Bruckner's 4th: Don't Screw the Pooch
Bruckner’s Symphonie No. 4: Die Romantische is launching at Symphony Hall this Thursday and Saturday. Why the odd schedule? The orchestra is also playing Don Pasquale at the Civic Theater on Friday and Sunday. I am excited yet trepidatious about …
Pretty is as Pretty Sounds: San Diego Opera Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale opens at San Diego Opera on Saturday the 10th. The last time SDO put this production on it was a big hit with audiences. What can I say? The opera is funny on its own and this particular …
Close Friends
Sitting there listening to Beethoven’s 7thSymphony on Sunday I came to the conclusion that I could listen to only Beethoven’s 3rd, 5th, and 7th symphonies for the rest of my life and die a happy death. That is not to …
Beethoven 7th: San Diego Symphony
I could have done without Strauss II and Saint Saëns on Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, they were well played and nice but when the Beethoven 7th Symphony is on the program, it’s tough to get excited about much else. …
Leap Rossini
I’m happy to say that Google is showing some couth. Today, they posted a twofer doodle on their home page. Why is it a twofer? It honors both leap year and Rossini’s 220th birthday. Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born on …
That Other Bach (2 of 2)
“Herr Johann Christian Bach, music master of the queen, took Wolfgang between his knees. He would play a few measures; then Wolfgang would continue. In this manner they played entire sonatas. Unless you saw it with your own eyes, you …
That Other Bach
“April the 16th 1776, Lord Fauconbery sent me a ticket for Bach and Abel’s Concert at the assembly room in Hanover Square. "The performers were the two above mentioned, the second played a solo exceeding well. In all about 22 …
Superhuman
If greatness is overcoming adversity then Jay Hunter Morris is great. He flew across the country, stepped into a demanding role sans rehearsal, presented a fully developed character, and made it look easy. His performance as Captain Ahab in Moby …
Truthy
“I don’t worry about it. There is too much truth here [gesturing to the wall covered in recordings] to be diminished by anything or anyone”. I don’t know the name of the man who said that to me years ago …
Moby Dick: Mechavich Steps in for Ailing Conductor
Tonight before the piano-dress rehearsal for Moby Dick, San Diego Opera General and Artistic Director Ian Campbell announced that conductor Karen Keltner has removed herself from the production. Mr. Campbell explained that maestro Keltner has been fighting illness with antibiotics …
Pip as Shaman: San Diego Opera Moby Dick (2 of 2)
Within the context of Melville’s Moby Dick, the character of Pip is significant. Moby Dick was written ten years before the start of the Civil War and as an African-American character, the way Pip is treated by the other characters …
Talise Trevigne: San Diego Opera Moby Dick (1 of 2)
“It’s always good to try things out of your comfort zone so you can know: A. Who you are. B. Where you can grow. C. What you like and don’t like. If there’s a ‘box’ I’m not going to be …
Native Favorite
Everyone’s favorite mezzo-soprano, Janelle DeStefano, is going to be singing a concert of Samuel Barber songs this Wednesday at the Carmel Valley Public Library. Janelle is a San Diego native and spent several years with San Diego Opera in the …
Weekend Update
There are some interesting performances this weekend. The San Diego Youth Symphony is presenting two concerts on Saturday at Copley Symphony Hall. The first concert is at 2:00 pm and the second concert is at 7:00 pm. The evening performance …
Glorious Gulp: San Diego Opera Salome (4 of 4)
Salome, Salome, Salome. What a mess. Histroically, Herod did not kill his brother to marry Herodias but Herodias did divorce Herod's brother in order to marry him. Before long, Herod starts lusting after his new daughter-in-law, Salome, who happens to …
Royal Philharomic
Last night, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, from London, and conductor Charles Dutoit breezed into town to play a little concert for us. Jean Yves Thibaudet came too. Charles Dutoit is a world class conductor and one of the few who …
San Diego Opera Salome: Beef. It's What's for Dinner (3 of 4)
I got in to the see the piano dress rehearsal of Salome last night. It is impossible and unfair to review a rehearsal but I must say that Allan Glassman, in the role of Herod, is off-the-charts exciting. I loved …
Coriolanus
I just heard an interview about Ralph Fiennes’s new movie version of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. It reminded me that Beethoven had written a Coriolan Overture. Beethoven wrote the music for a play but the play was by Heinrich Joseph von Collin …
San Diego Opera Salome: Nude and Nuder (2 of 4)
Lise: "It was really nice. At the cocktail party the other night, I can't remember who said it, but they told everyone, 'By the way, she takes all her clothes off.' I was, like, fabulous." We're continuing with our discussion …
San Diego Opera: Heads Will Roll (1 of 4)
I sat down this week with Lise Lindstrom and Greer Grimsley. Lise and Greer are the stars of San Diego Opera's upcoming production of Richard Strauss' Salome. They happen to be two of my favorite singers in the world. We …