Peter Rigaud

Tarmo Peltokoski

With the holidays all wrapped up, we look toward what could be considered the meat of the classical music season. January is generally quiet but things get rowdy in February.

On February 2 and 3, a 22-year-old conducting phenom from Finland makes his U.S. conducting debut with the San Diego Symphony. Tarmo Peltokoski has made several sensational debuts in Europe over the last few years and now he’s coming to San Diego to conduct Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2.

Of course, Sibelius was of Finland as well. His second symphony is well known for having one of the most gorgeous tunes to fall out of the pen of any composer anywhere. Also on the program is Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 with San Diego Symphony Concertmaster Jeff Thayer featured as the soloist. This concert takes place at two different venues. Thursday, February 3, is at The California Center for the Arts Escondido and Friday, February 4, takes place at Southwestern College.

Two of the three one-act operas which comprise Giacomo Puccini’s Il Trittico open on Saturday, February 11, at San Diego Opera. The company is billing this as “The Puccini Duo”. The two operas are Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi.

Suor Angelica is an undervalued operatic experience. The all-female cast spins the story of Angelica who has been sent to the convent to atone for having a child out of wedlock. Angelica’s final aria, “Senza Mamma”, is one of Puccini’s finest efforts and the closing scene is opera at its best.

Gianni Schicchi is a happier opera than Suor Angelica and is genuinely funny. It too has a famous aria, “O mio babbino caro”. Whereas “Senza Mamma” suffers from underexposure, this aria suffers from overexposure. The more interesting aria in Gianni Schicchi is the tenor aria “Firenze È Come Un Albero Fiorito”.

More interesting than the tenor aria is vocal-force-of-nature Stephanie Blythe singing the baritone role of Schicchi. This isn’t a case where she sings the role an octave up and transforms Schicchi into a female role. No. From what I’ve been led to believe, Blythe is singing the role at pitch. Incredible.

February ends with an all-Beethoven concert at The San Diego Symphony. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 4 will be performed on February 24 and 25, at The Civic Theatre. I would prefer Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 3. Maybe next time.