AN UNKNOWN REPERTORY OF SACRED MUSIC

AN UNKNOWN REPERTORY OF SACRED MUSIC

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Chanticleeer Seeks and Sings Classics of South America By Paul Hertelendy artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance Week of May 8-15, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 68 It’s time for true believers to drop down on their knees and thank the Almighty for the sacred music circulated by the chorus Chanticleer. Who can match their mining the Mother Lodes of early music that was created unnoticed, unheralded in the New World? And in our era,…

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‘TREASURE ISLAND:’ SLAM-BANG PIRACY, MUTINY, GOLD

‘TREASURE ISLAND:’ SLAM-BANG PIRACY, MUTINY, GOLD

Berkeley Rep and Zimmerman Do It Again BERKELEY — Having the Berkeley Repertory Theatre (BRT) nearby is opportune indeed. This is one of the premiere theaters in the nation, and thanks to Founder Michael Leibert and current Artistic Director Tony Taccone, we have some of the best plays coming our way. Currently they are producing “Treasure Island”, adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman who has had 7 other shows at the BRT. Besides being a winner of the 1998 MacArthur…

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THE ASCENT OF JOANA CARNEIRO

THE ASCENT OF JOANA CARNEIRO

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Berkeley’s Latest Venture: A Concert-Hall ‘Frankenstein’ BERKELEY—Conductor Joana Carneiro, toiling for years leading the Berkeley Symphony, has hit her California breakthrough year. She is also leading the Ojai North program coming up shortly, as well as concerts in the Hollywood Bowl (Hey, size matters too). And next winter becomes the first music director of the 47-year-old Berkeley Symphony to be tapped a guest conductor of the San Francisco Symphony across the bay—a rare accolade indeed for a nearby smaller rival….

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A THEATER OF FOOTBALL, DANCE

A THEATER OF FOOTBALL, DANCE

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  The SF Playhouse brings another unusual and fascinating play to the stage, the West Coast premiere of Andrew Hinderaker’s “Colossal”. Several of Hindraker’s works have played in New York and in Chicago, where he is based at Chicago Dramatists. “Colossol” is his most produced play and it is easy to see why. The on-field team warm-up starts 15 minutes before the production and is a splendid work of football and dance choreography. It’s good to be in your seats…

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A PROMISING RISING SPANISH MAESTRO

A PROMISING RISING SPANISH MAESTRO

And a New Take on Shostakovich/s Ninth Music-lovers, hyphens have surrounded the orchestral podium. Cleveland has had the Austrian Welser-Moest as its leader for years. Philadelphia has  Yannick Nézet-Séguin. And now, stand back for the youngest comer, the Spaniard Pablo Heras-Casado, 38, a fast-riser already named conductor of the year by Musical America two years ago. Podium guests come and go at the S.F. Symphony with regularity; but a multi-week stint, like his currently,  means that musicians and management both…

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OLD-RUSSIAN TRAGEDY AT S.F. BALLET

OLD-RUSSIAN TRAGEDY AT S.F. BALLET

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‘Onegin’ in Dazzling Return Trip By Paul Hertelendy artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance Week of May 1-8, 2016 Vol. 18, No. 66 The brilliant evening-length “Onegin” is back at the S.F. Ballet, chockful of elevated drama, dancing, and the elegant old-Russian milieu. You can nod toward Pushkin for the plot, and to Tchaikovsky for the (unfamiliar) music, but ultimately it comes down to the genius of the choreography by the late John Cranko…

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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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