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Classical Music

Waiting for the San Diego Opera and Symphony on edge of my chair

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Covid's game of chicken in classical music

- min read

Max Bruch – better than Brahms

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Wagner takes Lohengrin beyond Star Wars and Gladiator and Indiana Jones

- min read

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Classical Music

Waiting for the San Diego Opera and Symphony on edge of my chair

The end of January and the entirety of February appear to be a return to some semblance of normality with the San Diego Opera and San Diego Symphony. Of course, ...

Classical Music

Covid's game of chicken in classical music

“Due to the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in San Diego County and after consulting with local health experts, the San Diego Symphony has made the difficult decision to cancel ...

Classical Music

Max Bruch – better than Brahms

Every now and then I wonder about composers of classical one-hit-wonders. You know, composers such as Ruggero Leoncavallo with Pagliacci, Pietro Mascagni with Cavalleria Rusticana, or Max Bruch with his ...

Classical Music

Wagner takes Lohengrin beyond Star Wars and Gladiator and Indiana Jones

I was watching an NFL game while scrolling through Instagram stories when I came across a clip of the Act Finale from Verdi’s La Traviata. Violetta implores Alfredo to love ...

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Classical Music

Christmas is about motherhood

From time to time I find it necessary to update “The Depressed-Disney-Dad at Christmas when his Ex has the Kids” playlist. This playlist is also known as “Contemplations Upon the Mysteries of Solitude at the ...

December 24, 2021

Classical Music

Informal concerts in 2021 not kind to San Diego

This is the time of year when we ordinarily take a look back over the previous season and select the top concerts. We could do that, but 2021 was not an ordinary year for classical ...

December 17, 2021

Classical Music

December 10, 2021

Even the Jewish atonal master Arnold Schoenberg wrote Yuletide music

‘Tis the season for Christmas music. We all know the Christmas warhorses such as Georg Handel’s The Messiah, J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and Pytor Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Maybe some of us are also familiar with ...

Classical Music

December 3, 2021

Symphony silent on reasons for renovation

The San Diego Symphony has announced its winter-spring 2022 concert. The Symphony is offering 31 performances from January 15 through May 28. Presented as “Hear Us Here,” the season will give the San Diego Symphony ...

Classical Music

November 27, 2021

The masterful Meistersinger singers

I’ve been dabbling in opera tourism this fall and decided to go full-send with a trip to New York. I looked at the schedule for The Metropolitan Opera and saw that Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger ...

Classical Music

November 27, 2021

The Nutcracker: old traditions, new names

Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker has been cleared from quarantine and is returning to The Civic Theater. Those familiar with The Nutcracker as it has been performed at The Civic in the past will recognize this production. ...

Classical Music

November 5, 2021

Times are swell at The Shell

The San Diego Symphony has released a report on the first two months of concerts at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The numbers are impressive. In August, there were 15 paid events, which drew ...

Classical Music

November 5, 2021

Al Stradella: a helluva fella

Alessandro Stradella is a name that might ring a bell with champions of early Baroque music. As for me, I knew he existed, but beyond a short Sinfonia from his Christmas Eve Cantata, I wasn’t ...

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Classical Music

Il Trovatore at the Los Angeles Opera

Given the current circumstances, San Diego Opera is producing two mainstage opera productions this season. What is an opera fan to do with that? Two productions just aren’t enough to satiate some the most dedicated ...

November 5, 2021

Classical Music

Tannhauser at the Los Angeles Opera

One of the major themes in Richard Wagner’s 1845 opera Tannhäuser is pilgrimage. With that in mind, I took a pilgrimage to LA Opera to see their current production of the show. (San Diego Opera ...

November 5, 2021

Classical Music

November 5, 2021

Bernard Haitink, RIP

Bernard Haitink had died. He was 92. He was the last of the great mid-20th Century conductors who came to worldwide prominence via the recording industry. Starting in 1961, Haitink was the first conductor of ...

Classical Music

October 23, 2021

Popular moderns at The Shell

Mahler and Tchaikovsky are two of the most popular composers for modern audiences. Rarely are they scheduled together on the same concert, but on Saturday, October 17, that’s exactly what happened with the San Diego ...

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Classical Music

Waiting for the San Diego Opera and Symphony on edge of my chair

Covid's game of chicken in classical music

Max Bruch – better than Brahms

Wagner takes Lohengrin beyond Star Wars and Gladiator and Indiana Jones

Classical Music

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