Can a crisis evoke from us a one-shot pinnacle of creativity? In the case of two Austrian villagers exactly 200 years ago, the answer is an emphatic yes. It was in the small church of Oberndorf, Austria, near Salzburg, readying for the gala Christmas Eve service. The all-important pipe organ broke down, with no chance for repairs being done in time. To compensate for the crisis, the young priest Josef Mohr pulled out his poetic text now known as the…
You’ve heard of the barefoot contessa (the old Gardner-Bogart movie; also the more recent cooking show). But are you ready for the barefoot violinista? She’s one of a kind, and hardly your everyday recitalist. Meet the fast-rising Patricia Kopatchinskaja from Moldova (formerly USSR), a petite artist who looks like a sweet young woman but surprising you, playing with great fire and passion. In her Herbst Theatre recital, she called impromptu inaudibles (sic) from the stage, flip-flopping the opening selections, and inserting…
For an uplifting and unusual Christmas program, we go to Chanticleer. As usual. For a look at the roots of Christmas music around the world’s many centuries, it’s Chanticleer. As usual. And this chorus? Never as usual. The uplift of Chanticleer was quite literally visible when the crowd stood as one at the last notes, gave vent to its enthusiasm and demanded an encore, “Carol of the Bells.” Take a dozen professional male singers with admirable articulation who can do,…
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—Others dance steps. She dances a symphony. She has finesse, poise and a keen sense of timing. While others are just going through motions, she gives us her sense of true theater too, with personality to match. This is Erin Yarborough-Powell, who draws your gaze even when tucked away in an ensemble piece. Performing professionally for so many years she’d rarely reveal (best guess: Starting before the Millennium), she is the stunning interpreter at the Smuin Contemporary Ballet,…
Vincent Calianno’s world-premiere string quartet was considerably more than four players given its bonus offering: added prerecorded tracks of electronics, voices, and even more string sounds. Entitled “A History of the String Quartet in its Natural Habitat,” this catalogue traces the evolution of both media—chamber music as well as electronic enhancement—starting stylistically about 1900, going from fully structural to aleatoric music to the present times. Calianno, 39, offers a lot of subtle solo-instrumental work building up to outbursts in ebb…