Classical Music
I have officially passed through the optimism of my youth and have entered my world-weary phase. Often, when I wake up in the morning, I am disappointed to see the same two feet swing out …
The San Diego Opera performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni on Sunday, February 4, was good, overall. It definitely wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. It was good. The singing was good to pretty good. None of it …
Man did I blow it–big time. On Sunday, January 28, I headed to what I thought was going to be the best concert of the new year. Rafael Payare was conducting the San Diego Symphony …
It is impossible to comprehend the number of classical music compositions that exist. Do we even know ten percent of them? Here’s a fair question. Of Mozart’s 626 compositions do we know 62 of them?We …
Some big-time concertos, such as Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 are coming up in the next few months. I wonder, if I had to pick five “desert …
I was speaking with a friend who is a music professor and a choir director. One of the institutions he works for would like him to build a bigger choir program which he is definitely …
The San Diego Symphony is picking up the pieces of a torn and tattered 2023-2024 Jacobs Masterworks Series. Delays in the renovations of The Jacobs Music Center at Copley Symphony Hall have decimated what was …
2023 was an interesting year in classical music for San Diego. We saw a resurgence of the San Diego Opera. We saw delays in the renovations of The Jacobs Music Center at Copley Symphony Hall. …
“Noel Noel”, the San Diego Symphonies Christmas concert, was fun, festive, and full of holiday spirit. It was everything that December Nights in Balboa Park is not. “Noel Noel” had traditional Christmas songs instead of …
Christmas is about so many, many things. There’s Santa Claus, Sol Invictus, the winter solstice, Frosty the Snowman, Buddy the Elf, Kevin—the Home Alone kid, Ralphie—the A Christmas Story kid, Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and …
The San Diego Opera is on a roll that started with last season’s production of *Tosca*. October saw continuing an exquisite concert featuring Latonia Moore and J’Nai Bridges, and now SDO has triumphed with El …
In the course of a recent conversation, I realized I had something of a blindspot in my operatic acumen when it came to baritones and basses of the golden era. The golden era of opera …
With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, the first Sunday of Advent, also known as the Christmas Season, is upon us. This is, by far, my favorite time of year even though the sun is directly …
The Ring Without Words as performed by The San Diego Symphony on Saturday, November 11, was all I hoped it would be.The pacing and structure of Lorin Maazel’s adaptation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle are masterful, creating a seamless …
I have been preparing all week for the upcoming San Diego Symphony concerts on Friday and Saturday, November 10 and 11. The concerts are at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park and begin at 7:30 …
The San Diego Symphony’s Jacobs Masterworks series officially starts on Saturday, November 4, at 7:30 pm. The venue is The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. This will be the 14th season I’ve covered for the …