GRAND AND CHAMBER: OPPOSING CONCEPTS
Overwhelming Voice at the NCCO Opener BERKELEY—-The grand operatic approach can be heavenly with a diva like soprano Ailyn Pérez, who is just back from a starring role at LaScala. But in an intimate church setting as soloist with a small string orchestra, it can misfire. She tackled an ambitious almost-all-Russian program opening the New Century Chamber Orchestra season Sept. 17. The rest of the program of snippets and transcriptions was much more promising, though given the huge repertoire for…