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Month: April 2016

OPERATIC ‘STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE’ IN SAN JOSE

OPERATIC ‘STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE’ IN SAN JOSE

With Focus on a New Soprano as Blanche SAN JOSE—Happy to say, André Previn’s wrenching opera “Streetcar Named Desire” has benefited from a streamlining with a smaller orchestra and trims in the libretto. Yet the drama remains as violent as a 8.0 earthquake, following closely the searing Tennessee Williams play. Despite some miscalculations, Opera San Jose has brought off the work with fiery impact, propelled by a powerful Blanche Dubois (spinto soprano Ariana Strahl in her OSJ debut) who patterned…

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INNOVATIONS AT OAKLAND BALLET

INNOVATIONS AT OAKLAND BALLET

But Where Did They Forget the Toe Shoes? HAYWARD—-Give the plucky Oakland Ballet an A for innovation, and something lower for execution. In years of ballet-going, you are very unlikely to witness what this chamber-ballet troupe did on its most recent program: Dance a whole evening to live vocal music. No rhythm section, no beat, no percussion, no instrumentalists at all. You are also unlikely to see a non-balletic ballet evening like Oakland’s: A whole evening without a single dancer…

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START WITH TIARAS, TUTUS

START WITH TIARAS, TUTUS

And the Ballet Crowd Will Go Wild Two modern pieces, a world premiere that roused the crowd, and a throwback to the glories of St. Petersburg studded the S.F. Ballet’s latest program April 7 at the Opera House. However you may relish the new pieces, I don’t think you can dismiss recalling old St. Petersburg and the 19th-century Mariinsky Theatre, though you had to be troubled here by immense waves of applause at the first up-curtain on merely viewing the…

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SCIENTISTS CROSS SWORDS

SCIENTISTS CROSS SWORDS

Theories & Generations Clash in Treem Play BERKELEY — “The How and the Why” at the Aurora Theatre is a terrific two-woman play by the noted playwright Sarah Treem. It is intense and profound with an ending that leaves the audience questioning the scientific theories of the characters. Treem has written and produced the series “”The Affair”, “In Treatment” and “House and Cards”, among others . She has won awards for many of them, including a Golden Globe. She is…

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MODERNS INSPIRED BY BEETHOVEN

MODERNS INSPIRED BY BEETHOVEN

Jennifer Koh Scores in Old-New Juxtapositions Beethoven and the Moderns—a new look. The San Francisco Performances concert series collaborated with stellar violinist Koh to create and perform a bold four-night ”Bridge to Beethoven” series. It’s Beethoven sonatas cum new and recent musical reflections on the latter, as created by active composers from both sides of the Atlantic. In recognition of this and other innovative recital enterprises, Chicagoan Koh was named the 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year by the publication Musical…

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