's ballet troupe that went under, popping up modestly but promisingly.
    -- (CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) Amazing sounds and novelties at the New Century Chamber Orchestra.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Twin plaudits in San Jose for the two Jons---Manasse (clarinet) and Nakamatsu (piano).
     -- (CHORUS) The fearless Volti chorus tackles premieres by Gyger and Barnson, with vaied results.
    -- (CHAMBER MUSIC) Bartok's late string quartets, in forceful, informative lecture-demo format.
    -- (BALLET) The great ballet controversies, from Nijinsky to Carvajal, stirred up again in the Michael Smuin affair.
    -- (THEATER) A doll-maker's dilemmas in the compact "ReBorning."
    -- (THEATER) A violent Martin McDonagh play stirs up tranquil Irish village life.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Prepping for a European tour, the S.F. Symphony unreels an inspiring Mahler survey at home.
    -- (DANCE) A rare marriage of dance (Alonzo King) with visual art (Christopher Haas). At Lines Ballet.
    -- (THEATER) "Three Sisters" at Berkeley Rep shows a society in decay. Carol Benet reports.
    -- (SYMPHONY) Oakland's precarious pop-classical fusion puts Scott Amendola at the top of the charts.
    -- (SYMPHONY) A stunning young French cellist with sex appeal wows them at the S.F. Symphony's all-French program.
    -- (BALLET) McGregor's "Chroma," Wheeldon's "Ghosts" at the ballet: contemporary, imaginative, visceral.
    -- (BALLET) S.F. Ballet in "Petrouchka" centennial, and recent works of Zanella and Wheeldon.
    -- (SYMPHONY) With a wizardry worthy of a Stravinsky, Larcher coaxes new sounds from older orchestras in a signal premiere.
    -- (WORLD MUSIC) Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble's skilful fusion of far-flung cultures.
    -- (DANCE) Savvy, mature, agile---the Paul Taylor dancers look as strong as ever on tour.
    -- (THEATER) "Wirehead" delves into pros and cons of brain implants adding IQ.
    -- (CHORUS) Chanticleer masters unaccompanied complex new works---like threading needles blind-folded underwater.
    -- (CHAMBER OPERA) Britten's chamber operas in Berkeley, via Lorin Maazel's Castleton Festival Opera.
    -- (THEATER) The mistreatment of African women is the powerful theme of "Ruined" at Berkeley Rep. 
    -- (DANCE) The Nederlands Dans Theater in Berkeley draws a large young crowd for bold modern works.
    -- (DANCE) ODC/Dance shows evolution, elevation and enterprise in its 40th anniversary celebrations.
    -- (NEW MUSIC) The Other Minds Festival launches David Jaffe's stunning premiere, "The Space Between Us."
    -- (BALLET) S.F. Ballet goes Tchaikovsky, with a passionate "Trio" conflict, and MacMillan's take on Chekhov.
    -- (BALLET) The Black Swan appears live on stage in San Jose's "Swan Lake," bolstering an impressive production.
    -- (SYMPHONY) The S.F. Symphony and Chorus present the inspiring, ultra-quiet Feldman "Rothko Chapel"---and coughs proliferate.
    -- (BALLET) The S.F. Ballet struggles with an all-modern program of Forsythe, Tomasson and Possokhov.
                                              #
             LINKS TO SIMILAR SITES AROUND THE COUNTRY---A consortium of independent sites reviewing live performances around the country promises painless linkage and free surfing. Interested? Click here!
            Also, prominent West Coast entertainment writers have their own (rival!) web site now, featuring fresh columns on an almost-daily basis. Check out links.
                                                                  #

             Stay tuned for more every week!
                                                                    #
            Feedback time? Send comments to us to danubian@earthlink.net via e-mail (We'd like to use them as appropriate in our column entitled "Reader Ripostes." Label your e-mail  "letters to the editor" in the subject space).
             Or by mail to: Paul Hertelendy, Coordinator and Webmaster, artssf.com, Box 505, (note new box number!) Berkeley, CA 94701.
           For dissent with the critics, letters to the editor, the occasional poem, and other variety, check out our Feature Page.
                                                                    #   
        If you liked www.artssf.com, BOOKMARK it! We're open 24 hours a day, give or take a break for doughnuts and Java.
       Home-page illustration by Ann Hertelendy