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  ELEVENTH season of: 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 London critic Steven Emanuel, who scouts theater, thespians, books  and other themes in Tony Blair's bailiwick, anticipating hits that may cross the pond our way next year.
         The tenth season had again featured more than 100 reviews in toto from the above contributors---130, 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.
         CURRENT REVIEWS and news follow, starting with the most recent:
     -- (BOOKS) Shawna Yang Ryan's "Water Ghosts" evokes bygone days of a San Joaquin river town.
     -- (OPERA) Forget stodgy, stagey opera---this San Francisco "Porgy and Bess" hits to the heart.
     -- (CHAMBER CHORUS) Chanticleer guides us back to the 16th century's "Divine Orlando."
     -- (SYMPHONY) Brilliance of music in the S.F. Symphony & Chorus closing out the impressive Schubert-Berg Festival.
     -- (SYMPHONY) After 84 years, a daring Alban Berg concerto is still not San Francisco's cup of tea.
     -- (STADIUM OPERA) A live simulcast of "Tosca" in a ballpark brings out interesting new dimensions to the experience.
     -- (SYMPHONY) What to do when star soloists have nothing to do? The S.F. Symphony grapples with an embarrassment of riches.
     -- (DANCE) The Mark Morris Dance Group does Handel with imagination, subtlety, humor, flow---and orchestra and chorus.
         Earlier  reviews and interviews include:
     -- (SYMPHONY) The bookend romantics, Schubert and Berg, featured in the S.F. Symphony's three-week festival.
     -- (BALLET) The 16-member Smuin Ballet is spicy, modern, sophisticated, sexy, as it tours Northern California.
    -- (THEATER) Emperor Nero struts again in Berkeley Rep's "You, Nero." Georgia Rowe reports.
    -- (MUSIC) The S.F. Symphony in a Bates world premiere, plus a tiny but astonishing pianist from China.
    -- (THEATER) Yet ANOTHER hit play from that ingenious Sarah Ruhl. Carol Benet reports.
     -- (CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) Nagano's Berkeley Akademie does musician vanishing acts to rival Houdini.
     -- (CHORUS) San Francisco's Volti does nothing but modern music---with skill.
     -- (BALLET) Choreographers to watch: Yuri Possokhov and Jorma Elo at S.F. Ballet.
     -- (DANCE) Russia's Eifman Ballet  overwhelms with a hyperkinemtic, 21st-century "Onegin."
     -- (DANCE) The bags are full, the wonders many as Paul Taylor Dance unreels three programs over just four days.
     -- (THEATER) The brilliant Martin McDonagh squeezes laughs and a revenge tragedy into the same play. Georgia Rowe reports.
     -- (SYMPHONY) Romanticism rules at the National Symphony, while sell-outs do not.
     -- (BALLET)  San Francisco's LINES Ballet  reminds us of harsh realities in Alonzo King's choreographies.
     -- (SYMPHONY) Oakland's inspiring downtown revival, with the symphony a focal player.
     -- (DANCE) Garrett-Moulton's exceptional, novel dance collaboration debuts, with cast of 24.
     -- (THEATER) After more than a century, Strindberg's "Miss Julie" still has the power to shock with sex. Georgia Rowe reports.
     -- (SYMPHONY) Albuquerque is on fertile soil where the New Mexico Symphony thrives.
     -- (BALLET) Wild horses couldn't drag us away from Wheeldon's modern "Within the Golden Hour" at the S.F. Ballet.
     -- (BALLET) Dennis Nahat's "Midsummer Night's Dream" sparkles at Ballet San Jose.
     -- (THEATER) Playwright Lillian Groag tackles the Trojan War---also lengthy, also with a large cast. Georgia Rowe reports.
     -- (SYMPHONY) Calling the new violin concerto by Thomas Adès fiendlishly difficult
may be understatement. S.F. Symphony.
     -- (NEW MUSIC) Ensembles pay tribute to composers Messiaen and Grisey, as well as accompany a surreal silent film---all French.
     -- (CHORUS) The transition from double-chorus polyphony to the baroque is beautifully traced out by the Tallis Scholars.
     -- (SYMPHONY) The drama-charged "Belshassar's Feast" shows the S.F. Symphony and Chorus at their best.  
    -- (THEATER) When does a reporter become part of "The Story?" Georgia Rowe reports.
     -- (MALE CHORUS) Bates, Crouch, O'Regan---a law firm? No, no, they're three emerging composers with premieres.
 
    -- (BOOKS) John Muir as the botanist and traveler extraordinary, in a new biography. J. Charles reports.
     -- (PERFORMANCE ART) William Kentridge combines theater and visual art at SFMOMA. Carol Benet reports.
     -- (SYMPHONY) Who better to revive the power of Prokofiev than the touring London Symphony with Gergiev?
 
    -- (BALLET) What could be more futuristic than the Mark Morris/John Adams "Joyride" at the S.F. Ballet?
     -- (BOOKS) The turbulent years of Kit Carson and the taming of the West. Steven Emanuel reports.
      -- (SYMPHONY) Mason Bates, 31, crafts a memorial tribute to Alan Lomax in Walnut Creek (premiere).
     -- (THEATER PIECE) A stageful of snazzy new computer-assisted instruments. But "Schick Machine" needs an oil change.
     -- (CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) Western strings, Korean gestures blend in gentle Na premiere in San Jose.
     -- (SYMPHONY) Pianist Martha Argerich finally turns up at the SF Symphony and brings down the house.
     -- (CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) The ingenious innovator Darius Milhaud honored via his music at Mills College, Oakland.
     -- (BALLET) Five premieres at Ballet San Jose, where Karen Gabay's "2-2 Tango" is the cream of the crop.
    -- (SYMPHONY) An unforgettable tour de force, Gubaidulina's Violin Concerto No. 2 with Anne-Sophie Mutter.
     -- (MODERN MUSIC) The landmark Mills College Concert Hall reopens at an ambitious and eclectic festival.
     -- (THEATER) San Jose Stage in an amazing tale of a transvestite' real-life survival in Germany. V.I. Hambleton reports.
     -- (SYMPHONY) A little lady with a big penchant for pushing the envelope, Sofia Gubaidulina, at the S.F. Symphony.
     -- (THEATER) Destinies propelled by random events---familiar themes in John Guare plays. Carol Benet reports.
     -- (THEATER) Berkeley Rep presents Sarah Ruhl's new play that would shock Victorians. Carol Benet reports.
     -- (THEATER) The musical "Wicked" is back out west again. And it's so b-a-a-a-d, it's good! Carol Benet reports.
     -- (NEW MUSIC) Stanford's CCRMA celebrates J.-C. Risset's 70th with live players, computers, phantom musicians.

                                                         #
             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. The tally for our sixth season ending summer, 2004 was 123 reviews and stories, improving on the fifth season with a record 106 reviews and stories.
                                                                    #
            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