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Month: March 2022

WORLD PREMIERE, THEN A FIRE-BRIGADE ENCORE FOR A SURPRISING ORCHESTRA

WORLD PREMIERE, THEN A FIRE-BRIGADE ENCORE FOR A SURPRISING ORCHESTRA

WALNUT CREEK, CA—The California Symphony served up a twin-barreled surprise March 27 that went well beyond expectations. No sooner had they served up the amazing world premiere by Katherine Balch two years in the waiting than, before the applause had even died down, a fire alarm was set off, forcing every one out in the street cooling heels figuratively and literally. We should make clear that the fire alarm, which arriving firemen proved false, was not a part of Balch’s…

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CELEBRATING ASIAN ARTS, DANCE

CELEBRATING ASIAN ARTS, DANCE

OAKLAND—With more lives than the proverbial cat, the Oakland Ballet sprang back to life once more with a diverting mini-concert in its inaugural Dancing Moons Festival. Its Asian program came out like dim sum, with manifold sweets and suites—piano solos, South Indian dance, a significant revival, a balancing act and—oh yes, ballet too. And the fearless dancers made a go of it despite a small hall that is more auditorium than performance venue. Leaving a lasting impression was the ambitious…

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REMARKABLE CAREER = GREAT BALLET WITCH

REMARKABLE CAREER = GREAT BALLET WITCH

A veteran ballet dancer in her late 70s still stealing the show as the malevolent Witch casting spells and curses? My apologies to the ever-youthful roster of S.F. Ballet performers, but this “La Sylphide” show and its whole bubbling cauldron of vermin belong to Anita Paciotti, hook, line and sinker. I had first encountered her as the sole leading lady of the newborn Oakland Ballet’s precarious venture “Hansel und Gretel” in 1964, 58 years ago—-then playing Gretel rather than the…

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BACK-ROW PLAYERS COMING TO THE FOREFRONT

BACK-ROW PLAYERS COMING TO THE FOREFRONT

BURLINGAME, CA—-Give an orchestra a physical exam, doctor, and it proves very revealing. An ensemble of San Francisco Symphony players, none of them plucked from the front rows, gave a strong program here at the Kohl Mansion notable for cohesion, dramatic fire, and unassailable tuning, thereby underlining the strong fiber embodied unobtrusively within the ranks of the SFS. Adding to their challenge March 6 was a slate of obscure pieces by, largely, unheralded composers, spotlighting two black women composers from…

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